Obese Block Party @ The MetroTheatre, Sydney (09/10/09)

Mon 19th Oct, 2009 in Gig Reviews

Obese Records bought their annual showcase to town and the block was well and truly rocked. The Obese Block Party is a hip hop sampler pack, bringing together eight different acts from across the Obese roster.

Eight acts have since grown to nine in some states, with the late inclusion of Obese’s freshest signing Mantra. Each group plays for around 40 minutes, with the headline slots getting a little more time to keep the heads nodding.

Mantra, Skryptcha, then Hyjak N Torcha had the early slots, setting a very high standard early for what was a massive night of music to come.

Last weekend Spit Syndicate got to warm up for the Block Party when they joined Joyride and Horrorshow on stage for a group performance that absolutely blew the Metro apart. It was a good sign of things to come for their Block Party set. Spit Syndicate delivered like Karl Malone, filling the Metro’s crowd with a new found energy. The Double S put in a showstopper of a performance in front of their home crowd, with the standout tracks for mine being All Summer Long and Weapon of Choice. I think everyone in the Metro could have left satisfied after that short-but-sweet set, yet there was still plenty more to come.

Their first full length album Sleeping On Your Style has only found its way onto your record stores shelves in the last couple of weeks, but the hype around Blue Mountains crew Thundamentals has been not so quietly brewing since early last year when they dropped their debut EP. Tucka and Jeswon answered any critics with an excellent performance that was tighter than security at Long Bay.

Another reasonably recent signing to Obese has been Melbourne-based rhymer Illy. Lyrically, Illy is an extremely strong emcee. Not having seen him perform live, I was looking forward to seeing how he translated his verbally intricate style to the stage. The translation was crystal clear, as Illy rocked the Metro with triple J favourites Generation Y and Pictures, just to name a few. The man even managed to spark a near-mosh-pit, something seldom seen at a hip hop gig, when he started spitting over the guitar part from Smells like Teen Spirit. I think it’s safe to expect big things from this talented emcee in the future.

Next on the menu was Sydney’s first taste of Gully Platoon. Gully Platoon is a new project which features Joe New, Dialectrix and Obese Records boss man Pegz. In what was easily one of the most fun sets of the night, Gully Platoon gave us a Coat of Paint and showed us we had Nothing to Lose. The latter of the two tracks proved to be an excellent “call to arms” type track that had the whole crowd chanting with them – well, at least on the bits where they yell out “Gully Platoon”. Gully Platoon also had a surprise in store for us, playing the Pegz classic Back Then. By the end of the set more than a few people were hoping for a Gully Platoon tour.

Muph and Plutonic have toured heavily over the past year and it’s paying off for them, as the live set keeps getting tighter and tighter. Muph n Plutonic boasts a longer back catalogue than you might realise. Every time they drop the opening bars to the next song you think, “Hang on…I know this beat”. Then before you know it you’re already singing along with one of your old favourites. Another solid performance – just business as usual for Muph and Pluto.

“Obese, where the bloody hell are ya? D-rapht where the bloody hell are ya?” One of those questions had already been answered, and we were about to get the answer to the next one. As anyone who has so much as even flicked past Triple J on the dial would know, Drapht has a lot of party-starting tracks in his arsenal as well. This time out, though, there was no need to start the party as it was already in full swing. Falling, Where Ya From? and Sound Man all brought it home, although no party is complete until Jimmy Recard shows up.

Obese did an excellent job in organising this year’s Block Party. The down-times in-between sets were quick and barely noticeable, and every performance was of excellent quality.