The Streets are rapidly becoming a relic of a bygone musical age

Four or Five years ago The Streets would probably have easily filled an evening spot on the Pyramid Stage. However the vastly declining quality of his output, since his memorable, 'A Grand Don't Come For Free' album, has seen him slip to a spot in the latter reaches of the Jazz World stage.

Judging by this live display it is easy to see why. Lacking the excitement and vigour of his former days, the Streets limped through his hour long set that as graced by few high points. The inevitably euphoric sing-a-long moments during 'Dry Your Eyes' and 'Fit But You Know It', were outweighed by the presence of much of his stodgy new material.

Unfortunately The Streets is rapidly becoming a relic of a bygone musical age, when beer and birds were popular music's chief concern, such that his music seems dated already. Another barrier to an enjoyable show was the inaudibility of The Streets live vocal style. For an artist whose lyrics are the crux of his work, it was pretty difficult to empathise with his mumbles.

Maybe this is indicative of the problems faced by booking hip hop acts at festivals, especially run of the mill ones, who are not Jay Z. Hip hop as a genre relies on relation to the lyrics,and its musically over consistent nature mean it does not translate well to a festival environment, that often demands instant gratification on the part of performers.

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