This was the first in a series of shows courtesy of Nurcha Records and was held last Saturday at Viva (upstairs above the Night Train on Hindley St). The show ran relatively well with a large number of acts packed into a short amount of time. Probably the most alluring item on the flyer however was the announcement of $10 jugs of beer all night long.

Hosts TooBiz and Mark1 of Mindfield and did a good job keeping things moving. I rocked up soon after the first round of battles and Particular People were the first act up. I’m all for up and coming acts dropping sets, but I’m not going to say they were dope when they clearly weren’t. These guys had simplistic raps (“my lyrics are sticky like glue?”), underdeveloped beats and were generally pretty boring to watch. Next up were Chase, Perception & DJ Resin Fingers and were again lack-lustre at best. It’s not enough these days to just stand up on stage and spit a few raps over some beats. You need to practice a live set, because the crowd’s there to be entertained not to just to listen to music. These three cats showed some potential, but they definitely need to polish their routine.

After another round of battles, beatboxer Normalz jumped up and showed he’s got some skill, but honestly not many people want to hear a ten minute solo beatbox set because it just gets repetitive. Good on him for doing his thing, but there definitely needed to be something innovative in his set to make it at least half interesting. DJ Snair hopped up next and did a nice little trick set that was entertaining and was followed by District Blues. These guys were one of the highlights of the night and delivered a raw and rugged set. I look forward to hearing more from them in the future.

Next up were another local group called Ramsey and like most of the acts before them, they were pretty boring on stage and basically need to go back to the drawing board and practice some more. Answer & Straws, who’d driven all the way up from Melbourne, were next up and they showed some of the local acts how to really rock a live set… a lot more entertaining than just a couple of dudes standing on stage rapping. Unfortunately by this time the sound was beginning to diminish, but both Answer & Straws represented Melbourne to the best of their ability.

After a short interlude it was time for the final round of the battles, and guess what crew held down the final two spots again? That’s right – Pagen Elypsis. Personally, I’m sick of local battles because it’s always the same dudes up doing their thing and the same ones always win. Purpose ended up beating Prime in the final and apparently Purpose is now taking a rest from battling to focus on his album that’s planned to come out in March. Finally, Infallible came on with Vexx and did a solid set. My opinions of Infallibe aside; he dropped an entertaining set that closed off the night on a good note.

Overall this night was really only saved by the cheap beer. The sound got worse and worse over the course of the night and the majority of the acts were dull. Hopefully there will be some better acts and no battles on the bill at the next installment of City of Verses.