What started out as a placid atmosphere at Canberra’s Transit Bar on Thursday night quickly escalated into a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd of fervent punters, all eagerly awaiting the same thing; the all-star hip hop lineup of Phrase, Illy, M-Phazes and DJ Flagrant, performing their very first show of the official Clockwork album tour.
The names may not be familiar to some, but the beats are unmistakable. Both Phrase’s Clockwork album (with DJ Flagrant mixing many of the beats) and Illy’s Long Story Short album have received large amounts of airplay on Triple J, while M-Phazes is the mastermind producer behind many tracks on both of these albums. His work can also be heard in numerous tracks on the acclaimed Bliss n Eso album Flying Colors.
The night got underway with the local hip hop act Alike Minds and DJ Buik throwing down some catchy beats and solid lyrics, getting the crowd out of their chairs and up to the stage to bop along. Some of their better tracks were Win Some, Lose Some and Boogeyman, with fans singing along and waving their hands in the air.
A short intermission gave the opportunity to reload at the bar before the heavyweight acts got underway. After some quick banter from M-Phazes to get the crowd pumped up, Illy made his entrance to the stage by blasting straight into the first track from his album, Generation Y, sending the energy levels of everyone through the roof. With M-Phazes on the beats, there was no shortage of moshing or hands in the air as Illy laid down his grundgy track Rock Star Shit, Full Tank and the surprisingly deep and meaningful Our Country, the whole nose bleed section screaming the lyrics to each track. He finished up his explosive set with Pictures, giving his fans one last chance to sing along and jump to the beat.
A great 15 minute hip hop set from M-Phaze filled the gap between Illy and the main event for the evening – Big Phrase and DJ Flagrant. He started out his set with the track “My People”, instantly whipping the crowd into a frenzy of jumping and singing. Keeping the energy high, Phrase laid down Push Up and his classic hit, Clockwork, before bringing Jade McRae to the stage to perform their unforgettable, piano backed track, All Good.
As a quick intermission, Phrase pulled two fans out of the crowd to have a VB skolling competition on stage, getting everyone involved to determine who the winner should be. Afterwards, Illy joined Phrase on stage again to entertain with their song Surrender, before he closed out the set in true Phrase fashion with Burn It Down, followed by Sky Light. But the fans had not had enough yet, a deafening call for an encore saw him quickly get back on stage, finishing up with his epic track Spaceship while the front row went crazy.
Speaking with M-Phaze, DJ Flagrant and Jade McRae after the show, they couldn’t have been happier with the turnout, energy and atmosphere at Transit Bar, particularly for the first show of the tour. One thing was for sure, Canberra set the bar high for their rest of shows to come.
Written by Leigh McAullay
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