Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow @ Paradiso - review

I have to say I was rather disappointed with this show. We missed Kid Koala as it did not say he was starting at 8 on the web site and we got there for 9 which was the start of the main act.

For me this gig really was a hard sell. As a long time fan I have seen both of these guys play before, both together and solo, as well as seeing Cut Chemist when he was with Jurassic 5. The previous times I have seen them play they have been nothing short of brilliant. This time I just found the entire set to be bland and boring and plain annoying at times. Its pretty cool to be DJ'ing with original 45's from a technical point of view but what's the point if half of the music is rubbish. The set relied far too much on the visuals interlaced with samples from a radio announcer which, if you have ever been to any Ninja Tune gigs, you have probably seen something that is very similar before. We did not last until the end of the set and we weren't the only ones that streamed out the exit doors before the gig was finished. I noticed as I left the hall that that there was a lot of standing room for a supposedly sold out show.

These guys seem very pleased to have played at the Hollywood bowl recently but unfortunately it seems that this mainstream success has gone to their heads as they were not really trying and just going through the motions. Milk it for all its worth guys as I certainly will not be going to see you play again.

On a positive note we really enjoyed the Shy FX set later on as well as the dub step in the main hall.