Arriving at The Oxford Art Factory in good time, the excited butterflies were well and truly in flight. The last time I saw Peanut Butter Wolf was a year or two ago at a Stones Throw gig in the UK. Having been supported by the likes of Madlib, J-Rocc, and Dudley Perkins, I hadn’t really got a clear perspective of the Californian’s turntable proficiency. I was keen to see what he had to offer, and how the Australian public would receive this underground beat maestro.

The main support on this wet evening in Sydney was to be given by Black Grass, aka Mex and his right hand man MC Koaste. These two stalwarts of the UK hip-hop scene have a hefty discography. Having warmed up for the likes of Big L and Jurassic 5, and worked on collaborations with heavyweights such as J-live, Jehst and funk extraordinaire Dionne Charles, to me, these boys needed no introduction. They burst on stage and immediately seemed up for spreading the love. The crowd, at first, seemed uncertain of what they were about. The duo dropped some of their own wickedly funky breaks, including the track Set The Record Straight, which, in all honesty, wasn’t that well received.

An intuitive freestyle by Koaste was barely noticed, whilst a technician attended to a faulty connection. Nonetheless, after a few more dubby/ragga style jams the crowd seemed to relax and take onboard the quality they were witnessing. The highly talented Mex cut up bouncing reggae, hip-hop and all manner of remixes from Mary J Blige to Dead Prez. The two were carefree on stage and their party attitude, after copious amounts of beers, exuded into a now frenzied crowd. As the Black Grass set came to a close I, like many, was on a high. My friend exclaimed that he’d “pay the cover charge again to hear these boys play all night!” I couldn’t agree more. The tunes were great, the vibe was fresh and the crowd were pumped, great work from the now slightly inebriated south coasters!

PBW’s opening track was a dedication to a guitar legend who sadly passed away recently. Bo Diddly, a well known influence to the likes of Hendrix, The Stones and many other greats spanning all genres, died on June 2nd at the age of 79. The visual side of the performance was introduced with a late 40s video of Bo and his band being chopped up and rewound. The captivated audience stared, in awe of not just one sensory exhibition but two. It seemed something unique was in store from the word go. PBW then flipped forward fifty years with a few Stones Throw greats. All Caps by Madvillian, and C’mon Feet by Quasimto were followed by classics from Wu Tang, Tribe Called Quest, KRS-One and Busta Rhymes. After a medley of early 90s joints things were getting heavy.

A wicked mish-mash of archaic videos by the likes of Bowie, Whitney Houston and The Cure followed and clips by the likes of Naughty by Nature, Big L and Erik B and Rakim were lovingly received. For once I was pleased to see less of a response to the cheesy stuff, PBW is an early 90s pioneer after all and it was great to see that the crowd recognised this. A raucous reception was upheld as video clips were reeled off that I doubt many had seen for ten years, if at all. The Californian’s use of Serato took things to a new level. His turntablist skills fused tracks together in both audio and video form. It was great to witness a show that was more about experimentation than seamless showmanship. This one-man-army approach to audio and visuals was sweet, and even though there were software glitches throughout the concept was inspirational.

This gig, in my eyes, was something special. Towards the end a dissipated congregation of devotees were treated to an extended set. Tunes that only real fans could appreciate rocked out and I walked away feeling I had witnessed something revolutionary. A Visual DJ putting his all into giving the crowd what they wanted, with no shame in, technically, being a little rough around the edges. It really was top-notch entertainment from a top-notch entertainer.