Lupe Fiasco @ the PalaceTheatre, Melbourne (27/01/09)

Sat 31st Jan, 2009 in Gig Reviews

It may have come a day late, but my patriotism was there for all to see at the Palace on Tuesday night, when I proudly watched the quality Australian hip hop on show. Walking through the doors of the venue, I was greeted with a very exciting poster exclaiming that local hip hop acts Pez and Muph & Plutonic were flying the Aussie flag, warming up for their more notorious American contemporary, Lupe Fiasco. It is no secret that Australian hip-hop has come on in leaps and bounds in the past five years. Gone are the days were gigs like this were filled by overseas acts, with the country now having its own thriving scene and having the ability to provide adequate support to more illustrious international acts. Unfortunately, for these two Aussie acts, the crowd’s patriotism did not flow on from Monday’s Australia Day festivities and they were greeted with a very unresponsive crowd.

Flavour of the month Pez, riding the wave of his number seven placing in Triple J’s Hottest 100, was the first to deal with the subdued crowd. I have been fortunate to watch the emergence of Pez first hand. From the opening track Aint Got Time, I was impressed by Pez’s professionalism. His vocals are as crisp as I have heard from a MC live, clearly articulating each word, allowing the crowd to follow his lyrics with ease. He also has an impeccable stage manner. He interacts with the crowd like he is one of them, as though he is one of their mates who has just jumped on stage for their pleasure. You get the sense that he is surprised by his recent success, still coming to terms that he is the one on stage and no longer just another member of the crowd. With all this said, it was only a matter of time that the crowd got going, providing a deserved cheer for Hailey Cramer’s vocals in These Days. The raucous cheer for Pez’s final track, fan favourite, The Festival Song, topped this. The crowd went nuts and responded by clapping in unison with the beat.

Muph & Plutonic, another local act who have also enjoyed a quick rise to the top of Australia’s hip-hop scene, immediately followed Pez. Upon starting their set, MC Muph rather humbly said to the crowd that they knew they were all there to see Lupe Fiasco and would merely try to get them going. This was an obvious response to the crowd’s reaction to Pez. Unfortunately, when I describe the crowd going nuts, I mean to say a portion of it, for there was a great deal of people who just weren’t feeling it. And that is not a reflection on Pez or Muph & Plutonic. One could interpret it as the uniqueness of Australia’s hip-hop scene, with its distinctive sound and flavour differing from the sound emanating from their American compatriots. Others could say that this was a commercial crowd, appreciative of their Kanye Wests and Jay Zs, but oblivious to the scene in their own country that still attracts a very alternative crowd. Either way, the crowd was giving Muph & Plutonic nothing, and for the majority of their set, the Palace was quite subdued. Playing tracks including Walking Tightropes and Heaps Good, it was not until the crowd participation of Beautiful Ugly that things became a bit more enthused.

Without taking anything away from Muph & Plutonic, who played an entertaining and enjoyable set, it was surprising that Pez did not fill the later timeslot. His huge placing in the Hottest 100 suggests that he is a crowd favourite and on the night, did the better job of warming them. At times, however, it seemed nothing Australian could have got the punters going, who were there to see only one act, Wasalu Muhammad Jaco, or as the crowd know him, Lupe Fiasco. Fortunately, he did not disappoint.

He launched himself on the crowd; running on to stage with a stack of energy and opening with the memorable Kick, Push. Within a minute, Lupe indicated to his DJ and band to stop the track, asking the technical crew to turn his microphone up. Once that was achieved, Lupe walked off stage and did an exact replica of his previous start. It really displayed his polish as a performer and the crowd loved it. It was a really great opening with so much energy from Lupe and his band as well as the crowd, who were singing every single word. This continued with his next track, Hip-Hop Saved My Life, that was met with a similar amount of vocals from the crowd, encouraging Lupe, who was feeding off their energy. Things were more subdued with Gold Watch, but that changed when Lupe exclaimed, ‘this is one for the ladies’, and the recognisable tune of Sunshine got going. I Gotcha and Go Go Gadget Flow both had huge crowd responses and Paris, Tokyo was one of the better tracks of the night. Before too long the place erupted when Superstar was played, being met by singing throughout the venue and dancing throughout the crowd.

At the conclusion of the track, Lupe went off stage while the rest of the band remained where they were getting the crowd going and building a heightened level of anticipation. Before too long a shirtless Lupe ran back on stage to a thunderous response, eventually adorning a t-shirt exclaiming FREE GAZA, which received a huge crowd response. The place was really erupting. And it continued, for what ensued was one of the better finishes to a concert I have seen. The encore that doubled as the track of the night, Daydreamin’, was nothing shot of spectacular. Going for three times as long as the original, it saw the bass guitarist sing the tracks chorus beautifully, in what was a very extended introduction. It was reminiscent of the sort of the jazz of Lupe’s hometown, Chicago . It was stunning. Eventually the actual track got going and the crowd responded with the biggest cheer of the night. It was a really memorable moment and an apt finish to what was a surprisingly superb concert.

CHECK OUT THE PIX FROM THE SHOW HERE