Mother Nature could not have turned on more of a perfect day for the Melbourne leg of the Good Vibrations Festival. Clear blue skies and perfect temperature were the ideal ingredients for a satisfaction guaranteed day at the top venue of the Sidney Myer Music Bowl. On arrival at 3pm I was greeted to masses entering through the gates with a nice blend of dance heads to hip hop heads, this year’s festival was sure to please many. With sun blazing crowds wandered through the gates checking out set times and heading to their preferred stage.

Myself a hip hop lover, I headed straight to the Roots stage. The crowd was starting to grow and many sheltered under what shade they could find for the moment. As I entered the area DJ Peril hit the stage spinning some dope hip hop beats. He was soon joined by MC’s Surreal and Nate B who form the collective Suburban Intellect. These Melbourne guys showcased some of their originals as well as remixes of covers and got the crowd moving. Unfortunately their set was cut short due to previous acts going overtime. Next to the stage was another Melbournian, Jamaican/Australian Ru-CL who greeted the stage with female back up singer and superb DJ Katalyst. Ru-CL pleased the crowd with his ragga vocals and definitive beats dropping tracks from his debut album ‘Straight Down the Line’. Ru-CL also took breaks to chat to the crowd and explained to everyone that he is proud to be of Jamaican Australian heritage and that’s the meaning of the word ‘Jahstralian’ which he uses in his lyrics. I definitely give props to Ru-CL, his sound is unique to Australia and I expect we’ll be hearing a lot more from him, especially with the likes of Katalyst behind him.

Feisty Philly MC Bahamadia was intriguing. Her tough persona and attitude had people wondering what to expect. Myself having interviewed her the week before found she had major attitude and I was curious how she would be on stage. Strutting out on stage in blue jeans, t-shirt and red visor she introduced herself and DJ Static to the stage. The first track was dropped and the crowd’s heads were nodding, Bahamadia standing still spitting her lyrics, choosing not to move around too much but had the crowd engaged. The beats coming off her tracks were heavy and pleasing with Bahamadia’s facials showing her love for the tracks. Taking time out she talked about her jet lag and new album ‘Good Rap Music’. She pushed the message of ‘quality and substance’ in hip hop music today and how more commercial artists are lacking these qualities. Bahamadia was definitely full of quality, lyrically extremely impressive and some of the tightest speediest rhyming from one of the finest female MCs around. Her tough exterior was soon broken down when she hit us with some softer rhymes, taking a seat at the edge of the DJ booth. I was left thoroughly impressed by her performance and later had the chance to meet her finding her appreciative to have the support and be in Australia.

Hip Hop songstress Estelle graced the stage with an attractive band in tow consisting of bass, guitar, keys, DJ and 2 back up singers. I myself was surprised and pleased at Estelle’s show and stage presence, myself only really knowing her from her hit song ‘1980’. She performed tracks from her debut album ‘The 18^th Day’ and took time out to talk to the audience and take us through her musical journey of tracks relating to guys and relationships giving us many laughs. Her back up singers, one female and one male definitely had the voices and moves to match, with the male vocalist catching the eye of many female onlookers. Estelle got personal with the crowd and the crowd got personal with her with someone throwing a pair of men’s jocks on the stage with mobile phone number printed on them. There were smiles all round through her show and she added a refreshing soulful touch to the Roots stage.

Finally came the moment that many hip hoppers and general music heads had been waiting for and many had ventured to the festival to see, the mighty Talib Kweli. Talib’s DJ entered the stage first introducing us to 2 female back up singers over a bangin beat. Onto the stage burst Talib and the crowd roared with delight to finally witness this respected MC. Talib took us through tracks off his latest album ‘Beautiful Struggle’ along with past hits and tracks from his collective Blackstarr. He also took it back to where hip hop started with some old skool beats and rhymes. Talib also paid tribute to good friend and renowned hip hop producer J-Dilla who passed away earlier in the week. Soon entered the stage the lyrically nasty Jean Grae. Jean’s lyrical content and freestyle rhymes were tight, throwing out disses and lines that had the crowd cheering and smiles all round especially when she threw us the line ‘come on Melbourne, ya cunts’ cheekily in her best aussie accent. Jean and Talib were perfect on stage together throwing rhymes back and forth and arm in arm talking to the crowd. My highlight had to be hearing Talib’s track ‘get by’ which he concluded with, as soon as the crowd heard the intro beat screams blasted the area and hands went up and everyone sang along to the favourite tune.

So after being glued to the Roots stage I backed myself up and sat back to witness the uniqueness of hip hop’s DJ Z-Trip. Not knowing a lot about this DJ I didn’t know what to expect. Before I knew it I was seeing hip hop heads nodding along to AC/DC, Oasis, and other unusual tracks that Z-Trip had mastered the beats to. Z-Trip is known as the King of Mash-up and he definitely proved this, throwing together random tracks from different genres and he makes it work. He held the crowds attention through every track, never knowing what to expect next. I also met Estelle and singers as they stood side of stage to witness Z-Trip, they were on a high from the festival and enjoying every minute. I didn’t stay for the entire Z-Trip show, with the festivals line up leading me to Main stage to catch the end of Norman Jay’s set and to grab myself a prime position to witness the Godfather of Soul.

Where do I start? Those who witnessed James Brown will know what I’m talking about, this performance for me was ‘more than words’. Wow. The atmosphere of the Music Bowl was amazing, everyone had congregated to witness this legend and you could feel the anticipation in the air. The stage was set up with instruments galore for his talented band the Soul Generals. On walked the Soul Generals all suited up in snazzy tail suits, and they had a quick jam to warm up the crowd. Then onto the stage walk 4 Soul Mama back up singers, oooh wee, these mature ladies strutted on stage beautifully with routines to match. From memory the band consisted of a 3 horn section, huge percussion and drum set up, bass, guitar and keys. Finally James Brown walked on stage kitted out in an amazing red suit and gleaming red shoes, the crowd went crazy and myself was in shock to simply see this legend live. Kicking into some funky beats I don’t think there was a body in the vicinity that wasn’t moving, Mr Brown dropped classics such as I Feel Good and finished off with Sex Machine.

No doubt that this legend is getting on in age and vocally didn’t do a lot, just throwing us key lines from his tracks. He interacted with his band so well, they were as much a part of the show as him. James randomly danced with the back up singers and pulled up members of the band to the mic for a jam. His horn section had spot on routines marching back and forth on the spot and boogying to the music. The Soul Mama’s were incredible, they had such powerful voices and smick dance routines that had everyone smiling. The whole show was personality plus. The only downside for me was the 2 younger dancers that joined the stage, they were great dancers and all but I really didn’t see a need for them to be there, James Brown is a legend and doesn’t need nightclub dancers to improve his show. Anyways I got over that and was just mesmerized to see James Brown. Many walked away in awe after witnessing a funkdified soul filled performance and I feel privileged to have been able to witness such a legend.

Another Good Vibrations Festival gone by and for me has to have been the best yet, especially for hip hop. I did not get a chance to check out all acts, though I heard numerous reports of other stellar performances. Thank you to Good Vibrations and Jam Music for bringing down some quality overseas acts for the masses to witness and I eagerly await the line up for 2007.