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Public Enemy is one of three bands (the other two being Bad Religion and Fugazi) that had a pretty profound impact on me with regards to deciding to question the "system" and learn about what exactly was going on with respect to current events and politics in general.  I always found it hilarious to see PE head MC Chuck D being a guest on Ted Koppel's Nightline on ABC back in the day.  Probably the last vestige of the so-called Golden Era of Hip Hop before rap/hip hop's focus shifted towards the G-funk and gangsta rap of the early-to-mid '90s, Public Enemy was a definite force to reckon with in their prime.  The group continually forced the listener not to accept the status quo, to challenge minds everywhere, and they also  pointed out inconsistencies and inequalities not only among a racial divide, but amongst class divides also. Public Enemy pushed the envelope, and contrary to their somewhat militant image, caustic rhymes, and the bombastic, groundbreaking production by the Bomb Squad, Public Enemy was always a group that preached unity and "power to the people."

But those days are gone.  After a string of lacklustre records and lineup changes, the band has faded a bit from the limelight, no more the controversial outspoken group it once was. Public Enemy is now overshadowed by the celebrity gossip hijinks of PE hype man, and now reality star, Flava Flav.  But you can't deny their early catalogue, and the group stopped by Montreal on their recent tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of the legendary record Fear of a Black Planet.

After a ridiculously lengthy delay to get on stage (we're talking an hour here people, maybe a bit more) due to being held up at the border (Chuck eventually copped to the fact that apparently the border guards were "trying to detain Flav for an extended time for absolutely ridiculous reasons"), finally some action hit the stage in the image of someone testing the turntables, and an increasingly annoying crew member who was trying to keep the audience entertained with incessant calls for "Can I hear you say 'tuuuurn it up!'" and/or "Can you say 'aaaaa-iiiight'?"

Things got more entertaining when Flav himself came on stage to line-check the drums by showing the crowd that he can play while slowly, slowly two S1Ws, a DJ, a drummer, a guitarist, a bassist, and then Chuck D joined him before (finally) starting the show with "Contract on the World Love Jam" and "Brothers Gonna Work it Out", exactly how Fear of a Black Planet starts.  They immediately set the bar high, bouncing all around, with both Flav and Chuck running around the stage trying to get the once bored crowd back into it, and they really succeeded.  The energy level was way up, and it didn't let up at all throughout the evening.

Ripping into a roaring version of "911 Is a Joke", the early momentum of the show took an early hit when I noticed that, yes Virginia, Flava Flav was lip-synching.  Badly.  So bad, that when he got to the chorus part of "Get up, get, get, get down…" and was dropping and bouncing with the lyrics, he didn't even have the mic to his mouth.  It was pretty disappointing, considering how great the show started, but it ended up being the only blemish on an otherwise pretty great night.

The majority of Fear was played, including classics like "Burn Hollywood Burn", an inspired version of "Welcome to the Terrordome", along with a brand new song entitled "Say It Like It Really Is", and a bunch of tracks from It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, much to my surprise.  Thinking this was an evening of Fear-only tracks, Chuck D assured the crowd about a third of the way through the set that even though the tour was predominantly to celebrate that record, they would be busting out some other songs for everybody, even treating us to some special stuff.  Getting to hear my fave PE song "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" was an unexpected surprise, and "War at 33 1/3" was performed live for the first time ever, by request of PE friends and local longtime hip hop supporters Duke Eatmon and Ron Maskell.  Chuck and Flav called them up on stage and saluted them while Chuck made sure the crowd knew that he "has never done this track live before" and spent all day "practicing it", hoping nobody would call him out if he botched it up.  Another fun moment was when Flav called up his "nephew's buddy" on stage to hold the ghetto blaster/boom box they had on stage during "Don't Believe the Hype".  They were firing on all cylinders.

In the end, all the old tracks had the same bombast and vigor as before, and Terminator X was saluted (even though he no longer DJs for the band, apparently he's an ostrich farmer now…yeah…seriously) with a great performance of "Terminator X on the Edge of Panic" (no shout out to Professor Griff though, …Hoooo boy).  Surprisingly though, the most in-your-face song by the group, "Fight the Power" was the only song that didn't have the same punch as the recorded version does.  But aside from that, the performances were pitch perfect, and they never let up.  Even during a small mid-set break to fix some technical problems, Chuck and Flav took the time to sign autographs and talk to the crowd from the stage.  No time was wasted at all here, and it was great to see that Public Enemy is still as efficient and relevant live as they were, and given the political climate these days, these old songs still stand the test of time, and still have a resonance and meaning to them that they did back then (ahem, "By the Time I Get to Arizona").

Lip-synching fiasco aside, when the band finished their set and the techs were pulling down the gear, Flava got up to the front of the stage and let loose  a fifteen minute sermon.  He first thanked the audience for supporting him personally in his reality TV endeavours, admitting there are a lot of people who criticize him for it, but maintaining that regardless of this fact, he's "still the #1 reality star out there", and it was due to his supporters.  He then went on this lengthy, but good-natured, rant about unity amongst cultures and races.  How everyone should learn to get along and appreciate one another and even had some choice words for the whole Quebec separatism debate.  It may sound a bit cheesy, but you could tell he was definitely genuine about it, and it was really cool to see a different side to Flav that is not what you'd expect given his jokey nature in Public Enemy, and his ridiculous antics in the Hollywood spotlight.

Following his speech, Flav and Chuck stayed around for a while signing autographs from the stage, shaking hands, and briefly chatting with their fans.  It was reassuring that even though PE has really slipped in quality, the band's "legend" status is inarguable, but they still maintain a deep love and respect for their fans.  I got my Fear of a Black Planet LP signed by both of them, and left the venue feeling pretty happy.  This was the first time I've seen Public Enemy live, and after years of being a fan, and after having met Chuck D twice before, this was a pretty special treat.  I'm just glad it lived up to whatever childhood expectations I had already set in my head.