Friday night saw two massive names in the party starting business come together for one huge show at Sydney’s Forum. Spinderella of Salt n Pepa would handle the opening slot before Z-Trip showed us why he was voted America’s number 1 DJ last year.

A good trick for any DJ trying to instantly bring a foreign crowd onside is to play a home grown classic, a trick both artists would employ tonight. Spinderella’s set started with the familiar flute riff to The Hilltop Hoods now seminal song The Nosebleed Section ...and with that, the crowd was hers. It may not have been the golden-era classics set some of us were expecting but Spinderella played tracks from all era’s of Hip Hop and R n B, keeping the very fired up dance floor constantly bouncing. Eric B and Rakim’s Paid in full, Montell Jordan’s This is how we do it and the Black Eyed Peas Joints and Jams just to name a few.

Spinderella dropped Public Enemy’s Welcome to the Terrordome, cutting up the lyric “Hear the drummer get wicked” to full effect. Spin then announced “This next ones for the ladies” before dropping the Bel Biv Devoe classic Poison, much to the all screaming delight of the girls in the room. Spinderella was always going to include some Salt n Pepa in the set, but she kept the crowd hanging on for it right up until her final track of the night…”Ahhh Push it, Push it real good” ...after reaching the first chorus she cut the track short before advising the crowd she “had some friends in the building” she was then joined on stage by 50% of Salt n Pepa and a handful of back-up dancers. Salt tore it up out front on the mic while our headliner quietly made his way out to the decks and started playing alongside Spinderella, giving the classic riff of the song a really dirty mix which sounded like it should have been there all along.

There was no mucking around between sets, keeping the vibe which was already well beyond hyped going, Z-Trip took over the controls. Much like 70,000 fans had done only 24 hours beforehand at ANZ stadium, the crowd stated chanting “Oi, Oi, Oi” as Z-Trip really announced his arrival with a great mix of AC/DC’s TNT before bringing it back to the Hip Hop tip and playing a couple of classic Dre beats before mixing them into the Johnny Cash anthem Ring of Fire. If I sit here and try to give you a full overview of the tracks he played I will be writing this article well into the next time Z-Trip comes to visit, so a few highlights of the set were. Foreigners Eye of the Tiger with DJ Shadow’s Organ Donor, and the music from Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit with Nelly Furtado singing Say It Right over the top of it sounded surprisingly good. One of the more out there mixes of the night was De La Souls Me Myself and I into Boston’s More than a Feeling. With more Hooks than Rex Hunt, Z-Trip continued to whip up the excitable crowd by dropping Rage Against The Machines Testify over one of the world’s most recognisable beats, Michael Jacksons Billie Jean.

Speaking to ITM’s Angy shortly before the tour, Z-Trip promised some surprises, he delivered on that promise by dropping Kid Cudi’s Day and Night and bringing the rapper out to do a live version on stage. Following this up with another unlikely mix, the music from Guns N Roses Sweet Child Of mine using the lyrics of Stevie Wonders Uptight (Everything is alright). My Personal favourite moment from the set was the mix of Pharoahe Monch’s Simon Says into Roots Manuvas Witness, in what was a very dark sounding collab. The Good Vibrations guest star love-in wasn’t quite over yet. Z-Trip brought DJ Craze out to the stage for an amazing side by side display of DJ-ing. Craze pulled out all his party tricks, making what we know is so hard, look all too easy. With more scratches than a cat fight he and Z-Trip took turns destroying Dre’s Next Episode beat. Z-Trip finished the set by jumping down and sharing some love with the first few rows of the crowd while Finley Quaye’s chilled out tune Even after all sent us all home with sweat soaked clothes and ringing ears.