Drapht @ Adelaide CasinoBalcony Bar, Adelaide(23/05/11)

Thu 26th May, 2011 in Gig Reviews

When the 23rd of May rolled around, the hardworking employees of Adelaide’s hospitality industry all rejoiced, Thank God It’s Monday. TGIM has been an initiative of Carlton Dry, and is an attempt to aid those Australians who “have their weekends on Mondays”.

Starting in December last year, the program has attracted some of Australia’s finest names, including Cloud Control, Gypsy & The Cat, Bluejuice, Hungry Kids of Hungary, Bag Raiders, Philadelphia Grand Jury, Miami Horror, Ajax, The Swiss, Hook n’ Sling, and most recently, hip-hop superstar, Drapht – and wasn’t Adelaide excited (yes).

As I rounded the corner to the Balcony Bar at the Adelaide Casino, I was greeted by a considerably large line of excited ‘Drapht fans’ and industry workers. A nervous panic spread through the queue when a rumour leaked that the bar was almost at capacity. Nevertheless, the line length stayed constant as people were prepared to wait to see the man who was dominating the Australian hip-hop scene of late. A man donning a black cap casually passed by the queue of ‘Drapht Fans’ almost completely unnoticed, and made his way to the back bar. I write ‘Drapht fans’ as I use the term loosely – the man that walked by unnoticed was none other than Paul Ridge, aka Drapht. Well done Adelaide. The boy from the Happy Wash ads was recognised amongst the crowd, but Drapht wasn’t. Good form.

Finally everyone made it into the venue and Perth wordsmith Drapht was ready to begin his set. I understand that they wanted to let as many people as possible in, but there were just too many punters for the designated area. The balcony bar was set up so that a large portion of the crowd could not see the stage. It is basically an L-shaped area with glass walls on one side of the room. This left many spilling around the bend of the room, watching the performance through glass barriers as though we were at the zoo.

Regardless, Drapht took to the stage like a seasoned performer, exciting fans whether they were in the mosh, or looking through the glass. Upon stepping on stage, he immediately called for the mass to raise their hands in the air, and the crowd followed obediently. Soon enough, they were moving forward and backward in unison to the catchy beat of opener, Sing It. Offering a back story to Drapht’s wonder years, Sing It is effortlessly captivating, with each sample of the heavily layered track slotting in perfectly. As a result, Drapht had the entirety of the energized crowd following his words unquestioningly and ‘sing[ing] along’.

Stopping briefly to greet his loyal Adelaide fans, Drapht promptly launched into old favourite Where Yah From, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Being the charming entertainer that he is, Drapht adapted the refrain to repeat “Adelaide in the house tonight” and “Adelaide where the bloody hell are yah?” and the crowd ate up every bit of it. Two songs in and he was already killing it – there is a reason he is known as one of Australia’s best live hip-hop acts.

The charismatic Western Australian performed a healthy balance of his latest album, The Life of Riley (released just last month), and his former glory, Brothers Grimm, which was one of the biggest selling independent records of 2009. The crowd responded just as well to the new as they did to the old, which is a very promising sign for the new album – and may I just say that it is a fantastic record.

A brief scuffle broke out in the mosh part-way through the set, but Drapht took control of the situation like a boss, naming and shaming the “c*** muppet” who threw the first punch. After the insistent ‘boo’s’ directed at the party-pooper began to die down, the show continued as Drapht made his way to the number 12 track of Triple J’s Hottest 100 for 2010; platinum-single, Rapunzel. The 60’s phsychedelic pop tune had people singing and dancing along with the surf-rock vibes, myself included. It was easily one of the highlights for the set, as expected.

Falling came next, the sombre, reflective tones calming the crowd briefly before the gritty sounds of Sound Man once again had the crowd buzzing. As Sound Man wrapped up, everyone was well aware that we were nearing the end of the set. This could mean only one thing; Jimmy. As soon as those first 3 beats dropped, the crowd was hysterical – Mr Jimmy Recard was in the building and we couldn’t be happier. The crowd passionately shouted Drapht’s legendary lyrics back at him and it was evident that he no longer needed the ‘successfully named’ alter ego, it was now ‘De-rapht to the death’.

The talented MC farewelled the night with a goodbye to his alter ego in the form of RIP JR. The death of Jimmy signals a new era for Drapht and I am all too excited to see where it takes him. He has been absolutely dominating the Australian hip-hop scene of late and is showing no signs of stopping any time soon so it is with no uncertainty that I say rest in peace Jimmy Recard, long live Drapht.