Come Together Festival at Big Top Luna Park 8/6/13 - Live Review

From my time being a diehard believer in the genre, I’ve come to realise that behind that tough bravado that hip hop usually employs, we’re actually one damn devoted community. Hip hop heads united this year for the annual Come Together Festival, held at Luna Park. In past years the line-up has seen the likes of 360, Horrorshow, Hermitude, and Seth Sentry storming up The Big Top stage.

This year they had this cool deal that allowed for free rides all day prior to the commencement of the actual gig. Although it should have been publicised more in order to draw in more ticket sales, for those of us concert-goers who utilised the deal, it made for plenty of time to get to know other hip hop heads, and perhaps more importantly, play a game or two of ‘spot the rapper’ from the confinements of the Ferris Wheel.

Crochet Crooks kicked off the festival to an already enthusiastic crowd. They mastered pulling off both a lively performance, yet kept it chill with their genre blending melodies. Expect big things from these boys, who are definitely headed down the same path as other successful Inner-West crews.

Come Together veteran Evil Eddie certainly turned up the heat during his set, in accordance to his single Queensland. The witty rapper soon had the entire audience ready and willing to ‘Shake that gluteus maximus’ along to his catchy tune.

Sydney duo, Jackie Onassis, graced the stage with a set that proved that they deserved to be way higher on the bill. Although a slow track, the choice to open with Smoke Trails proved magic - instantly drawing in the crowd to move together in a trance to Raph’s superb production. Naturally MC Kai sported a Spit Syndicate shirt, representing that family-loving that is the collective One Day Crew. And no surprise, this love was spoken (well, rapped) when no other than the ‘Double S’ joined Jackie Onassis on stage for an extremely energetic rendition of Holiday, the title track to their huge debut EP. Their set concluded with Crystal Balling, a track that’s been receiving decent attention after recently having a few spins on Triple J. Raph’s open personality and mimicking of the brass sections prominent in the song shone from the back of the stage, as did Kai’s charismatic grin and crisp delivery of lyrics, ensuring that every person in the place found the set to be thoroughly enjoyable.

Melbourne hip hop heartthrob Allday took to the stage opening with his fresh sounding track Steezed Out, which proved a welcome number to the crowd (approximately 75% twelvie fangirls). Hyped up recent single Girl in the Sun had the whole crowd singing along to the chorus, as did Girls in Jeans, and his closing song So Good which charted in last year’s Hottest 100.

I’ve got to be honest here; I had mistakenly underestimated Full Tote Odds. But man, can they pack a punch. Their concrete sound even drew in all the stranglers resting up in the foyer. Full Tote Odds delivered an extremely solid set which had the entire crowd, both the youngins and full grown men alike, all eagerly singing along to their final song ‘Southern Wind’.

Dialectrix’s hard hitting beats and fierce lyrics seemed to appeal to more of the hard core hip hop goers. His technical flow was well executed live and showed just how experienced this MC is.

Hailing from Sydney, the boys from Spit Syndicate, Nick Lupi and Jimmy Nice with DJ Joyride, brought to a much anticipated set all their usual charm. They commanded the crowd’s attention performing songs spanning their entire catalogue; however their most recent singles Folly and Beauty in the Bricks undoubtedly received the greatest response. All in all, their charismatic onstage presence resonated throughout the entire venue to give an explosive performance that was world class.

And now we come to The Herd which was, of course, one of the stand-out performances of the evening. The band currently consists of two MCs, four instrumentalists, one producer, and wonder woman Jane Tyrell. As an obviously large band, every member brought a vital individuality to their performance, proving that bigger is better. The entire forty-five minute set was packed with brilliant songs, demonstrating just how versatile their music is. The politically-infused 2020, The King is Dead, 77%, and Burn Down the Parliament all received rapturous audience participation. Pretty fucking glorious. In contrast, the iconic I Was Only Nineteen exhibited a much more sensitive tone, which affected the entire crowd emotionally. They closed with Unpredictable, the song title being pretty relevant; as I take it that no one was prepared for how insane that track becomes live. The loops, quickening tempo, and fast-paced switches between languages, created an almost psychedelic atmosphere with band members and audience alike getting lost in the moment.

Illy brought out the big guns; the drums, which made for one powerful performance. He certainly catered to the masses, playing a collection of recognisable songs in a fuelled show demonstrating his ability to connect well with his audience. Phones and lighters were held in the air during his hit Cigarettes. The crowd responded well to two new tracks, On & On, which was only released a week ago, and No Tomorrow, which had never been heard before.

Headliner Drapht has this uncanny ability to turn his live shows into an experience that is way beyond any of his recorded material. Yes, cheeky clip of his accent included. His lively on stage presence made all hearts in the room turn for Drapht; even though his only job was to spit rhymes, you could just tell that he was a damn genuine guy. After the first few songs he paused to break up a fight. “Oi, oi, oi. You two there, I dare you to hug. Do it.” It was in that moment that all respect for Drapht soared to top bloke. He turned the festivities up a notch with his tracks Where Ya From and Bali Party (altered to Sydney Party, for obvious reasons). Continuing with that hip hop theme of wearing t-shirts in honour of mates, Drapht donned an ‘I’m Rowan Dix Bitch’ tee, and surprise, welcomed to the stage was DJ Joyride. Drapht was then supported by Joyride and N’fa Jones for his track 1990’s, which is one of Drapht’s most recent releases. The more chilled vibe on this tune is not something we’ve heard from Drapht much before, and paired with Joyride’s superb vocals it made for what was an indescribable live experience. Yeah I’m going to admit it; I may have shed a tear. Mantra also joined in for We Own the Night, which eventuated into merry dance moves and hugs shared by all on stage. To everyone’s despair the set was forced to be cut short a little, but Drapht managed to squeeze in a few favourites at the end. Jimmy Recard followed by Rapunzel swept up the set, which had the thousands of punters exerting just as much as energy as Drapht himself in the final performance.

Written by Rosie Grady Photos by Dylan Moore SEE MORE HERE

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