De La Soul @ Albert Hall, Manchester, 2 Mar

Manchester’s Albert Hall is the perfect venue for De La Soul. Much like the renovated Methodist chapel – complete with stained glass windows and organ pipes – the legendary hip-hop trio have built a reputation on reinvention while retaining an irrepressible sense of identity. After 30 years of critical acclaim, a Grammy and managing to crowdfund their latest album in a matter of hours, you could forgive them for resting on their laurels a little.

But De La Soul aren’t content to appeal to a sense of legacy. Brash, energetic and playfully antagonistic, they come out on the offensive: "People at the top, what the fuck are you doing? The majority of you motherfuckers are watching a movie!"

They construct the set like some meta live album, pulling tracks from their idiosyncratic back catalogue and seamlessly tying them together with skits and audience participation. Pos and Dave constantly work the crowd, dividing the Albert Hall down the middle and igniting the audience into a loud and heated competition; Stakes Is High becomes a battle between the floor and balcony, I Am I Be separates ‘heads’ from ‘the people’.

Finding excitement in the unexpected, De La switch up song structures and cut the music on classic breaks. As Dave delves into some hip-hop history, the group are joined by surprise guest and Native Tongues affiliate Dres for a riotous rendition of Black Sheep’s Flavor of the Month. An extended version of The Choice is Yours becomes a masterclass in band interplay and crowd interaction, stopping and starting until they ‘pick it up, pick it up, pick it up!’ On Feel Good Inc., the Gorillaz cut that De La guested on in 2005, Pos transforms the floor into a sea of clapping hands; on Ring Ring Ring, Dave turns the refrain into rowdy call and response. De La Soul may have evolved over the last three decades but they have stayed true showmen – always in control while letting the crowd loose.