Sunday’s gig in Adelaide was a valuable introduction to some talented Australian underground hip-hop and electronica artists. Unfortunately, it was also a harsh lesson in what not to do when promoting a gig. The tour was assembled under the title of Heavy Science, and Adelaide was graced by two performances from this troupe of Brisvegans. Reports of the Crown & Sceptre gig the previous night were all positive, but it must have been very disappointing for the crew to play to such a small crowd on the final night of their national tour.

Things looked sketchy when I got there, with an almost exclusively male crowd, of predominantly hip hop tough guys. Drawn in by the advertised MC Battle, some of them caused a bit of ruckuss when the battle was axed. Some demanded their money back, and clearly lacked the basic pass-grade IQ to appreciate the touring talent.

DJ Nixon was playing when I arrived, and frankly, he was the only local worth seeing. If you ever catch wind of a crew called DSP, or Quality Machinery performing live, don’t rush out and buy a ticket. Dogged by sluggish timing and unsophisticated lyrics, only the track ‘Smoke Inhalation’ cracked a smile, as did one MC’s joke about the gig: ‘it’s such a big space, we could play footy in here.’ Frankly, I’d have been happy if they ran with the footy idea, and left the stage clear for the Brisbane acts. That said, the first MC of the night Dialekt, at only 15 years of age showed great promise with his lyrical flows, expressing eloquently very some advanced thinking for his years.

Things started to pick up with Discorse ‘n’ Illuminate- two young Melbourne MC’s with some impressive skills for their ages also. These boys called the would-be MC Battlers to the stage, and things ran pretty well, with a range of styles displayed by the five new faces on the stage. All the acts thus far had been hampered by technical difficulties, with tracks not starting and plenty of dry silences.

When Julez took the stage my hope was restored. His beats were bold and dark, and he brought an impressive stage presence to the spotlight for the first time in the show. Long and lithe, he performed several tracks from his impressive ‘News EP’ before making way for Liones. ‘Beef City’ was a standout, and three kids seemed to know the words, though the track was new to my ears.

Liones had a tough gig from some audience malcontents, but had my attention from the word go. Her icebreaker was a poem expressing her concerns about our current refugee policy. Now based in Melbourne, Liones raps about things she feels are important, and shared her socio-political concerns (thematically similar to Julez) with only a smattering of active listeners. Her style is quite sonorous, and the meat-heads realised they weren’t going to get angry, mysogenistic raps out of her, and thus became downright rude. I particularly enjoyed a track about getting away with throwing up graffiti pieces in her younger days, and another called ‘Ghosts & Poets’ where she mused on the nature of inspiration.

When Briztronix was handed the baton, he announced that he was going to play instrumental hip hop. A handful of interested listeners smiled, and embraced Briztronix’ cut-up electronica, until two of the young Julez fans grabbed mic’s and started freestyling over his work. Buried beneath teenage exhibitionism, Briztronix played on, while Simulcast began to set up his projector. Unfortunately after some trouble at the front from the angries, the gig was shut down ninety minutes early, and the tour anti-climax was complete.

Poor promotion had done this assembly of travelling talent a great injustice, and I wished I’d brought a few more friends along to compensate for it. Julez and Liones’ politics and sentiments were mature and articulate, while Briztronix’ offerings were reminiscent of the work of DJ Shadow and the Avalanches… full of subtle eccentricities. While Simulcast didn’t get to play at Fowlers, I heard that the previous night he’d played quite late at the Sceptre, and it went down a treat. It’s great that these four musicians managed to team up for the tour, and it will be a crying shame if we don’t see them again soon, under better circumstances.