Only two weeks after The Funkoars graced our little town with their presence, another fantastic night of good solid hip hop was bestowed upon Canberra. A dynamic lineup on the “City Brothers” tour, which included Pez and 360, Downsyde and Drapht, provided for a truly rocking evening at the ANU, and each act brought a seamlessly executed performance, much to the delight of a fully capacitated crowd.

Kicking off the night were Pez and 360. Pez is enjoying some much deserved success from his crowd pleasing track The Festival Song, and in all honesty that was probably the least of the highlights in his set. He and 360 have got some unbeatable chemistry, and the two of them fed off each other to perform one of the tightest and varied sets I’ve ever seen. Particularly enjoyable was the interjection of improvised freestyles which would have impressed even the most hardened hip hop critic, as it’s clear that the boys have both excellent rehearsed and improvised talent. Ain’t Got Time was another notable track, which is also receiving decent airplay at the moment, and I Wanna Go, which brought about a great deal of nostalgia for 80s babies growing up in the 90s, with references to everything from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Mario Kart to playing the recorder.

What else was nice about the lads was that they were simply stoked to be there and getting amongst the crowd. I think most people in the bar had a drink with those two that night, and Pez himself told me that Canberra by far was the best crowd they’d had the whole tour (he may have just been sucking up, but I’ll consider that a notch on the belt of pride!).

Scene veterans Downsyde followed, traveling all the way from Perth. I have always wanted to see Downsyde live and they were definitely a force to be reckoned with, particularly given their joint performance with Drapht. Rocking favourite tracks such as We Won’t Stop, Fortune and Fame and Save the Day, the WA heavyweights indeed have a mad stage presence and bounce off each other perfectly to produce both great individual and group performances. The addition of Drapht on stage with them was definitely a nice touch, and showed a sense of cohesion which embodies one of the true highlights of touring with other acts.

Not to be outshone, Drapht, whose recent success with the contagious track Jimmy Ricard, showed why the industry should remain on their toes if they are to keep up with his indelibly unique style, as well as a fantastic standard of delivery. A clever remix of Rage Against The Machine’s Killing in the Name Of pumped the crowd up no end, and a track that many of us can associate with, Drink, Drank Drunk similarly involved the audience’s participation for a dope crowd pleaser.

Drapht’s success is certainly well earned and we can only expect bigger and better standards from his work.
The show couldn’t have gone off the way it did without the impressive turnout of people. Tickets were sold out by half way during the show and the atmosphere was simply electric. Props must go to the promoters, the fans and especially the acts for a spectacular night of hip hop.