Elefant Traks 10th Anniversary@ The HiFi Bar, Melbourne(27/02/2009)

Sat 28th Feb, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Sydney hip hop label, Elefant Traks have just turned 10 and to celebrate their first birthday in double figures, a bunch of signed acts got together for a party at Melbourne’s HiFi Bar. Headlining the event were label founders, The Herd, but one thing was clear by the end of the evening – the entire label is a herd, appropriately naming themselves after animals that stick together. Every performance was packed with loving shout outs to the others and guests galore and whilst seven hours of hip hop isn’t everyone’s dream date, there was a genuine appreciation throughout the room that no one could deny.

Combat Wombat kicked of the birthday celebrations early and set the scene for the next three acts to follow. Armed with samplers, turntables and mics, Combat Wombat were one of two acts from Melbourne town doing it for the locals. Blending hip hop and reggae, they got a decent reaction from the crowd, but would have been better suited if they were placed a couple of acts further down the bill – to use the reggae edge to split up the straight hip hop acts that followed.

With a rather loosely developed crowd now on the floor in front of stage, The Tongue, joined by three time DMC Champion, DJ Skoob, was quick to show his excitement as he bounded around, delivering his relatively straight edged rhymes. Considering the temperature had been in the high 30s all day, one couldn’t help but laugh at The Tongue in his stereotypical outfit and a resounding ‘duh’ was evident as he complained his hoodie was too hot. DJ Skoob was given a brief interlude of his own that went down well but the props have to go to The Tongue himself who returned to the stage to perform a freestyle about elbows at the request of the crowd. Soon enough he was back to the written songs and Real Thing seemed to get hands waving in the now increased crowd.

Here’s a drinking game for all you readers to play: go and see Horrorshow and every time he grabs his crotch take a drink. It won’t take long to be on the floor. In the same get up as his preceding label buddy, Adit was up back on turntables and Solo was out front blasting the rapidfire lyrics. Drawing a much bigger crowd for their show, there was a mass of air-hitting hands for favourites like No Rides Left, which included a great call and response between Solo and the crowd, before the duo finished up with a new track that had only been played once before. In true birthday spirit, Urthboy appeared from side of stage at Horrorshow’s conclusion to give Adit a cake, though oddly the punters didn’t sing happy birthday.

Next up was the combination of The Tongue and Ozi Batla for Astronomy Class. Again it was a similar vibe to Horrowshow, only with two front men there was more to get the crowd revved up. Inviting Vida Sunshyne to the stage, the standard hip hop routine was given a rest with the addition of soul and some strutting. The real winning edge that Astronomy Class had, though, was with Brink of War, which featured Benna Zenabomb on guest vocals and gave a taste of an alternative hip hop, complete with sirens and a military-esque backing track.

Unfortunately by this stage the key sound of the acts was becoming all too predictable. It was for this reason that the appearance of instruments scattered all about the stage in preparation for Mista Savona came as a massive relief. The Mista Savona band soon appeared and began to jam some reggae grooves for the appreciative crowd. Armed with drums and double percussion, guitar, bass, horns and keys, the band were a much needed break from the standard of the night. Soon enough Vida Sunshyne appeared to front the outfit and along with her soulful vocals the crowd ditched the hip hop arm dance and swayed along to the new reggae beats. To round things out The Herd’s Jane Tyrrell appeared on stage to provide some additional vocals, whilst a random dancer came out for some ass-shaking – an act that received the most rapturous response of the night.

Hermitude were next to showcase their skills, and whilst it seems silly to review DJs, let it be said that these guys are fantastic. Everyone seemed to be on the same wavelength, too, with Hermitude sparking more or less the same level of energy as the headliners as they delivered numbers such as the excellent Slychain from their latest album, as well as a cover of Bjork’s Joga. And what better way to finish a great set than with a mega keytar/drum-machine jam on the front of the stage.

Running a little overtime, it was finally The Herd’s turn to party with the packed HiFi Bar at around 12.30. Entering the stage alongside bassist Rok Poshtya (who looked awfully excited), Jane delivered some of her trademark soul sound before the rest of the crew walked out to kick things off with 77%. The song never seems to fail The Herd, and using it as an opener was no exception, with the crowd opting to bound up and down en masse. The moshing didn’t stop there though, with double hits like 2020 / Zug Zug revving punters up and one accordion induced (yes, accordion) mosh that seemed as much funny as it was fun.

The set continued, jam packed with crowd pleasers and mass sing alongs like The King Is Dead and I Was Only Nineteen, but the real delight came with Jane and guitarist Toe-Fu slinking across stage in perfect unison for the introduction of Unpredictable. The energetic song always seems to prove itself as The Herd’s best live track and the added reverb to Jane’s vocal as the manic song slowed down was an impressive trick.

The Herd were the founding members of Elefant Traks, so it was only right that the party ended with them. Their performance made them worthy headliners of any hip hop show, though, and they easily left the crowd – many of which had been dancing for over six hours – feeling pretty pleased. Happy birthday Elefant Traks – here’s to the next 10 years!