Last Monday night, Cup eve, the HiFi Bar hosted a stable of Obese and Elefant Traks artists. First up was a twitchy 360. Showing indie sensibilities, initially it seemed as though a hooded youth had taken to the stage to kill everyone. His half dozen songs sampled from Daft Punk and Massive Attack among others, and featured the most graphic song about domestic violence I am ever likely to hear, leaving the crowd aghast.

Next was a very impressive Pez showing off great samples, catchy melodies and impeccable timing and rhythm. None more so than the cracking These Days, which is unquestionably his strongest track. There was an unusual and welcome modesty when he suggested that it would sound tops if the crowd would join in on This Sound. They did and it was. Unsurprisingly, he rounded off his set with the Festival Song, which the punters loved. Mid set he called local MC Seth Sentry to the stage for a likeable track about hollandaise and a crappy café with a hot waitress.

D’Opus and Roshambo took the stage next. I have seen DoRo before and was underwhelmed. Sadly nothing changed the second time around. The only song the crowd responded to was Million Dollar Bill, despite all of Roshambo’s DJ trickery. On this note I should mention DJ Mexi who played between artists. Each time he came on, the crowd evacuated. Dodgy mixing and poor song choice were his undoing.

Urthboy was next and took the stage with lights dimmed and torch in hand for Lightbulbs. The boy, unlike the other performers on the night, really used dynamics to lift, excite and energise the crowd such that by the final track the dance-floor would have given a moshpit a run for its money. Highlights were predictably We Get Around (which was slightly reworked) and Please Come Home, but also the final track that sampled Mary J Blige’s Family Affair.

Finally were Muph and Plutonic with DJ Bonez. By this stage the pit in front of the stage was more landfill than dance-floor not that the whipped-up, drunken sweaty masses cared. M&P+B did not reach the heights of Urthboy in an unremarkable set that didn’t seem to enthuse the crowd. The trio elicited some crowd participation during Beautiful Ugly but that alone does not maketh a good gig. The trio have likeable singles which are getting plenty of airplay, but likeability does not cut the mustard when you immediate predecessor on stage dominated it.
All in all it was a good night but not great. Without Urthboy and Pez it would have been a long evening.

CHECK OUT THE PIX FROM THE GIG HERE