Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip
Plug, Sheffield
October 27th 2010
4/5
This review was written for Exposed (exposedmagazine.co.uk), Sheffield
It's been over three years since they graced our airwaves with a satirical social commentary on NME and the supremacy of Stephen Fry but Dan le Sac and his bearded pal Scroobius Pip are back. Stopping off in an energetic Sheffield to play Plug, which, in Scroobius' words, looks like a laser quest venue, they bought a quirky American lady by the name of Kid A and Birmingham septet Misty's Big Adventure with them.
Kid A, otherwise known as Anni T, can only be described as Bjork meets Morcheeba to a background of electronica beats. The voice of Sac vs Pip's latest single release, Cauliflower, Kid A opened the night in an unassumingly pleasant way.
Misty's Big Adventure, on the other hand, launched into their set with provoking poetry and a tune not dissimilar to the Batman cartoon theme. It's rare a support brings so many feel good vibes as Misty's Big Adventure. Imagine The Go! Team crossbred with The Zutons and you might be close to the hunched over excitable band complete with trumpet and baritone sax. Their emo-spoof, I Want A Biscuit, You Can't Have One was a definite highlight.
Despite a series of hit songs a few years back, Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip are still very much on the backburner of the mainstream. Opening with Sick Tonight, they immediately get the Sheffield audience on side, Dan dropping beats only he knows how to perfectly complements Pip's half spoken, half sung vocals.
Even as the boys pull out more melancholic tracks, including The Magician's Assistant, they strike a balance with humour about dwarves and three children sneaking into the gig on each others' shoulders. After a solemn moment in memory of a lad called Jamie, Scroobius and Dan pull out the track that first snuck onto the iPods of the crowd – Thou Shalt Always Kill. With the crowd singing back every word as they bounce around, the song ramps up the gig for the final part of the nigt.
Saving hits The Beat That My Heart Skipped and Letter From God To Man for the encore, complete with Pip's longest crowdsurf in which he kicked a mirror ball, these too likely lads from Essex leave the northern audience on a high and disappear.
