Kid Kenobi & MC Shureshock @ HQ, Adelaide (05/06/08)
This week’s Saturday night at HQ was a step above the average line up – and what a lineup it was! Most people who arrived after 10pm would have entered at least an hour later, with the line going back as far as the car park. A friend told me there were a few people with deck chairs in the line, and some people waited in their car as the line went back further than that!
None the less, the ladies were still happy to come dressed in micro minis and stylish (yet undersized) attire. Who would have thought it was only eight degrees outside! Admittedly, my jacket was in my bag because the place was packed which made it the temperature jump up 10 degrees, and skip season from winter to spring.
As for the music: Everyone was there waiting to see Kid Kenobi. Alas, everyone had to wait til 1:30am to have him come on stage. So upon my entry to the club, I did a quick tour of some of the other rooms in the venue. Mostly house styles in the New Market room, and RnB at the SOHO bar. Entering the main room, it was packed! Never have I seen HQ so alive. Usually I don’t really dig the average club vibe, but this made for something different. Maybe there were more music appreciators than inebriates… Or perhaps not; probably safe to say a kind mix of the two. No surprise with the governmentally termed ‘alchy-pops’ being about $10 a piece! Makes me think fuel prices should drop a few cents from the coin accumulated from drink-tax collected on tonight’s event alone.
The HQ walls have been kindly re-decorated with bright artwork, making it visually more stimulating than basic black before it. At least if the club was empty you could pretend you were dancing with the lovely ladies on the walls! The VJs were also putting on a spectacular show, with matrix like graphics mixed with Thailand style sunset skies and temples; made for a heavenly mix once blended with the tunes cranked from the speakers.
A wonderful precursor to the main act, Brendan had the club moving! Tunes like Tocas’ Miracle remix blended into the Finally remix. I was having a discussion prior the event speculating just how many remixes are coming out at the moment. My my… this night was like the remix party night! A great way to enjoy and sing along to the electro styles with words everyone can remember. However, it makes me wonder where dance music will head next, with a lack of original tunes circulating at present.
As for the headliner, Kid Kenobi kept the vibe up with similar tunes. I was hoping for some breaks to be thrown in but obviously this style transition is working for him. Hot tracks (that weren’t remixes) included in his set were Flex by Dizzy Rascall, and Road to Nowhere. Although the event was promoted as Kid Kenobi with MC Shureshock, I found the MC to be almost indistinguishable in this set. The sound team didn’t have him loud enough for starters, but what I heard was also rather bland. It showed me why MCs are far more prominent in the breaks and DnB shows for a reason.
RMAC continued on with a very similar electro-remix styled sound. But by 4am I decided I needed some sleep. The energy of the club was happy and intense all night, but I needed to unwind. Stepping back into the real world where it felt as cold as Alaska, jacket-clad, was a reminder of how enjoyable this show was, and that HQ is definitely the place to party in Adelaide.
