After the demise of Stepforward at Goodbar I was a little sceptical of returning to another new hip hop night there, but I was proven wrong and left knowing I’d be back on the regular.

Upon entering I ventured downstairs and was welcomed by the signature sound of Nick Toth spinning his usual variety of golden era classics, current club bangers and of course his weapon of choice – the dancehall bootlegs. Despite copping a lot of flack around the place he never fails to dissapoint and always fills the floor with punters and b-boys alike.

Upstairs, possibly Australia’s best turntablist DJ Bonez played to a more relaxed crowd – by no means a reflection of his set, that was just the vibe upstairs all night . He played a wicked set of neck breaking beats that kept the heads nodding for the duration.

Just as it was getting to capacity downstairs, Californian beat maker extraordinaire and DJ for Foreign Legion DJ Design stepped up. Opening with the original funk break from one his most popular production efforts (Sparkdala feat. Madlib & Quasimoto) the mood was set for a party. Moving seamlessly through current club bangers including a few Neptunes beats and a little soulful goodness Design kept it tight throughout.

The only dissapointing thing about his set was the length, at just under an hour it left most people thirsty for more, almost like a tease for the following nights Foreign Legion show.

Then Reagal stepped up…...God damn this guy knows how to bring the funk – somebody tell the poms to get stuffed, we’re claiming this guy as our own!

Reagal upped the ante by playing a wicked selection of funky goodness and more party style hip hop. With this came the B-boys. The floor opened up for them to throwdown and it was just like old times at the Goodbar. Unfortunately it was momentarily ruined by someone trying to upstage them with their topless Flamenco dancing – quite humorous come to think of it….

Whilst this was going on DJ Naiki continued the head nod vibe upstairs playing some more underground sounds with an ex Little Horse MC providing the occasional rhyme over instrumentals.

Towards the end Nick Toth came back on downstairs and I pity those who left as we were given a treat if ever there was one. The mic was opened up to the public and usually this can be a disaster – not tonight. Jumping on the mic and spitting some of the freshest freestyle’s were none other than Marc Stretch and Prozack from Foreign Legion (DJ Design’s crew). Back and forth the mic went between them for probably close to half an hour as they dropped rhyme after rhyme after rhyme. It’s not often we get to see stuff like this in Australia so the crowd was well into it giving props after each spit.

It’s good to see a hip hop night back at the Goodbar resembling the original Stepforward night when it was at its best. When it was about dope hip hop and not how much your new shirt cost.

See y’all there next week for the DMC after party…..