I was feeling pretty lucky rolling into my first review at the Prince of Wales, PREFUSE 73. With a fine selection of Ninja Tunes artists and loving it! I’ve been semi retired lately and found it a relapse of this certain genre from back in the day.

Arriving fashionably late I caught the end of BLOCKHEAD’s set. They were playing some nice hip hop with interludes of Chris Isaac and Roots Manuva mixed in just to catch my attention. Those songs you know the words to without remembering how or why…. the eighties…. or the nineties? They all became one big blur didn’t they?  Fondle em’ (see photo) offered some entertainment.

Having seen Dexter’s name all over Melbourne, but being unfamiliar with his side kick Kuya, his smile and style was a surprise for me. It reminded me of the boys back home in little NZ, a nice blend of all styles. They mixed in tracks of popular nature, for example Fat Freddys Drop, blended into classic old school funk, jazzed out soul and hip hop tracks. Proving again his title of Victorian DMC champ for the third year running!

A nice build up to the headliners… ‘PREFUSE 73’.  They performed with distinctive flow having a lot of similarities to DJ Shadow. It was the highlight of the evening. They experimented with live drums and decks to accentuate their already diversified style. It turned into one original musical masterpiece, a journey that felt like a second skin to them… and me. It was one of those gigs you begin to miss before you even leave.