Threadbare Tour feat. Hermitude & Horrorshow @ Transit Bar, Canberra (29/10/08)
When I walked down the steps into Transit – and on a school night no less – I was expecting to hear some killer beats, but little did I expect Canberra to bring their a-game party to a Wednesday night show. Admittedly, I was wetting my pants in anticipation of Hermitude showing off their new material, as I’d saw them support labelmates Urthboy and The Tongue a couple of months back. But I was also curious to check out Horrorshow, who were set to drop tracks off their debut album ‘Grey Space’.
After some confusion as to whether there would in fact be a local support act, the guys from Horrorshow took to the stage quietly and began their set with an acoustic guitar based track. They then moved into the traditional duo setup, with DJ Adit providing cuts – including Dire Strait’s ‘Money for Nothing’ – for MC Solo to let loose over the top of. The young cats from Sydney provided a solid, often reflective performance, with more hip-hop heads appreciatively collecting in front of the stage as the night progressed. Finishing the support slot with the ever-popular single ‘No Rides Left’, Horrorshow had heads nodding and latecomers questioning their time-management skills.
Standing at the bar making liquid-refreshment preparations for the commencement of Hermitude’s set, the velvet basslines from their opening track ‘Bloodshot’ wound their way to my ears and had me making doo-doo bass-sounds with my mouth. There’s nothing like hearing well-produced music on a loud system, and tonight they rolled through most of the tracks off their recent release, ‘Threads’. The Blue Mountains boys played a sublime and varied set, incorporating songs off their previous releases, such as ‘Daytripper’ and ‘Swamp Sauce’, and they even had the skills to hustle slower reggae rhythms into up-tempo jungle.
El Gusto mashed up beats on the MPC and showed off his scratching skills, while his partner-in-crime Luke Dubs delivered on keys and synths (despite being sick on the night!) The crowd were even treated to a sublime display of his jazz prowess on the keyboards, bringing yet another genre of music into the mix. An impromptu freestyle from Horrorshow’s MC Solo, and a combined effort to create a one-off, spontaneous mix-up between MPC and synthesiser, fabricated a live performance that would put other producers to shame. Stitch this up with the lush dub-soaked, eclectic beats of the hermits and you’ve got yourself one hell of a mid-week roof tearing party.
The crowd was getting loose and cuttin’ the rug like you wouldn’t believe, much to the satisfaction of the performers. Respect must go out to Canberrans present on the night, the crew from Elefant Traks and, once again, the always generous Transit Bar. The remaining dates on this tour promise to be anything but Threadbare. Hop to it!
