I’d been pumped all week for what promised to be a display of buoyant funk and hip-hop spirit. Perhaps my undeniably high expectations leading up to the Black Eyed Peas tour set them up for a fall? On the back of their soaring commercial success (and ticket prices) I felt my expectations were justified. Evidently the foursome neither reached a great height, nor tumbled from one.

This tour follows the release of the Peas 4th album, ‘Monkey Business’, heralded as their ‘party album’. The Peas magnetic vibe has brought them from the underground hip-hop scene of LA in the 1990’s, into the spotlight with the 2003 release of ‘Elephunk’. Leaving behind their more hardcore roots, the Black Eyed Peas have become a world-wide ‘hip-pop’ phenomenon.

The massive sell-out crowd at the Entertainment Centre was fairly relaxed on arrival, sprinkled with spirited anticipation. The crowd was a mixed bag of families with young’un’s, teenagers with phunk in their stride, fashionable young professionals and a few other misfits, like myself. The show dropped in with some beefy bass that thrilled our bones and tickled our senses. Will.am.i, Fergie, Taboo and Apl de Ap made a ‘Charlies Angels’ style entrance at the top of the stage, grooving downstage and past the band to the beats of ‘Hey Mamma’. The vocals were dwarfed by the bass, but the crowd didn’t seem to care as they screamed for their idols. To my delight the Peas played a fairly even mix of music from the ‘Monkey Business’ album and the more melodic ‘Elephunk’, with a couple of oldies from the late 90’s thrown in.

The charismatic Will.i.am held the show together with his funky and regal presence. Donning some groovy old school military get-up, both his fashion and grooves were phunky. The performance had a few surprise Australiana references, like the guitarist’s AC-DC t-shirt. Our beloved Vegemite even made in into a Will.i.am freestyle rap, inspired by a slideshow of projected images. Introducing ‘Shut up’ by playing Bob Marley’s ‘No woman no cry’ on acoustic guitar was another crowd-pleaser.

Unlike Will.i.am, Fergie started off a little shakey. When she wasn’t competing with the mega bass, she made up for her missed notes with a few powerful and emotive vocal moments. In songs like ‘Shut Up’, her melodic accompaniment was sadly missed, but then in ‘Don’t Lie’ and ‘Labor Day (It’s a Holiday)’ she came through with the goods.

Apl de ap and Taboo blended a little more into the background than the other two. Apl came to the fore for the chorus of ‘The apl Song’, but unfortunately destroyed the beauty of the chorus by singing way out of tune. He redeemed himself by mixing it into ‘Bebot’ and getting the crowd going. Taboo was ever present with the rhymes, his rapping matched by his fancy footwork.

Behind the MC’s, the four-piece band was always there with grooves and beats, each adding dimension to the show with their multi-instrumental talents. When the MC’s slipped off stage for a brief recess, a high-energy percussion piece where beats were pounded out on two coffee-tables was a surprise stand-out.

The climax for me however, was the beautifully melodious ‘Where is the Love?’ It was a moving and emotive performance, backed by a slideshow of faces of the world, young and old, all wondering, like we are, what is going on in this world of ours. This piece holds the central message of what the Peas are all about, and the emotion could be seen in the Peas’ faces as they felt the song with us. Will.i.am got a mobile phone vigil going as we all held them aloft, creating a strangely beautiful scene ‘cigarette lighter’ substitute sky. The momentary sense of unity in the audience and with the performers was undeniable… but not sustained.

For a top-dollar ticket, the Black Eyed Peas fell short of a flawless or showstopping performance. While the Peas magic did manage to resonate through me several times, it was disappointingly inconsistent. The audience, despite its magnitude, didn’t didn’t help much either. It seemed like the majority wanted to watch and be entertained (like a television show), and not open up the audience-performer dialogue that its such a part of the hip-hop experience. The ticket price no doubt turned away many of the ‘empty-of-pocket but full-of-soul’ type punters, leaving an audience dominated by commercial radio listeners. I hope that next time around the Peas bring a little more solid soul to the stage, and get a little more back from the audience.