By Nooreen Kara

Brixton Academy , London - 21 March 2005

Concert-goers at Nas’ Brixton Academy concert got more than they bargained for after the show ended earlier than expected when shots rang through the building this past Monday night (March 21). When DJ L.E.S put on Smif-n-Wesson's ‘Sound Bwoy Burial’, two loud gunshots were fired from the back of the crowd and security quickly pulled Nas offstage. Fans rushed towards the exits, sides of the venue and even the girls’ toilets, while Nas set about freestyling from behind the curtains, wanting to carry on the performance. He made his return about 10 minutes later, bare-chested – no bulletproof – and laughing, “It's gonna take more than that to get me.” He brought out special guest Dizzee Rascal to perform the somewhat appropriate ‘Made You Look’ – “They shootin’! Aw, made you look.” The Queensbridge rapper jumped into the crowd and rapped topless, but security eventually made him leave again. Quan came out to perform ‘Just a Moment’ with a solo rendition that went down well with the crowd, but he too was soon ushered away.

The lights came on and DJ L.E.S came out letting everyone know they weren’t allowed to continue and everyone had to leave. A police spokesperson confirmed the incident, saying that, “officers were called to the venue at 21.56pm following reports of shots been fired inside.” It was explained: “We believe that two shots were fired towards the ceiling. Two bullets and two casings have been recovered from the scene.” No casualties were reported. Brixton Academy representative Louise Kovacs said the venue had been evacuated after a consultation with police and claimed there was “a high level of security” at the venue – what a wonder it is then that I wasn’t actually searched prior to the show.

The night had been warmed up by 1Xtra’s DJ Semtex – who provided us with a very nice set, despite being booed after playing 50 Cent’s ‘Candy Shop’ – and the upcoming Kano, who seems to be getting better with every live performance. After Semtex left the stage, a series of R&B slow jams were played from the speakers, much to the irritation of the obviously hip-hop crazy 4,000+ fans inside the building. As chants of “Nas, Nas…” were heard, QB’s finest made his entrance to the ‘Streets Disciple’ backdrop and the boisterous crowd’s reaction almost made it known we were in for a rowdy night.

Nas had been onstage for about 45 minutes before the incident, spitting classic song after song, including ‘Got Yourself A Gun’, ‘The World Is Yours’, ‘It Ain’t Hard to Tell’, ‘One Love’, ‘The Message’, ‘If I Ruled The World’, ‘Life’s A Bitch’ and ‘Represent’. We were treated to a short dance routine, accompanied by chants of “Go Nas” from the crowd, who also threw their hands in the air, rocked their heads and bounced around to the latest material from the ‘Streets Disciple’ album, including ‘Message to the Feds’ and the uncontrollable ‘Suicide Bounce’. ‘Thief’s Theme’ was performed with a decent accompaniment from Rising Son, the artist that won a competition to feature on the UK version of the track, and on ‘Disciple’, Nas rapped, “This ain’t Jigga, this ain’t Diddy, this ain’t 50” – at which point the music was stopped and he walked around the stage shaking his head, hyping up the crowd for what could be his first major ‘ether-ing’, post-Jay-Z.

After having seen some of the best in concert, the only person really left was Nas, so it was somewhat disappointing for the night to be cut short, denying the King of New York the chance to play ‘Ether’ or ‘One Mic’. For the time he was on, Nas tore up the mic and put on a live show; even Dizzee smashed it against the hip-hop beat. It’s just a shame that one person had to ruin it for everyone else, and the fact that security should have been a little more aware of what could happen at an almost all-male Nas gig – especially after the doors were rushed at a Nas London concert two years ago. Security said to keep our tickets in case Nas decides to come back and reschedule, but, unfortunately, I can’t see that happening!

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