Mike Relm @ Vancouver

Mike who? Mike Relmmmmmm! If you don't know who Relm is, then consider this a backgrounder. He's a turntablist from San Francisco and has performed with numerous artists as well as toured across the country. He's known for his live performances, which feature audio and video mash-ups all cut and scratched live on the spot, and on Friday, Sept. 26, he stopped in on Vancouver, presented by Spectrum Events.

So I have to admit, I didn't know very much of Mike Relm before I went to the show. I mean, besides the clips on YouTube and doing some background research on him, so I didn't really expect too much going into the show. By the end of the show I was converted into a fan and even shook his hand (I told you Michelle it wasn't too late) as corny as that sounds.

The show is what you see on some of the YouTube clips, but with a s**t load more energy from the audience and from Relm himself as he interacts with the crowd and people are constantly jumping on stage and attempting to dance then throwing themselves for a stage dive. Oh, and did I forget to mention that he brought friends. Yeah his friends, dubbed the "Sideshow," were two scary-ass clowns, did I mention I'm afraid of clowns? The novel/movie IT, really messed me up as a kid. These "friends" were like his very own hype men, think Flava Flav to Chuck D, Spliff Starr to Busta Rhymes, Memphis Bleek to Jay-Z, except the "Sideshow" were on turntables.

Relm played a diversity of music throughout the night, mixing House of Pain, Pharcyde, Outfield, NWA, with Feist and John Lennon. The music off course was only part of the show, as he would mix in visuals from movies and TV shows such as Harold & Kumar, Office Space, Snoopy, When Harry Met Sally, Team America and Nacho Libre to name a few.

He really rocked the whole show from beginning to end, but here are highlights for me, and judging from the response of the crowd:

• When he freaked it hard on his MPC and did his drums live on the spot


• He played his song and accompanying video for "Everytime"


• Dropping Damian Marley's "Welcome to Jamrock" remixed by Relm; the drums on the mix he played were hard as hell and had a bunch of folks in the back dancing, including yours truly


• In one of his video clips he had a sign that read, "If John McCain wins the election, I'm going to marry a Canadian Woman", 'nuff said.


• Outfield's chorus from "Your Love" mixed in with NWA's "Quiet On Tha Set"

As his show ended, the crowd cheered and wanted an encore and he didn't disappoint. He came back and ended the show with John Lennon's "Imagine" which lead to one more song, Feist's "1,2,3,4", but not the original, again he laced the tracks with some ill drums and made it pretty nasty, in a good way.

Overall a great show and great energy from Mike Relm and the crowd, I definitely have to give props to Sean from Spectrum Events for hooking us up at Killahbeez with some media passes. Check out www.spectrum-events.com for upcoming events.

If you like the review please vote for me.

Peace.

David Thai
www.killahbeez.com

PS: Pictures are here on Flickr.