BLUE KING - Warp Magazine

36 Live Reviews Live Reviews 37
DRApHT
LIFE OF RILEy TOUR
thE rEPuBLic Bar WEdnEsday aPriL 6
Hailing from Perth, Drapht has firmly
established himself as the biggest solo hip hop
in the country at the moment and is currently
on a national tour for his aria chart topping
album the Life of Riley.
This year in Tassie alone, he’s played MS
Fest, and two midweek sell-out shows at
the Republic Bar, which is testament to his
popularity that they were both mid-week.
The night opened up with local MC Mdusu on
stage. Performing solo with a CD player as
his DJ, Mdusu recounted to the crowd intimate
stories of his family life and time growing up.
Joined halfway through his set by fellow Hobart
MC Dundee, the tempo moved up a notch as
the two belted out the lyrics.
The second support, Melbourne MC Mantra,
was signed last year to Obese and with
his debut album Power of the Spoken still
fresh, Mantra held the crowd with his very
individualistic flowing style.
With DJ Wasabi, known also from his work
with environmentalist hip hop outfit Combat
Wombat, it was evident that many in the crowd
were there to see him more so than Drapht.
By the time Drapht was up, the pub was
heaving from the sold-out crowd. Joined on
stage by back-up MC, DJ, live drummer and
bass player, Drapht performed all his Triple J
favourites from the albums, Who am i, Brothers
Grimm and life of Riley.
His tracks Rapunzel, Drink Drank Drunk and
Rapunzel all issued a huge response from
the crowd. There was yelling, screaming and
crowd surfing, including from Drapht himself –
the kind of energy usually roused at punk and
metal gigs. Australian hip hop is alive and well,
and by the tight demographic audience, it’s
currently the voice of youth.
NIC ORME
IMAGE: ANTONY MARKOVITCH
FRENzAL RHOmB
thE BrisBanE hotEL sunday aPriL 24
I arrived early in anticipation of the night ahead
and was pleasantly surprised to find Frenzal
Rhomb guitarist Lindsay McDougall out the
front of the venue. After a brief chat over life
and everything in between, we departed ways.
Kicking off the night was The Bears. Heavy on
the instrumental, looking fresh out of college
and not particularly eager to please, they
started off slowly but further into the set their
performance became more energized and
enjoyable to watch.
Next up was luca Brasi. The crowd, while
impatient and chanting for Frenzal Rhomb,
were incredibly responsive to these guys.
Strong vocals, thumping energy, this band
was kicking off the night in true moshing style.
When you start fearing for your safety while
juggling a notepad and camera you know
they’ve struck the right chord.
By the time Frenzal Rhomb hit the stage the
audience had jam packed the venue within an
inch of its life, ice cream bucket heads and
dreadlocks were aplenty, bringing back fond
memories of the early 90s and all that teen
spirit. Blasting out favourites such as Punch
in the Face and Mum Changed the locks, with
a voice that knocks the old proverbial socks
off and a glorious display of dreads, it was a
show that left your senses reeling. Bodies were
tossed through the air and occasional quips
from the singer Jason Whalley made it more
than your standard, play by numbers show.
Lindsay ending the set with an amusing solo
about dropping the soap was a nice comedic
turn to a night that had me scarpering to safer
ground after the moshing turned lethal.
Frenzal Rhomb in my opinion were the
messiahs of the 90s and should be brought
back to the music scene with a vengeance.
Fantastic night at The Brisbane Hotel!
MELITA WRAThALL
IMAGE: MARTIN NESTER
ADALITA AND
AmAyA LAUCIRCA
thE rEPuBLic Bar thursday aPriL 21
THE mAGNIFICENTS
AT mOBIUS
MoBius WEdnEsday aPriL 6
THE HOLIDAyS WITH
GOLDFIELDS
thE rEPuBLic Bar & cafE friday aPriL 8
IMAGE: ZOEZAC VISOIU
IMAGE: ANTONY MARKOVITCH
Nine in club years is a pretty long time. It’s
like dog years. But for nightclubs, time goes
even quicker; fresh young faces of new-breed
clubbers become lax and jaded before the year
is out.
Music genres rise and fall with the change of
the seasons and what’s hot one minute is an
empty wasteland the next.
Mobius Lounge Bar on Despard St in Hobart
made it to its ninth year this April. Sure, the
couches have changed and so has the sound
system, but the same friendly faces behind the
bar and the decks have stayed on.
Celebrating this milestone, Mobius presented
its loyal patrons with the one-off Hobart
performance of hip hop supergroup
The Magnificents.
In likely their most intimate club show ever,
legendary freestyle emcee Supernatural,
virtuoso human beatbox Rahzel and the hard
working DJ JS-1 attracted a keen line of
punters around the corner from early in
the evening.
Before they took to the stage the vibe was
appropriately established by the supporting
Friday night and gig-goers at the Republic Bar
& Cafe have gotten themselves all hot and
heavy – but the dreamy jams of The holidays
happen to be a pretty trendy antidote.
The Sydney quartet’s sunny palette of indie
rock is lapped up by the sell-out crowd who
bend and bob with each mellow-ey groove
delivered by frontman Simon Jones.
To new ears, The holidays sound is pretty
curious. At first I’m surprised by the choice of
combining such thrashy riffs with tropic beats,
expecting a more low-fi set. The polished vocal
loops from Jones and co seem to pull it all
together, however, and after a few numbers
I’m hanging out to see what happens next.
The delightful hooks of Moonlight hours has
the crowd in a tizzy, one of many anthems to
gain airplay after the release of the band’s first
album Post Paradise.
After this we’re treated to a steady stream of
moments from their Spring release -
a highlight being the superb rendition of Broken
DJs, playing classic hip hop tracks. When The
Magnificents began, the place was packed.
A highlight of the evening involved
Supernatural asking the audience to hold up
anything they had in their pockets and then
proceeding to incorporate these items into his
rhymes. The trio regularly switched things up
to keep it interesting and I particularly enjoyed
a part of the show that incorporated some
classic R&B songs.
Towards the end of the performance Rahzel
performed his signature song, if Your Mother
only knew; an incredible display of his ability to
vocally mimic multiple musical elements
at the same time. The show was solid and
enjoyable though I thought it lacked any highenergy
moments.
At the end of the show DJ JS-1 thanked the
audience for coming out and supporting real
Hip Hop.
Bones. The humming, lazy-paced structure,
tinkling percussion and soothing vocals
drenched the audience in warmth before
razzing itself to a frenetic finish. I really liked it.
The transformative quality of The holidays’
sound is impressive, but difficult to realise
in your typical pub setting. I think I wanted
more time with it. More time to suss out what
tricks (there were a lot of them) were going on
beneath the fuzz and feedback – but that might
have been because I was standing next to the
speakers.
warpmagazine.com.au warpmagazine.com.au
IMAGE: SARAH RYAN
Melbourne based singer-songwriter Amaya
laucirca’s one woman alt-rock songbird
performance was really sweet. Mellow yet
heart-wrenching on occasion, the songs
evoked a strange mix of supersweet lullaby
and alt-folk sensibilities.
She reminded me a little of kirsten hersh - this
little lady has a very beautiful voice, very lovely
songs; it was uplifting and enjoyable to hear.
Definite ear candy.
On and offstage, Adalita has an ageless and
striking presence. I was excited to see her new
rock solo show, having always been thrilled by
her work with Magic Dirt.
Touring her new self-titled solo album,
Adalita’s dedication of her set to her deceased
collaborator Dean Turner struck a spirited and
powerful chord.
This courageous performer, accompanied by
electric guitar and backing track delivered an
incredibly strong one woman show. With lyrical
and passionate songs in arm she sung her
heart out and we all listened.
It was intimate and raw and she wasn’t scared
to use a bit of distortion and rock it out a little.
After all, this is Australia’s premier woman
in rock.
There’s not enough chicks in rock. I have
been waiting to see a show like this my entire
life. It was a milestone for me, as it broke the
conventions of the female singer-songwriter.
This wasn’t all soft harmonies. This was solo
rock! It was pure and it came from a place of
love and loss and strength. Pop songs with
integral sincerity.
Joined onstage by Amaya for the last few songs
of the night – their collaboration filled the room
with resonant rock-chic awesomeness.
On the 15th gig of their tour Adalita and Amaya
laucirca’s Hobart show was a very special
event, enjoyed by all.
zOEzAC VISOIU
LINDSAY BLACk
SARAh LEARY