Saturday 02/12/06 DJ Shadow, Akala, Stateless @ The Octagon, Sheffield

Mixing agitated beats with shuffling drums, Stateless are like a world music band fronted by Michael Hutchence. They turn their attentions to the slow, rambling trip-hop of ‘Bloodstream’, then become slightly more eclectic with the Asian influenced mid-section of ‘Inescape’. At times it all sounds a bit lifeless, but they prove they’ve got soul with the Primal Scream style of ‘Exit’. Ending on a more downbeat note, sadly Stateless just fall short of setting the stage on fire.

With Dizzee Rascal in hibernation, Akala is the latest young pretender to the UK Rap throne. He comes out guns blazing with the aggressive beats of ‘Stand Up’, trying to command the crowd’s attention and gets nothing. Undeterred he shows off his ultra fast rapping skills and flaunts his political credentials in ‘Roll Wid Us’. Hinting at rap training grounds of backstreet battles, ‘Back em Down’ hits the spot, and the crowd are won over. However, it’s the political ranting of "Bullshit" that gets them all fired up. Much like the lyrical stylings of DJ Format regular, Abdominal, it all flows rather nicely. Latest single ‘Shakespeare’ incites nods of recognition, sampling a ninties dance track.

Like a scene out of Space Odyssey, blue lights glow against the metal ceiling as tension builds. DJ Shadow saunters on stage and introduces himself in typical self-deprecating fashion, before launching into the effortless classic ‘Building Steam With A Grain Of Salt’. The sway slowly starts as mechanical robots dance on screen, ‘Tomorrow Never Comes’ keeps the vibe building. ‘The Changeling’ sees the atmosphere turn darker, as the air becomes thick with sweet smoke. Rolling bongo drums and a more psychedelic vibe signal the arrival of ‘The Tiger’, his collaboration with members of Kasabian, showing Shadow can move with the times better than most.

Things get altogether more hip-hop with squelching Snoop Dogg style beats of ‘3 Freaks’, while new single ‘This Time’ brings a bouncy Gnarls Barkley feel. Easily the most pop friendly song of the night, prompting everyone to grin at each-other like loons and forget that some fat guys crushing your feet.

Guest singer, Stateless frontman Chris James, takes things down another path with the acoustic guitars of ‘You Made It’ and The Longcut style fractured beats of ‘Erase You’. Friend and longtime collaborator Lateef The Truth Speaker rolls up to perform ‘Enuff’ and a stonking version of ‘Mashing!’ that has everyone bouncing towards the ceiling. DJ Shadow grinds ‘Break It Down’ to a halt three times and has the crowd eating out of his hand before launching into his Phantom of The Opera routine with ‘Organ Donor’. An encore of ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’ mixes Nineties ‘Aceeed’ Rave with blocky Eighties synths as the crowd are almost hypnotized. Everyone piles out of the doors, slightly bemused and delirious, but happy.