MASTER:CLASS

Asian Dub Foundation,Regular Fries,Aziz and Invasian: The Astoria, 27.01.2000

Say whatever the f*** you like. Chances are there'll be trouble, chances are no f***er is listening, but say it anyway. The niffily named MC crew INVASIAN, looking like anoraked schoolboys and sounding like an explosion in a toast factory, sign off with a hearty "Nuff Respect -bo!", and for that and their whopping set, we salute them.

A hearty gasp of "It is them!" goes up from at least, er, one of the audience (guilty) as a smiling AZIZ, plus ex-Smiths Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke, hove into view. Squeal!. Their uninspiring sound is that of three musician mates pleasing themselves, but if it makes them happy, we'll shut up. Eventually.

REGULAR FRIES won't. though. Their combination of Mancunian shouty-business and beaty-business is absolutely rubbish. For a bit. Then the sheer beery relentlessness of "King Kong" and "Dusted" wears you down. Piss artists they may be, but as piss goes, this looks healthy.

And so to ASIAN DUB FOUNDATION. OK. Gigs are an exercise in generating energy for the hell of it. It's created and dissipated. ADF aim to generate it and make you use it. It's a hard task. Whether people do use it remains to be seen. But what people are doing right now is dancing like dried peas in a bagless Hoover. ADF make a huge, monolithic sound with a conviction so forceful it could burst the place like a balloon.

The bass, beats and Master D's hammering vocals are fearsome, the impetus behind them troublesome - war, racism, horrors. You can't siphon off the politics like you can with (comparative live pansies) Rage Against the Machine. It's in the sombre lyrics and Master D's "think, you f***ers"-tappings on the side of his skull. But the cumulative effect is awesome, cos it makes you move and, somehow, smile.

Guitarist Chandrasonic, for one, gawps with total delight over the crowd, hands splaying in the air. The spiralling, plunging, triple-hard breakbeats of "Naxalite", "Chrash", "Buzzin'" and all the other 12 are not militant but jubilant. Even - especially- "Free Satpal Ram". The enormous sound whips everyone up, slipping into sly we-won't-hurt-you dub interludes between massive shoves of deft, delirious noise. It's hard to be cynical in the face of something this good.

They might be the best live band anywhere.
Speechless.

Sarah Bee