Missed Connection: Chicagoist Seeking Uffie

By Tankboy in Arts & Entertainment on Aug 29, 2006 6:59PM

We really should have known better.

We were all stoked to see Brit-hop sensation Uffie live, and in the flesh, at The Funky Buddha Lounge last night. We did out homework, checked up on her set-time and showed up just in time to catch her in the 10:30 slot. As we walked in we realized that since there was only a handful of cool kids we were obviously too early. Now, we have booked hip-hop acts in the past, and should have remembered that 98% of live acts that take place in a nightclub (as opposed to a concert venue) are NOT going to start on time.

So we settled in and decided to wait it out. We had been to The Funky Buddha Lounge a couple years before and had walked away with a seething hatred for the joint and its plastic staff. What a difference a few years makes, though! Granted, the bartenders at the front bar were terrible, but they seemed to be lost in some haze rather than being willfully ignorant of their surroundings. Every other staff member we encountered was helpful, informative and as friendly as could be. This helped a lot as 10:30 came and went … and then 11:30 … and then 12:30 … and then we just gave up. Two hours was long enough to wait.

We would like to emphasize that our departure at that hour had nothing to do with the club’s ambience. The DJs were fun – even if mixing Daft Punk into Dee-lite is a little predictable (but we kept our mouth shut because a) we like those tunes and b) there was the off-chance they were being trotted out as some sort of retro cheekiness … and we’re not quite ready for Daft Punk to be totally retro yet) – and kept the room dancing. The crowd were definitely scensters from the LDW and Johnny Love-stylee camps, but there was a decided lack of attitude that we found refreshing. We jjust had to take off because, well, we're getting older and that morning Chicagoist staff meeting keeps arriving earlier and earlier.

Now about Uffie.

We felt, due to the fact that Uffie only really has two tracks out there under her belt, that it was important to see her in a live setting. Judging by her live schedule, she plays out a lot and we took that to be a good signifier that there may be more depth to her than just two sonically inventive and catchy songs. One reason we really wanted to hear more of her oeuvre had to do with another fem-Brit-hopper that has gained prominence of late. Yes, we mean Lily Allen. Allen came out with two killer tracks at the outset that excited the hell out of us. Then her full-length came out, and while it certainly has attained the status of guilty summer pleasure, we felt that she artistically dropped the ball. Since Allen didn’t really have a live history under her belt we should’ve expected as much, since playing in front of a demanding crowd of clubbers probably would have terminated her career before it even got started.

So, yes, we had high hopes for Uffie and were hoping to see our high opinion of her translated into a sermon on the mount we could deliver with confidence. Unfortunately, since she went on so late on a school night, we can’t do that. We wish we could, but we can’t.

So we’ll just have to wait until her next single drops in two months, hope it’s as good as what’s out there so far, and wait it out on the off chance she ever actually makes it back to Chicago.