Public Enemy @ The CornerHotel, Melbourne (29/12/10)

Fri 31st Dec, 2010 in Gig Reviews

Support for the night is led by The Herd member, Ozi Batla who performs in a more traditional Hip-hop act than his larger group, with a turntabalist, DJ Wasabi, in place of a folk band as backing. The backing draws from lounge jazz, funk and soul with well placed scratches and solid beats intermingling on tracks like Put It On Wax. This puts him more in line with 1200 Techniques than other Aussie Hip Hop acts. Ozi offsets his rhymes with some fairly decent sung vocals which sit well throughout except for on Wild Colonial where they seem a tad flat. The Herd track 77% receives the best response with its call to, “Wake up, this country needs a fucking shake up.”

Next up the unbilled Sudanese rapper Bangs makes an unscheduled appearance. The gathered audience responds well to the acts enthusiasm if not their music. Jumping around stage and throwing bags of popcorn into the crowd, Bangs pumps the crowd up for the headliner. However whether it is due mainly to cultural or linguistic barriers the actual music is below average. The rhymes are flat and not on the beat, whilst lyrical content is limited to wishing a merry Christmas or my personal favourite Take U To Da Movies, “I got the popcorn, I know what else you like.” Perhaps had Bangs rapped in his native tongue these problems would be avoided, nevertheless the crowd seems to have fun with it even if few will pursue his music any further.

Supposedly a full performance of Fear Of A Black Planet, Public Enemy are quick to shake things up by asserting that the show will be Fear Of A Black Planet themed but not a straight throw performance. With the S1W’s doing their now traditional military strut things kick into gear early with Brothers Gonna Work It Out and its call and response of, “We are ready if you are ready.” While Chuck D brings his presence through his intimidating preacher like vocal quality it is the irresistible Flavor Flav who rules the audiences hearts pulling out his iconic clock from under his shirt to lead 911 Is A Joke.

A large part of Flavor’s appeal is his loose, distinctive dancing creating a direct juxtaposition with the stiff movements of the S1W’s. A brief interlude into the riff from Rappers Delight introduces us to a full live band including guitar, bass and drums adding layers to the work of DJ Lord, who fills the lofty shoes of Terminator X.

At this point we take a turn away from the Fear Of A Black Planet album with the heavy metal crossover Bring The Noise before Don’t Believe The Hype sees the Mic palmed to the front row for the title call. After an entertaining story about Flavor’s revenge on a radio DJ we are treated to Cold Lampin’ With Flavor before a dedication to Terminator X sees Flavor throwing the shirt from off his back into the audience.

New track Say It Like It Really Is shows Public Enemy to be just as politically motivated as ever before Flavor draws out his distinctive catch call of, “Yea Boi!” Can’t Do Nuttin’ For Ya Man and Shut Em Down see Flavor repeatedly stage diving into the crowd before Arizona and She Watch Channel Zero?! Round out the set before the group close with the call to arms that is Fight The Power. There is the distinct aura of a group willing to keep going all night, after over two and half hours Public Enemy reluctantly give into promoters closing out with Flavor promoting a message of peace.