inthemix | Event Coverage | Dr Octagon @ Producers Bar, Adelaide (23/01/08)

Never fear when a big name hip hop act is left off of the Adelaide leg of the Big Day Out tour, the good folk at Producers Bar are never far away with an exclusive sideshow. This time it was the man of a million personas Dr Octagon aka Kool Keith set to rock the party. With the plethora of acts currently in the country, international show crowd numbers have been suffering, so it was a pleasant surprise to enter a venue about 40 per cent full already only half an hour after opening. It was very much a different crowd than your run of the mill hip hop show, the average age in the room hovering in the mid to late 20s and many of them in for a big night. Behind the decks was deNorthwode (BVA) a man who seems to be as much of a Producers Bar fixture as the somewhat bordello like décor. The man clearly loves his work his enthusiasm as he grooves behind the decks matched by few, one of his sets always a pleasant way to get the party started.

First live act for the evening was Social Change, the man destined to take Australian hip hop by storm this year. Not only are his lyrics and mic presence fantastic, his stage show is that of a seasoned professional, which coincidentally he is. Too many acts rush their material, and as a result the quality suffers. Social Change has been at it a long time and as a result his debut V.High EP from December 07 is one of the finest EPs I’ve heard, period. The Social Change live show features Snair on the cuts, Funkwig banging out live drums on the MPC and an inclusion for this show was Dialect playing hype man and spitting freestyles. SC worked through all four tracks from the EP as well as a series of freestyles, once the sound man heeded the pleas for increased volume there were no faults to be found. The only dilemma being most of the crowd appeared to know the music of Keith and Keith only.

After another musical intermission courtesy of deNorthwode it was time for the winner of the Hilltop Hoods grant Jimblah to rock a set. This was the second time I had seen him in a handful of days, playing to two very different crowds. This time around the crowd was much less into Australian hip hop, but it failed to shake him as he joined by hype man Shea and DJ Juice on the cuts worked the stage well. Highlight of the set for me was the emergence of BVA to premier a new track the two had been working on, and I was impressed. I must say when Jimblah initially won the grant I was a little perplexed as to who he was and what moves he was making. Since winning it and getting a lot more chances to shine in the live arena, each performance has been winning me over more and convincing me there is a lot of talent there to like.

A journey outside for a fresh air respite from the now quite full room was cut short by the emergence of the man with the fake beard Kutmasta Kurt behind the decks. I was a fan of his Redneck Olympics album, hell I’m a fan of anyone who DJs with a fake beard, and he set the party off nicely with a selection of mainly his own works. Making my way down to the stage front I was joined by a couple of figures being swamped, Kool Keith and his hype man seemingly emerging from nowhere to take the stage. It was the first time I had seen Keith live and it was an interesting experience. He has an almost lackadaisical approach, walking around the stage quite chilled with one hand firmly in his pocket for a lot of the time. His hype man on the other hand looked like he has consumed a litre of red bull syrup, jumping all over the shop and urging the crowd to respond. Respond is exactly what they did, the set continuously featuring stage invasions from ladies how shall we say, a little under the influence. It wasn’t a major drama although when four of them set on the hype man it did look a little like statutory rape and we all could probably have done without watching them put flashing their g-strings and bending over, repeatedly. Lyrically Keith gave a really tight performance. Kurt dropped the beats from across his catalogue, opening with Ultramagnetic classics through to solo joints and eventually some tracks from Dr. Octagon, the alias which he had been billed as. The biggest crowd reaction came for tracks like Blue Flowers, Black Elvis and the track that really tore the roof off Sex Style. Winding up the set Keith played somewhat of a mega-mix short exerts and hooks from what is an extensive back catalogue.

Heading off into the 2am darkness that now featured rain – where the hell did that come from? – I was most definitely a satisfied attendee, thankful that I had the next day off work and wasn’t going to have the sore head many in attendance woke up with.