Monday, January 27, 2025

Live Shows: Stereo MC's and Haasan Barclay, The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA 1/25/25

Photo by @mark.j.allen81

Nostalgia can be a weird thing. If you had asked me if I was a Stereo MC's fan, I would have said that I knew "Connected" but wasn't really a fan. When the British electro hip hop pioneers announced a short run of US dates, their first in twenty-four years, I instantly wanted to go. When I pulled them up on Spotify before the show, I was floored by how many of their songs I remembered and loved. I was prepared for a fun night of nostalgia, and thought the show would be okay to good.

I was wrong. Stereo MC's were phenomenal live. Even the songs I was unfamiliar with hit me with a sense of nostalgia, but even aside of the nostalgia factor, they were great. Somehow these songs that were well over thirty years old didn't sound dated at all. This is a band of people in their sixties, and they attacked the stage with an energy people a third of their age lack. The show was an absolute party, and if you only remember them from "Connected," you owe to it yourself to revisit their catalog. It's deep enough that it was played quite early in their set without affecting the show at all. Towards the end of the main set, the band broke out "Elevate My Mind" and "Step It Up" back to back, for an absolute highlight for me.

Part of the show being truly great was the crowd. An older crowd can be rough, especially on a Saturday night, as people can get swept up in trying to relive their high school or college days, especially with drinking. Nostalgia artists can be tough, too, as they can bring out those that only know and only want the big hits. That was not the case with Stereo MC's, who packed The Sinclair with die hard fans. I feel like I might have been the most casual fan of the night, as the crowd was just as excited for the deep cuts as they were for the hits. Of course, I was also swept up in songs I was less familiar with, which is just the power of Stereo MC's. If this short run of dates ends up leading to more, make sure you attend the closest show to you.

Haasan Barclay provided local support, and was the perfect choice. The Boston artist blurs the lines of genres he dabbles in. Performing with a guitar and a laptop, he started off in more of a singer-songwriter style, moved through more hip hop and drum and bass songs, and some he acted more as a DJ and danced across the stage while a song played. One song he introduced as a twerking song which was filled with Attitude Era wrestling references and discussed reparations. It's hard playing in front of an older crowd that's going to see a legacy band, but Haasan Barclay won over more than a few fans in attendance Saturday night.

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