Josh Davis (DJ Shadow), still touring in 2024, 28 years after the release of the seminal Endtroducing….. is not only promoting new LP Action Adventure in Glasgow, but is making us all feel a bit nostalgic with a medley and retrospective that will see us digging out our old records in the weekends to come. In fact, Davis himself reminded us from the get go that he has fond memories of his previous Glasgow Barrowlands gig which was in 2002, 22 years ago.
DJ Shadow set a bar for produced hip-hop and composition. It wasn’t just a stroke of luck with the 1996 record. He reinforced his crown with the James Lavelle collaboration UNKLE on album Psyence Fiction (before leaving UNKLE), and singles working with Nas, De La Soul, and many others. If there is a cause for a pure retrospective by anyone Shadow would be a strong contender though he does also introduce a couple of tracks from his Action Adventure too, notably the recent releases ‘You Played Me’, and the bass-layered ‘A Narrow Escape.’
The gig itself is complex with Shadow’s videos spanning a screen, like a Spotify playlist, with him present, either scratching or drumming, and giving occasional running commentary. Included in these were obvious choices such as his track with Run the Jewels, the funky ‘Nobody Speak’, the dynamic ‘Rocket Fuel’ with De La Soul and of course the influential ‘Organ Donor’. As a fanboy of music and comics, we see Shadow for what he is, an audio-visual enthusiast, who gives a gift with this reminder of his contribution to the music video world. Perhaps an odd venue for this type of gig, Josh Davis gets his fans aptly reminiscing and we all hit nostalgia mode with a setlist that spanned the 28 years, moving back and forth through twenty plus tracks.
Action Adventure was released 27th October 2023, via Mass Appeal
