Thursday night April 13th saw UK DJ A-Skillz hit the decks at the Crown n’ Sceptre to present his original blend of hip-hop, funk and break-beat that built his reputation as a true house-party rocker. At only 24 years of age, Adam ‘A-Skillz’ forged his career as a DJ with renowned prime-time sets at established UK clubs FabricLive, Spectrum, The Boutique and Sugarbeat as well as gigs at major international music festivals and industry events. In 2003 A Skillz released his debut album ‘Tricka Technology’ with the Finger Lickin’ label, and it’s very own DJ heavyweight Krafty Kuts. The album was a nod towards musical influences such as De La Soul, Kurtis Blow, James Brown and Jurassic 5… just the kind of beats Adelaide hipsters came out in full force to salute.

The night stated like any other, people of all sorts accompanied by fashion statements such as newsboy caps, tweed vests, old school pumas, mooks hoodies, and girls in black skinny-leg jeans. But it wasn’t the fashion sort usually primed at boutique clubs swaying to ‘too-cool for school’ house. This was the kinda night where we were all ready to get down and dirty, hanging around the bar anxiously asking during the warm-up sets, ‘Does anyone know when A-Skillz starts?’; but when the man finally hit the decks at 11.30pm there was no need to ask who the DJ was. Ten minutes into the set the dance floor was dense with smoke, sweat and body heat; punters shoulder-to-shoulder, their hands wavin’ in the air. A-Skillz was like their DJ-mate spinning party favours for the enjoyment of all, and he urged us to sing along, signaling and mouthing the lyrics to commercial tracks like ‘Jump Around’ and ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’.

I reveled in the New York house-party vibe, much like dancing around my living room listening to my iPod – but with company! At the peak of the set – half an hour in to it, it was clear that all the punters knew they were onto a good thing worthy of the $13 entry fee. A-Skillz did not disappoint with his creative sample drop-ins and break beats. He started off on a confident note, grabbing the crowd with hip-hop party favourites, spiced with some more well known commercial tunes. Let’s not be snobbish about it – after a few warm up drinks, we’ll all be shakin’ our booty’s to The Gorillaz, Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, old school MJ and Jurassic 5; just a  taste really of what’s to come when he will release his first mix album and artist album through Finger Lickin’ later this year. It was actually quite amusing to watch when some birdie scratches were dropped into funk classics like ‘Play that Funky Music White Boy’ and ‘Groove is in the Heart’, played back to back with Kelis and The Roots. The male participants on the dance floor reacted like tipsy-drunk 18 year old girls listening to Top-40 pop. ‘Woo hoo, I love this song!’

When the crowd seemed to dismantle either for beverages or lack of physical energy, A. Skillz quickly brought us back with a tune to make you go ‘Aww yeah!’ Skillz was smart and crafty enough to realise when he was slipping to bring the crowd back to a peak, if only momentarily. I’ve heard that the human attention span lasts up to 20 minutes, any longer and we’ve lost interest. It took Skillz approximately an hour until he lost ours. At the latter part of the set Skillz wandered off into an electronic crossover throwing, for example, Daft Punk into the mix, followed up with an unusual segue into Rage against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the name of’. It was the commercial familiarity, however, that the crowd liked best. The final few tracks ended in a gentle cooling down with ‘Buffalo Soldier’ and some reggae dub. It was after the exhausting two hour set that I knew it was winding down and my feet were happy about that! It was clear that everyone enjoyed the A-Skillz set by the intensity of the dancing (there were many variations on the ‘shopping trolley’ and the ‘goin’ fishing’ dance moves).

There really is something to be said about the Crown n’ Scepter gig space. It may be a little sparse, (two couches on either side of the doorway, a stage up front, some speakers and an indoor plant dress the room) but just like their cocktails, given the right mix of musical talent and spectators the space transforms itself into what feels like, your own living room. A place where everyone’s a mate, intimately sharing the joy of dance music. It should be known and publicised more as a premier local live music venue than (as is regarded in the industry) as a barman’s watering hole or ‘funky find’. A.Skillz on the other hand, as I heard from an inside (very inside) source after the gig, also commented that he was just as pleased with the venue and the crowd, as we all obviously were with him.

Overall, the night was a tasty treat to welcome in the Easter long weekend. I think Adelaide needs to hear more funk and hip-hop breaks ala A-Skillz. Here’s to my friendly DJ-mate Adam, ‘please come back, and when you do I’ll be sure to wear more comfortable shoes!’