Every once in a while, Transit Bar comes good and puts on a stellar line up of quality hip hop for Canberrans to enjoy, and on the 20th December, I was pleasantly surprised to see a great deal of people rock out for the Scotty Burns gig. Mr Burns is touring to promote the release of his debut album Day 1, and it was nice to see that the line to get in was well out the door and down the street, the inside of the bar was packed, and there were many a hip-hop head socialising in the overflowing beer garden. All in all it was a spectacular mix of local and interstate talent which was complimented by a large crowd of supporters.

Local group Alikeminds kicked off proceedings for the evening, much to the delight of their fans. They’ve dropped off the radar as of late and haven’t done many gigs, but certainly didn’t disappoint with their set. DJ Buick supported on the decks and delivered his usual standard of excellence, and was followed up by Sydney crew Gabi and Lou Lou who are touring with Scotty Burns and DJ Mathmatics. These ladies sure know how to please their audience, and executed a well rehearsed and diverse range of tracks. That’s Them were up next and once again pulled off a dope set which served to amp everyone up for Scotty Burns and DJ Mathmatics’ performance.

When they did come on, after much anticipation, there was a colossally positive vibe in the room which proved infectious, as the further into the set, the more pumped up everyone became. Well known for his excellent standard of live performance, Scotty delighted the crowd and gave a solid insight into what can be expected from the Day 1 album.

Possibly the most impressive aspect of the evening, without banging on about it, was the superb turnout of fans. A good night of hip-hop with a decent amount of people is hard to beat, and this was definitely what orchestrated the evening into a success. As 2008 draws to a close it left me optimistic and looking forward to the standard of gigs Canberra can expect in 2009.