Live Review - House Of Pain

House Of Pain @ Nottingham Rock City - 15/06/17

Here we are once again stepping onto the hallowed ground that is Nottingham Rock City, we consistently talk about how much we love Rock City so we can skip those formalities, we know we love and you know we love it.  

We walk into a DJ Matt Stocks doing a good job of warming up a pretty sparce crowd, with no real support band the good people of Nottingham didn’t see the point in arriving any earlier than 25 past 8… 

Starting the show for real, out comes DJ Leathal, still cool as fuck; he knocks a few hip hop classics including tracks from The Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill and Wu Tang Clan. Before long we get treated to another little warm up as Sick Jacken (Psycho Realm) makes a brief appearance before he finally introduces tonight’s main event…

House Of Pain are as original and innovative as they come, true pioneers of the early 90’s hip hop sound, they defined a generation and made hip hop more accessible than it had ever been before. Mixing huge beats, classic samples and lyrics that range from aggressive to tasteless to political to religious, but always clever and delivered with a style that is unmistakable.  

Behind the turntables Leathal is as slick as ever, Danny Boy bounces around the stage like Tigger on speed and Everlast oozes charisma, charm and a style that is truly his own, often copied but never emulated.  The band are joined by a drummer and a keyboard player that enhances an already massive sound, it adds to the overall sound and show and is a welcome addition to the classic line-up. 

House Of Pain smash out classic after classic, relenting only slightly  in the middle of the show long enough for Everlast to pick up his guitar and deliver “the first ever gangster rap song” his cover of the Johnny Cash classic Folsom Prison Blues and the poignant What It’s Like. 

House Of Pain have an aura of true legends but yet come across as the most humble of gentlemen, Danny Boy at one point reflects and tells the crowd how “It’s been 25 years” “he’s taking it all in” and how he will “never take it for granted” humble words from such hip hop royalty. 

I have no doubt that HOP will continue to do what they do for many years to come, keeping it fresh with side projects and collaborations but un-apologetically returning to where it all started, that self titled first album and the all time classic Jump Around, still to this day a guaranteed dance floor filler in any club, in any town, in any country in the world. This track is utterly perfect and timeless: here’ a little side note for you, I have it written into my will that Jump Around will be played at my funeral, that is how much that song means to me. 

There are still a few dates of the UK tour left, House Of Pain are definitely a band not to be missed.