DJ Yoda / Howard Marks / Carl Donnelly / Taschenhat

I knew the show tonight was going to be a treat for the ears and eyes, judging by DJ Yoda's past Magic Cinema Tour, but never did I consider the support acts he would bring along to this cold night in Leeds. Random? The man should change his name to DJ Random...



After a wait (the doors were specified to open at 7pm, but we get in there around 7.30pm) and a warm up DJ playing very similar tunes to the man himself (though not as in depth, as taking multiple swigs of beer when you're meant to be mixing does look a little lazy), a couple of strange looking young men take to the stage. One in woolly knit with a hat and a guitar, the other with a dodgy moustache and a ukulele. The result of this is Taschenhat, a duo from Newcastle who play funny acoustic songs, mainly about not having wives, Estate Agents "…Blackberry Phoooone / What happened to your soul…." The best part of their short four song set was a slowed down acoustic version of the 'Prince Of Bel Air', a song that would reappear over the course of the gig a few times.

The chaps look and sound strange, and would have worked a whole lot better if they were more in time with each other and could sing a little bit more in tune. I did not mind the rawness of their show, but the comedy value would have come across a lot better if they had been tighter.



Next up, to follow the light-hearted but random factor, is a comedian called Carl Donnelly. The curly haired bloke from London has only been on the circuit since 2005 but has well established himself as a nice guy joker and in turn been nominated and won for several Best Newcomer Awards. His chatty and down to earth style combined with the silliness of a kid just hitting puberty make him a pleasure to watch. Topics such as 'what amount of hard cash would make you suck a love length?' (to the men only) and the humour of hardly any of the crowd actually coming from Leeds make for an interesting support act. More is to follow though…



As King of the Kaya Howard Marks himself, who now lives in Leeds and is present at many a local show, is to introduce the DJ we are here to see. It takes him a while and the help of two guys to onto the stage, carrying on the comedy content, and then Marijuana Marx, who is obviously really enjoying the show so far, says in his unique style of delivery that it's his pleasure to introduce the National Video Vacation tour by the one and only Duncan Beiny, aka DJ Yoda.

The cartoon style of Yoda has always been a hit with dance fans, and his music stretches across many a fan of other genres too. Now that he attaches video to the sound samples he mixes using DVD mixing technology (that he helped to create) the age of the audio visual DJ has began.

I first saw this technique during a DJ Shadow show in 2006, but Yoda goes even further with effects on the video, and every sample is synced up. Using his trusty Pioneer SVM1000 AV mixer, the pioneering Londoner makes it look effortless. And his chosen subjects can’t be beaten either. As previously mentioned we have The Fresh Prince battling it out with Inspector Gadget, along with Michael Jackson and Johnny Cash getting heaped up with deep bass beats and Alan Sugar and the Countdown team even makes an appearance.



Many of the videos are well known selected moments from films, TV or You Tube, like Kanye West's latest bodge up at the MTV awards and the encore shows Susan Boyle's triumphant turn on Britain's Got Talent, backed loudly with a truly dirty beat. The rest of the 90 minute set visually features Family Guy, Tetris and Pac Man, beat boxing, Reservoir Dogs, Only Fools And Horses, impressive dance moves from the thirties (promoting new album 'How To Cut And Paste: Thirties Edition') and street moves from the seventies with video effects like swirls and transitions, and of course the original Yoda pops up to say a few words.

The venue fills out just before his set, as it is looking scarily empty just 10 minutes before he begins. The majority of the crowd are students, many having plied themselves with booze before the show, and resulting in them just wanting to throw beer about the place and fall into people. The rest are divided between those that are absorbing the video and bobbing their heads along to those oblivious to the screens and just dancing to the mixture of Hip Hop, DnB, funk, country and everything in between.

The only gripe I have is that the sound was far too loud for the venue, it appeared really distorted for most of the set. All in all the show is an absolute feast for two of your most important senses, and Yoda has the skills and sense of humour to pull it off. His choice of support makes it like a festival atmosphere with many different styles of entertainment, but all related by immaturity. I can't wait for the next tour, all he needs to do now is pump corresponding smells into the venue!

FUTURE GIGS