Clash at the Quays! review: a rowdy night of hip-hop and wrestling

Clash at the Quays!

The Complex

★★★★★

Clash at the Quays! goes the whole hog when it comes to flashy pageantry akin to the likes of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) shows.

There are wrestling gimmicks (including a Dublin northside duo named Fresh Bros, who wear flashy brands and puff on disposable vapes), theatricality, mouthing off and well-executed moves. The only thing this show has that WWE doesn’t any more is plenty of expletives.

Combining hip-hop with wrestling may seem like a wacky combination and it certainly is. The running of the show ensures the two aren’t shoehorned in, though. Each stint is blended well, and just when you think it may be heading for a lull, the unexpected happens.

This could be Julia Louise Knifefist breaking up his Hardcore set with the Piña Colada song or it could be Negro Impacto having to sort out the Fresh Bros before wrapping up their performance with the Cha Cha Slide.

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The artists, also including KhakiKid, Efé, Curtisy and organiser Ahmed, With Love., have plenty of stage presence and a show of their own to put on. Each performer has their own personality and style, just as the wrestlers do. There is a rap battle and a battle of the bands as the artists try their hand at fighting talk.

While perhaps not the most polished Fringe show, Clash at the Quays! carries this fact well, with performers using off-moments as a result of sound and microphone issues (which happen often enough and would be the only downside) to hype themselves up or call our their other opponents.

[ Dublin Fringe Festival reviews ]

[ Irish hip hop meets wrestling: ‘It’s the beauty of the absurd that both these things have’ ]

This show is an evening of great musical performances, impressive wrestling and plenty of charisma and hype. In true WWE fashion, the show ends with Ahmed, With Love. being thrown through a table by his fellow performers, rounding off a rowdy night of hip-hop and wrestling.

Clash at the Quays! was a one-night-only event on Saturday, September 16th at the Complex, Dublin, as part of Dublin Fringe Festival