From the moment the doors opened at The Coalition on Friday night Scroobius Pip was manning the merchandise stall. With an album, book, t-shirts and hats on sale, the most hirsute man in British hip-hop was posing for photos, shaking hands and signing each and every item he sold as his fans crossed his palm with silver.

Whilst this was undoubtedly thrilling for the majority of his fans, it seemed to dispel the myth of the artist somewhat. By being the ‘ordinary bloke’ at the merch stall, the worry was that he wouldn’t be able to hold the crowd in his hands in quite the same way as usual. After all, he was the guy who just counted out my change.

Before this issue was to be addressed however, one B. Dolan took to the stage. Proclaiming himself as both performance artist and master of ceremonies, he fit the description perfectly. The Brooklyn based rapper arrived with a noosed-rope ‘necklace’ round his neck, a menacing glare and a beard to rival the headliner’s. He then proceeded to take a crowd who had never heard of him before and ensured that they were all chanting his name by the end of his short set.

Shortly after B. Dolan exited the stage the newly solo Scroobius Pip appeared, immediately making all worries about his stage presence disappear. Opening with ‘Introdiction’ and powering through a set taking in nothing but his solo work, the bearded bard had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand throughout. And what a crowd.

From public school boys and arty hipsters to bikers in full leather and bandana get-up, middle aged wine drinkers and everyone inbetween, the Coalition was wall to wall with a cross section of Brighton.

The rapper’s cross-generational allure is easy enough to understand. His clever lyrics appeal to everyone because his flow is closer to traditional poetry than that of traditional hip-hop. Whilst many of his contemporary’s lyrics can be equally (if not more) clever and witty, Scroobius’s gift is to deliver these lyrics in far more of a conversational tone than that of Dizzee Rascal, for example.

After an intense hour of distorted guitar, live hip-hop beats and the aforementioned poetry-rap, the show ended as it had started: with Scroobius Pip selling his wares.

After completing an encore it was the crowd who had him in their hands, as he crowd-surfed back to the merchandise stall.

Originally published on Brighton Noise.