Rap revolutionaries Public Enemy are coming to Newcastle as part of their On The Grid 35th Anniversary Tour.
They'll perform at Newcastle Entertainment Centre on Friday, October 11 with special guests A.B. Original, a collaboration between Briggs and Trials.
Formed in 1985 in Long Island by friends Chuck D and Flavor Flav, Public Enemy burst onto the scene with their debut album Yo! Bum Rush The Show. Their breakthrough came with their acclaimed second album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, in 1988.
Their 1990 hit Fight the Power became an anthem for racial justice worldwide, reflecting the band members' ongoing activism and cultural influence.
Public Enemy performed at Newcastle Panthers in 2009 and at Maitland Showground in 2012 as part of the Groovin The Moo line-up.
The rap legends kicked off their memorable Maitland show with a siren wail and by paying tribute to the late Adam Yauch, of Beastie Boys fame, before Flavor Flav strode onto the stage wearing his signature clock necklace. Highlights of the set included a Rumpshaker sample, songs He Got Game and Shut it Down, and a sample of AC/DC's Back In Black. It ended with Fight the Power.
"F--k anti-immigration. The world belongs to everybody," Chuck D told the crowd, including this writer.
"In the end, there are two things in life that always get the world f---ed up: a thing called racism and a thing called separatism. We are all God's people.
"Put your middle finger in the air and say f--k racism, f--k separatism. Make a fist - this stands for power."
