Is there a better gig venue in Melbourne than The Forum? The place oozes style, warmth and opulence. Throw in the world renowned DJ Shadow, a brilliant light show and top quality sound, and a friendly in-the-know crowd, and the scene is set for a hot night out.

Tonight’s concert – I have to call it that, it wasn’t a club night by any means – was blessedly scheduled early given the Tuesday scheduling, so by the time I arrived at 9pm I had missed Agent 86 and Mike “worst DJ name in Australia” Hunt. Crowd favourite DJ Dexter was getting the mood going with some smooth laid back beats and grooves. The crowd in attendance were clearly beats fans, with no shortage of hoodies or sneakers, and not an upturned collar in sight. On a rainy Tuesday night in Winter, the Forum was filling steadily by 9:30 when Dexter’s new favourite friends Gorilla Step hit the stage. A tight group of percussionists & drummers, the group sounded fantastic both with and without Dexter’s backing tunes, and showed an intimate understanding of one another’s timing and styles.

Dexter brought out a large crew of crumpers and breakers for a bit of dance display, which was very well received by the growing audience. Everyone in attendance happily allowed the group to take up most of the dancefloor in front of the stage for some B-Boy action, and whilst some were better than others, all pulled out an entertaining variety of old school breakdancing and new school crumping. On the topic- if you haven’t seen the clowning & crumping documentary RIZE, get on down to the video store now.

Following the dancing and drumming we were left with background tunes for a little over 45 minutes whilst the stage was setup for DJ Shadow, but the laid back crowd went along chatting and drinking $8.50 bottled beers. Reminiscent of Pulp Fiction’s ”$5 Shake”, I had trouble enjoying my $10 Smirnoff Ice or the $4.50 Coke. It was at this point I elected to go thirsty for the remainder of the night – a strategy shared by most of the crowd, who left the bar staff with an easy job throughout the night.

At 10:15 DJ Shadow hit the stage and introduced himself on the mic, explaining he’s at the end of a tour that started last year in Australia and has bought him back down under much sooner than expected. Was great to see an International guest so chatty on the microphone and providing an extra element to the faceless DJs we see too often in Australia. He soon got down to action with his carefully choreographed mix of self produced tunes, turntablism, on-screen visuals and lighting displays.

Disaster soon ensued, with Shadow stopping 10 minutes into his set and calling out the Sound manager – the second turntable wasn’t working! A charismatic and friendly guy, Shadow moved out from behind the decks and opened a spur of the moment Q & A session with the crowd. He dismissed a few early questions such as “how was it working with Radiohead” – it was actually only Thom Yorke and it was a decade ago he replied, but was more willing to discuss his upcoming tour in the US with Cut Chemist, and some upcoming releases. And yes, Melbourne is one of his favourite towns. Of course.

Before long the audio was fixed, but Shadow surprised the crowd by explaining that he had to go back to the start of his set rather than continuing where he was up to. Many in the crowd stood bemused while the opening 10 minutes of the set flowed through again, exactly as it had earlier. The vibe in the room was a bit frustrated for a while there, as people questioned what they were really watching, a DJ set or a pre-recorded studio performance? Shadow soon won the crowd back regardless, with a collection of his finest tunes keeping everyone warm and grooving. Brief interludes of scratching ensured the turntablists were happy, but not so much to alienate the dance crossover crowd. Guest MC “Gift of the Gab” from Blackalicious wandered out and took the vibe to the next level, his supersonic rhymes coming fast and loud over a backdrop of the original Blackalicious videoclips on the big screen. The audience responding loudly, getting right into the early 90s beats while the big man spewed out a thousand words a minute in crystal clear clarity.

Shadow took it home on his own for the last half hour, with some of his anthems and more amazing visuals and lighting displays taking the experience up a notch.

For those who had seen Shadow before, it was another great night out. For those like myself who hadn’t, it was certainly a memorable event and one to provide enough bragging rights against anyone who missed out!