Ryan Leslie, MZRT @ Dingwalls, Camden

Thursday before the Sunday of the Ryan Leslie gig, and Alex gets hit with an official communiqué direct from the man himself. And soon Miles tells me our tickets are invalid. The gig has been cancelled by the promoters, AXS. So no O2... As I sat, for a brief second contemplating the chemical symbol for nitrous dioxide; NO2, Miles threw me a lifeline. A concert would still take place that evening. And R. Les would still be the Master of Ceremonies. We just needed more tickets, which within 10 mintues, we had. And so could remain the building of excitement..

Come Sunday afternoon, and we're ready. After sharing an early morning 8 hour shift, Alex and I were, following some chicken of course, all set for another 12 or so hours ahead. All scrubbed up and clean, the four of us hit the station for the slow train to Kings Cross, but at a killer price, in consideration of the two students in our clique.

On arrival in London we all, without conferring, decided to walk an aimless loop around the surrounding area whilst we waited for the thought to spring to one of our minds that we should probably decide what we were going to do with the next 2-3 hours before doors opening at 7pm. Quickly making the no-brain necessary decision, which so many men make when they have time on their hands; "Let's go get some eats!". Where? The Colonel of course. After all, we'd only had one serving of chicken that day. 

With brimmed bellies we struck up a casual gait in the direction of the doors. Still fulfilling the tourist look, as we took the attitude of, 'keep walking around until you find it". Dingwalls was where we were headed; a venue of considerably smaller capacity than that of the original, Indigo at the O2. Nonetheless, Les had pulled off a brand of quick thinking improvisation that any Bebop Jazz troupe would be proud of.

As we waited for longer than what would've been ideal, we filled the time with such trivial yacketing as the modern day use of the word 'literally'. Now I'm just saying, it seems nobody can make a point without the perceived emphasis and validity that comes with the use of the word 'literally'. But because of its excessive use, wanting our own message to have more prominence than the other guy's, we use the word twice and on the second occasion we over-enunciate the 'l-i', curling our tongue and extending that sound which, ironically, creates no extra emphasis whatsoever. But we do it anyway, which is literally ridiculous...

By the time we'd depleted our stores of such trifling conversational randomness, stared at some rather Camdenesque lighting and had a chuckle/shared the pain of Darius who stood, unknowingly underneath a 'toilets this way' sign, in desperate need of a toilet, only to run off and find one elsewhere, the time had come to get inside. 

With the fans all in, Les came out, to grant us our first listenings of No Prisoners; one of seven tracks off the as yet unreleased new album, MZRT (Maginicently Zealous Renegades Takeover). Just the kind of high energy anthem, which comes with a requisite high volume level, and screams out for a fast paced music video draped in black clothing, limo tint black sunglasses and a portrayal of Leslie's perception of the top.

Maintaining the energy, Les rolls into an unbroken set of his most famous tracks. Black Mozart, Something That I Like, Swiss Francs, Beautiful Lie, Diamond Girl as his own solo tracks. Mixed in with a few of his most famous features and productions; Lloyd Banks' 'Start It Up', Fabolous' 'You Be Killin' Em' & 'Everything, Everyday, Everywhere' and a particular favourite of the crowd, Red Café's 'Fly Together', with its addictive hook as sung by Ryan.

It was at this stage that the only seats of the 'King's Row', just in front of the stage, became somewhat redundant and pointless in their jacked up prices. With everybody on their feet, we knew these tracks. Knew the lyrics. And could write them out backwards if you asked it of us.

With these tracks being mainstays getting regular plays in my own music library, this was a treat to behold. Especially with his live performance being so inline, sound wise, with the studio recorded originals. Not only this, but the energy he transmitted through the speakers and from his very being was very real. Feeling it all the more in such a personal venue perhaps somewhat unusual for Ryan.

Cue a few spoken words on the situation with the cancelled O2 gig. Shades off for a more genuine, personal feel, admitting that the promoter pulled the gig because of an inability to move tickets at the rate they would have expected it. For anybody who knows R, they understand a great virtuosity, matched up with an undeserved, yet distinct lack of recognition for his indubitable talent. And this still persists even since working closely with artists of the calibre of Fabolous, Rick Ross and Cassie, and was apparent in his fan numbers in London. With this being somewhat embarassing for us, the English fans, who frankly, expected more support for a U.S. great.

The thing about Les though is he's completely independent. No record label to take the lion share of his profits. But on the flip side, no record label to publicise, market, produce, mix, organise world tours or do all of the other things that I don't know are involved in creating a multi-million record selling artist, but which I'm sure number in their hundreds or thousands.

And as he addresses us, he alludes to his theory for growth. The personal touch which I've alluded to previously. Declaring his love for any fan who is willing to spend just one dollar on him. And his Mother's fears of not being able to contact him due to what must be a contact list which presumably very closely resembles sardines in a can. 

Back to the music and Leslie brings more new music from the unreleased, MZRT. Interesting to know, is that this status of 'unreleased', is born out of another status which is 'unfinished'. But how can you perform an unfinished album? Ryan's approach was to break it down. Taking the time to sit at the keyboard and perform a short section of each track in a slowed fashion, explaining some of the thought processes and inspirations behind each track, before getting up and pumping out a self-produced beat and performing it with an accompanying guitar. A very unique kind of concert, but how could we have expected anything else? 

Admitting that it's difficult to hear music for the first time at a concert, he interwove previously released tracks such as the classic 'Addiction' ft Cassie & Fabolous. Nonetheless a great setup for what was a very short notice gig. 

With the Dingwalls curfew quickly closing in, Ryan asked the audience for a track request... "Who Wears The Crown!!", yelled out by an individual in our vicinity. To which Les replies, "I know you, you're _____". Excuse my forgetting of his name but it was indeed him. "...I know my fans" says Les. That's big respect points in my book, pulling out the name like that. 

So here we were, watching Ryan shut down the venue. Standing up on his piano stool with another thunderous beat off my next album purchase, MZRT. And as the regular lighting came on, and Les walked out the back of the stage, he quickly came back. Sittng down at his keyboard to bless us wth one final, final track. Perhaps what is in most peoples ears his best; How It Was Supposed To Be. It's certainly one of my favourite music videos. And one which both myself and the rest of the crowd would join him in singing/yelling as loud as we could. You could really sense he didn't want to leave. And really couldn't sense any frustration at the unexpected breakdown of the original plan.

All things considered, the guy is a board member of Fly USA. Metaphorically speaking. And an indefatigable individual. Literally speaking. 

As a crowd, we benefitted from a small venue and a concert which, at times resembled a studio session for the making of his new album, and at others, resembled a highly charged performance to thousands. Now if this was any other artist, you'd feel extremely lucky, and that'd be the end of it. But, with a good degree of confidence, I think that crowd would have preferred to see Les in an arena of thousands... This being the kind of environment that we know is befitting of our hero. 

So with a left ear that was destined to ring for the next 3 days, it was nice to catch a moment, in the rather fresh, wee hours of Monday morning, to reflect on the greatness of Ryan's being. Perched on a swing inside a giant bird cage though, I quickly came to the conclusion that I should swiftly escape the cage and get back to some flying practice of my own...

*All photo credit goes to Alex 'Pearsonal' Pearson. For without such a champion of the iPhone 6 and the sterling photography it facilitates, I would surely be lost.