N*E*R*D concert review

By Gerald Torto

Carling Hammersmith Apollo, London - 22 November 2004

Most of the time when going to a concert, you are filled with a sense of optimism hoping that the artist will manage to exceed the standards previously set by their studio albums. However, with N*E*R*D, the standard has always been set by their previous concerts. After their last show in February, which was the ultimate post-Brit Awards party with various celebrities doing their thing either on stage or in the audience, the question had become ‘could they top it’?

This was no doubt going through not only my mind, but through the minds of all those who had been to or heard of their previous live effort. Coupled with the optimism was the anticipation of their entrance, and anticipate we did for a good 2 hours and 45 minutes. Yet, as with most hip-hop orientated concerts, they appeared suitably late, finally arriving at around 9:45pm. This genuinely did not seem to matter though, for as soon as they ran on stage any frustrations for fashionable lateness were forgotten and replaced by formidable cheers, the loudest of course aimed at the marketable figure of Pharrell Williams who sported a pair of sunglasses reminiscent of Stevie Wonder. They quickly jumped into a high-energy rendition of ‘Tape You’ from their debut ‘In Search Of…’ album, going on to cover most of this LP and a considerable portion of ‘Fly or Die’, including the hit singles ‘She Wants To Move’ and ‘Rock Star’.

They did provide a few surprises and stand out moments from performing Queen classic ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ to turning off the lights and the entire audience flashing their mobile phones at the end of ‘Bobby James’ or hearing the vibes created by Chad’s amazing talents with a synthesiser and his wild, free dancing. A particular highlight was the appearance of British beat-boxer Killa Kela and possibly the finest in the world, who flexed his multi-vocalist muscles and then performed an amazing rendition of The Neptunes-produced Snoop Dogg track ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’ with Pharrell rapping his verse.

So, the question remains, did they manage to top the standards that had previously been set? The simple answer is no! The problem seems to be that whereas before they were the ones pushing the envelope, offering so much more to the fans from a live show, this time they were hanging on to the envelope for dear life. It was as if they could not keep up with the pace they had set themselves and from arriving on stage with such a high-energy, propelling opener, it seemed that everything had flown and died long before they had left the stage.

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