The Herd @ Prince Bandroom,Melbourne (24/07/09)

Tue 28th Jul, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Within moments of this Sydney hip hop collective taking to the stage at the Prince Bandroom, The Herd multiplies its numbers as the crowd accelerate eagerly with the building pace of blinder Unpredictable. By the time the tune hits top speed the brood, both on stage and off, are bouncing with the gypsy rhythm. The audience has instantly joined the party. And why wouldn’t we? Not only are there two MCs leaping about the stage and rhyming at the pace of ridiculous-words-per-minute, there’s also a bloke rocking out on a clarinet! Brilliant.

There is just something so god damn likable about this crew of vibe crafters. There is an on stage atmosphere akin to Friday night bevies in your mates living room. Amongst the endless cheeky interactions, they joke, chase each other and seemingly pick on the bass player: yet flowing forth from these shenanigans are splendidly astute anti-war, anti-corporatism sentiments. Perhaps this is their appeal. They lyrically explore their political ideals in one musically pumped two-finger salute to The Man, but they never take themselves too seriously. The capped and hoodied hip hop troubadours Ozi Batla and Urthboy are shrewd wordsmiths and the crowd take any opportunity to join them in their oration. “Are you f**king insane”, is belted back at the band during 2020.

There is a feast for the eyes on stage. The Herd are a dynamic octo mob with 2 MCs and the sharp riffs and thumping bass line of three guitarists, Sulo, Toe-Fu and Rok. Unkle Ho chiefly resides over beats and Traksewt moves from clarinet to accordion. Then there’s the sublime vocal of songbird Jane Tyrrell. Her deep rich tone brings another dimension to every refrain. Throughout the set, the others each have a shot at harmonising with her. Mics are shared, flung around and jabbed in the bassists face and the sound always works. The infectious enthusiasm on stage fuels the punters and commands for the crowd to jump are fervently obeyed.

Crowd winners are 77%, Time To Face The Truth, and We can’t Hear You. The bitter farewell ode to Johnny Howard, The King Is Dead is another set stand out but the most stirring of highlights comes with their wildly popular cover of Redgum’s Only 19. The punters passionately holler every word, every pause in the lyrics is filled with cheers of approval and the roof is blown off the Prince.

After an encore is uproariously demanded they take the stage again and launch into insanely contagious Zug Zug. The room is a mass of heaving hips with the surf rock riffs and powerful vocals drive the chorus into full funk throttle.

Throughout the encore Jane, Ozi Batla and Urthboy endearingly make an effort to shake hands with as many in the throng as they can reach. They clearly have a lot of time for their fans. It’s this down-to-earth attitude coupled with the intelligent reflection in their song writing that keeps them firmly up there with the cream of the Aussie hip hop crop.

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE GIG HERE