Mcenroe & Birdapres

DJs Serious and Fathom hosted Peanuts & Corn characters Mcenroe, Birdapres and DJ Hunnicut at their weekly New Kicks gig at Gypsy Co-Op. While the venue has a nice vibe and is a great place to groove to live DJs, it's not convenient for a live performance. Lighting is basically just the ambient light, since there are no stage lights - or even a stage for that matter! It's a little disconcerting to watch your favourite rappers perform on the floor just a couple of feet in front of you. In fact, mid-set, while Mcenroe was giving his spiel on The Simple Life, one excited fan wandered right up to whisper in his ear. Still, Birdapres and Mcenroe succeeded in impressing the rather small hardcore audience and did it while battling a flu that has been plaguing them for much of the tour. They ran through a selection of songs from their Nothing Is Cool collaboration, including the nihilistic title track, the booming sounds of "5000 Watts" and the conceptual "The Worst Person," finishing with the club jam "Party People." Mcenroe dropped "Big Box" from his split-EP with Pip Skid, but the highlight was seeing Vancouver's best kept secret, Birdapres (who rarely gets to make a Toronto appearance), throw down solo jams like "Bird's Mind" from his collaboration with Moves, and "None Missing" from his latest twelve-inch. Plus, he contributed a verse to Mcenroe's "Get Busy." Despite a few setbacks, the trio delivered a hype set in an intimate setting.