Joggers, weed and Algerian flags – that is what a PNL concert looks and smells like.

 

Before the Franco-Algerian rap sensations came on, Flohio delivered a pretty good set-list, introducing herself to the audience, mainly made up of young French people smoking, wearing joggers, tinted glasses, sleek hair, and so on. 

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Brothers Ademo and N.O.S took to the stage after being booed and hissed at by every single person at KOKO London, fed-up after a three-and-a-half hour wait. If we had known their set was only going to last twenty-eight minutes, it probably wouldn’t have been a sold-out show.

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However, when the first few notes of ‘J’suis QLF’ were heard, the anger and impatience were soon forgotten. ‘QLF’ means ‘Que La Famille’ [‘Only the Family’] and is also the name of their label, as well as their slogan to prove they only trust their close friends, family, and their fans, of course. 

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"Comment ça va la mif ?" ["How’s it going fam?"] N.O.S asked once the first track was over. Much to their fans’ delight, the highly-auto-tuned ‘Naha’ then filled the venue, provoking a thunder of screams. 

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Seeing the audience come together, waving Algerian flags during ‘Le Monde ou Rien’ made me realise those two lads with their sunglasses, neatly-kept appearances and terrible stage presence might be worth it. 

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‘Bené’ was a joyful moment with PNL’s mates who all appeared on stage, with idiotic smiles, joints in one hand, phones in the other. What a great time they seemed to be having.

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After a few words from N.O.S – does Ademo ever speak? – ‘Jusqu’au dernier gramme’ was next on their set list. While the previous song got the audience swaying, this track brought back the boring and not-very-exciting atmosphere of this gig. 

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‘DA’ got all the hands in the air moving in sync, before their latest release – ‘91’s’ – got us grooving a bit more. Following that, I gathered they would only be playing ‘Onizuka’ and ‘À l’amoniaque’, before ending their first-ever concert – and probably their last one – in London.

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Dead on 11pm, the two rappers left the stage in the same conditions they came in: booed, hissed and cursed. 

 

This was probably the shortest and most uninteresting gig I have ever been to. But to watch so many Frenchies singing together, smoking joints and wearing their best joggers, was definitely something that was worth seeing.

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