Sounds on Sunday feat. Kid Kenobi & MC Shureshock @ Greenwood Hotel, Sydney (12/02/06)
Last weekend I had the pleasure of repaying some fine hospitality to a good English friend of mine. Knowing he’s a cricket fanatic, I gave him the choice of attending the One Day Final at the SCG, or clubbing at the Greenwood. When he surprisingly replied that he hadn’t clubbed before but would prefer that option, I had to ask him what he expected. His response; “Isn’t clubbing where they wear facemasks and white gloves?” (Cue hysterical laughter from yours truly). If nothing else Sunday was going to provide for an interesting and enlightening afternoon. As for my good lady and I, despite not being breaks nor MC fans, we’d seen Kid Kenobi and MC Shureshock perform recently at Field Day and were mighty impressed. Anyone who can bounce around in 47 degrees, mix bomb after bomb seamlessly, and have a spent crowd up and surging in no time deserves further attention.
We arrived at the Greenwood around 4.30pm, and were met by the standard queue. Taking a little ITM Reporter license, I circumvented the line, and requested of security if the 3 of us could head straight on in. After a few questions, the all clear prevailed; score one for the often maligned Greenwood security – great work lads. With the courtyard approximately half full, and a fierce warm wind blowing, (which was much appreciated by the male population, as many a young lady struggled to hold down their summer wares), we made our way into the Chapel and grabbed a round of cold beers amidst some stomping trance classics from DJ Renski (boy did he bring an entourage).
Soon enough we sauntered back to the courtyard where Illya had just taken to the decks and quickly had the crowd jiggying along nicely to a remix of the all time favourite, Ice Ice Baby. It was about this time that my cohorts remarked as to the average age of Sounds on Sunday’s clientele, so much so, that my better half proceeded to jokingly rename the Courtyard, with its unique metal corral, the “Playpen”. With a stack of catching up to be done, despite being a long time fan of Illya’s past late night Yu offerings, and with the main fare some two hours away, I was only able to pay his set the briefest attention. Regardless, the fast swelling Greenwood crowd loved it, which was best highlighted by a mega hands in the air moment when Illya dropped a lovely example of Bob Sinclar’s anthemic “Love Generation” minus most of the bass; which had the crowd screaming out the chorus in unison. As 8pm drew near, we made a quick detour back to Chapel to see what Jumping Jack had in store. Sadly, he’d left the gorgeous power trance at home, and played much harder than a few weeks prior. That said, we did learn something from our brief sojourn; Sydney’s female dance crew have worked out how to dance in thongs. Nice work ladies.
Kid Kenobi and MC Shureshock took to the main stage around 8.10pm, and within no time, thanks in the main part to Shureshock’s epic rhymes aimed at bigging up the party, and Kid Kenobi in general, had the full attention of the now heaving throng. By 9pm, the genius of Kid Kenobi had been laid out for all to see. Kid Kenobi’s inherent ability is to mix, mesh and meld stuff that normally wouldn’t go together, and moreover, make it sound damn good. Add to that a bloke with the talent of Shureshock on the mike, and it simply doubles the pleasure. Where else could you go from dropping Eminem’s, “Just Lose It”, follow it up with a Technotronic remix, drop back to a “Bette Davis Eyes” riff, and finish off with a stonking rendition of The Prodigy’s “No Good”. Astonishing.
At the same time, it’s equally a treat to listen to Shureshock’s work on the microphone. In fact, such is the talent of the man, the best part of his night was probably in his only mistake. Breaking it down with a voiceover of AC/DC’s TNT, “I’m Dynamite”, Shureshock dropped the rhyme out about 2 beats prior to where it was needed. Rather than be phased, the MC goliath let rip with a clinker of a line, “oh, I f@#ked that up, but who cares anyway!” Somehow it fit and I for one loved it. That said, perhaps the greatest testimony to Shureshock’s ability was in his success to get the entire crowd yelling the widely abhorred “Ozi Ozi Ozi” chant! Now, I haven’t been to the cricket for a while, but surely the Courtyard’s the only place these days that one can get away with that without being looked upon as a brain dead leper!
As the clock ticked past 10, Shureshock announced to rapturous applause that Sounds on Sunday had decided to extend the party until 10.30. To the Greenwood crew; as Pete Tong would say, “respect”!! It was at this point, that Kenobi decided to drop the super scungey, squelchy electro basslines and get down to classic breaks. First up, the crazy Pendulum, “Fasten Your Seatbelts”, a track that always reminds me of a computer game, stalking, preying, chasing. He then delivered a series of bombs including Gorillaz, “Feel Good Inc”, and the massive Bloc Party stonker “Tulips” which left the crowd immediately to our right, nothing short of delirious. Not content with the traditional genre, Kenobi then produced 15 minutes of reggae style breaks stuff, which combined with a freshening Southerly breeze, gave the huge crowd ample chance to cool down and get their collective breaths back.
Kenobi then stepped it up a notch and sent the crowd manic with a selection of more pounding tunes, the most insane of which was Rage Against the Machine’s piledriver, “Killing in the Name”, which quickly transformed the usually controlled Greenwood dance area into a moshpit. As the chaos subsided, I took the opportunity to sneak a late drinks run and to stop by the Chapel to see what Pee Wee Ferris was up to. To my sheer delight I walked in to see about 100 hands in the air, and hear the haunting breakdown of Tiesto’s “Adagio for Strings”, the end result of which had my company waiting just a little longer than normal for their much needed beverages. When I did return, Kenobi & Shureshock were just about at an end, and what better way than to switch back to the commercial stuff with the most appropriate of Greenwood tracks in, Studio B’s “I See Girls”.
Like everyone else the three of stayed until the MC and the music had stopped, and by the end of it had experienced yet another great night at Sounds on Sunday. Granted Symonds and Ponting had been on the tear at the SCG, however, the Greenwood had answered again in no uncertain terms as to the question “where else would one rather be on any given Sunday”. Kenobi and MC Shureshock had delivered their very finest amongst an amazingly good vibe, a stack of love, and moreover a whole lot of fun. Our lad from Swindon was even moved to remark that it was the best day/night out he’d ever had. Energetic, enthusiastic, epic, and not a facemask nor white glove in sight.
