Lithuanian Beatbox Championships 2005

Club Global, Klaipeda, Lithuania, 26 June 2005

Report by Mark SPLINTER Event organised by streetindustry.com

Klaipeda is a beautiful city for two reasons. Firstly, it is by the sea with lots of trees, and secondly the girls are incredible. I don't just mean some of them are nice, I mean 90% of them make you forget where you are and what you are doing. But anyway, as the representative of HumanBeatbox.com I was invited to judge the Lithuanian Championships in beautiful Klaipeda, alongside my man Def One, and the previous winner Balu. Drinking beer on the coach from Vilnius, I had no clue what was going to happen. The system for judging was completely unknown, it was my first time in Klaipeda, I didn't know where I was sleeping and I knew only two of the competitors. We arrived on a beautiful golden evening, and the second thing to impress me was the venue. Club Global is normally a swanky house and techno place, but Sunday nights are hiphop nights in the bar, and the sound system was fat enough for some devastating beatbox. I was looking forward to it much more than the nasty Chili Pizza which is standard gig food in Lithuania. It's like half a boring salad on a circle of cardboard.

The Microphone

After meeting the incredibly friendly organiser Mindaugas, and sorting out my bed for the night with the also-friendly Mario from streetindustry.com, I realised the microphone was a bit weird looking. Electro-Voice were sponsors of the night, and the first prize was one of their N/D767a microphones. It features "VOB for reduced boominess and P-popping" which doesn't sound like such a good idea, but the beatboxers were soundchecking so I listened carefully. It sounded very clear and bright in the mids and highs, and Def One tweaked the sound a bit to cut the feedback and boost the bass, so it was sounding really good. The strangest thing about it compared to the Shure SM58 was that it picked up your voice from up to 80cm away, potentially embarassing when you are trying to shout "where's the toilet" into the sound engineer's ear. Another drawback was the feel of it in the hand - not much handling noise but nothing feels like an SM58. So overall I would say it is definitely worth checking out, and it was good to give it a try.

The Heats

After about three different systems were discussed, in Lithuanian, I had no idea what was going on, but it seemed to be 8 competitors in a knockout competition, one minute each, 2 minutes for the final. All good. The standard was better than I expected, all the competitors sounded dedicated to the artform and the sound system was doing well. My boys MowF and Gon were there to represent for Vilnius, and they certainly laid down the most coherent and creative routines of the night.

However, this was a battle, and they were away from home territory, so after a really big argument amongst the judges, Gon was gone, and so was my voice. The best battler seemed to be this guy called FreeKannabis, he had the stage presence and the power, but would the Klaipeda crowd get behind this Vilnius guy with a funny name? The local guy Wairon seemed to have the support of the gorgeous audience, and I wondered who whould have enough routines and stamina to get through to the end...

The Playoff

The third-place playoff was one of the easiest for me to judge. MowF laid down a really consistent and tight routine, and I didn't feel guilty voting for my friend. His opponent Chiovas had been mucking around all night, saying he wasn't going to battle his friends, complaining that his name was hard to pronounce, complaining that there wasn't enough bass, generally acting like he was the best in the world. Sometimes this tactic can work well in a battle, arrogance can be powerful, but this time music won, and MowF won third place. Interestingly, all the judges agreed on most decisions, my man Def One and the crazy Balu certainly know their stuff.

The Final

So it came to the final between Wairon from Klaipeda and FreeKannabis from Vilnius. Both beatboxers struggled with the increased time limit - you could tell that neither had strictly prepared routines, Lithuanian last-minute style. Wairon mixed up some Rahzel sounds with various beats and got a great reaction from the crowd, leaving FreeKannabis a tough challenge against a local. I have to say that FreeKannabis's routines contained nothing to completely blow anyone away, it's not like he invented some new sound or had an extra nasal cavity or anything.... but here's why he won: Listen carefully to the audios and realise that FreeKannabis was the most consistent and the only competitor to do a proper intro and outro. His stage presence was easily the most confident and professional, he made it look easy, and it sounded phat. Despite being from a different town, he stole the show.

I can't say this enough, in battles, with a crowd of hiphop lovers who don't know a k from a pf, there are more important factors than innovation. People come to party, not to analyse your technique. If you get up on stage and look like a pro, keep good time and smile, you will take the audience with you, and the judges will follow. Big ups to Klaipeda, FreeKannabis and all the competitors, Mindaugas and Mario, Def One, Balu and Electro-Voice. See you all next year....? With so many girls looking like that I will see you next WEEK

For audio and video clips check out: Splinter LT and Street Industry

Mark SPLINTER

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