Live Review: Pete Philly and Perquisite - Brixton’s Hootananny, London 03/04/2025
Amsterdam-based hip-hop jazz cult royalty, Pete Philly and Perquisite are back and boogieing better than ever. The duo arrived at Brixton’s Hootananny alongside Jeangu Macrooy, who kicked things off with a soulfully rousing bang.
Jeangu Macrooy’s incredibly soothing vocals simmered over some satisfyingly funky instrumentation. Surprisingly, this was the band’s first time gigging in London. Macrooy and his band have been playing together for ten years and have gathered quite the following in the Netherlands—so much so that they were due to represent them in the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, which was unfortunately cancelled. Positively, Macrooy treated Brixton to the track he was due to play, Grow, one of his more somber pieces depicting the experience of going through a depressive period in your life. The sympathy shone through Macrooy’s intense vocal talent.
The level of talent across Macrooy’s band was a joy to the audience, as we watched the guitarist rip the audience a new one and the bassist take to the forefront of the stage for a bass-driven jam—what was a welcome, endlessly thunderous ride. Funk disco tracks like Space and Dance with Me ensured that the audience's feet were moving, putting the Hoot in Hootananny.
Leading the crowd off with Dance With Me perfectly settled the crowd in for the highly-talked-about live antics of the night’s headliners, Pete Philly and Perquisite. After a 15-year hiatus, the boys—very much now men—were back in town and performing with a fresh new perspective. On the subject, Perquisite said:
“It had been so long since we’d made music together it feels really good to come back together, especially with a different perspective, and a lot of experience we didn’t have the first time round.”
The pair always had an unusually mature, relatable method of writing their introspective rap hits, and it appears that that attitude has very much evolved and moved with them into their new music. Fans of the old will not be disappointed with tracks off their latest project, Eon, which they performed with passion and grace.
The title track, Eon, dedicated to Pete’s daughter, is an ode to fatherhood and navigating the trials and tribulations that come with it in a tough world. Pete’s charismatic but sincere performance allowed the audience to tap in and out of the exciting, bouncy tracks like the classic Fish to Fry, and take a moment to revel in the emotion of tracks like Eon.
For the more socio-politically inclined, the soulful classic rap song Empire is one of the best examples of the range of Pete Philly’s lyricism:
“That’s my only explanation that we keep recreating the same situation, the same sensation, the vanquish and anger throughout these nations.”
Pete’s flow and rhyming patterns scratch an itch in your brain, and it was all the more impressive to see live. This particular track is also where we get to see Pete display himself as a singer as well as a rapper, and it adds to the roaring, revolutionary language that he raps with. Speaking to the Hootananny crowd, the frontman said something which the audience can see resonates most heavily on this track:
“If it’s not the truth, I’m not invested in it!”
The band played a perfect variation of the old and the new. Tracks like Mystery Repeats, with Pete’s smooth flow flying over the equally smooth melody of Perquisite’s cello and Floris van der Vlugt’s beautiful baritone saxophone. One of the greatest joys of a Pete Philly and Perquisite show is the enormity of the band, which makes it feel like a true musical celebration. As well as Pete and Perq, they were joined by five other members: Noah Bouwman on drums, Kasper Kalf on double bass and e-bass, Sander de Bie on keys, Marnix Dorrestein on electric guitar, and the aforementioned Floris van der Vlugt on saxophone.
The audience was treated to the full expansion of the band’s musical talent on tracks such as Raindrop, where Pete is bidding farewell to a past life of ill health, and it crescendos to a sax solo which left jaws on the floor.
There was an array of feelings throughout the setlist—from upbeat dance tracks like Fish To Fry, somber reflective pieces like Eon, and chill, laid-back smooth hits like Lazy and Time Flies, which make you feel grateful for life.
The band put on such a performance that when it came time to say goodbye, they were forced to stay by the crowd, but only on Pete Philly’s one condition that:
“They put some drama in this bitch.”
The band played out with a crowd-engaging rendition of Q&A, where the audience and the band were singing together and for one another. It felt like everyone in that room was living like it was a completely singular moment that will never occur again. There was presence and togetherness and joy, and that can all be attributed to Pete Philly and Perquisite, the Dutch hip-hop legends.
Words by Adam Mir
Photo credit: Roeltje van de Sande Bakhuyzen
