Before I get into it, I thought I would briefly do a background on the event for all, so here we go: Battle City began in 2002 and is an annual event supported by the Brisbane City Council and is part of the Get Loud: National Youth Week program of events, workshops and activities. The event attracts the best local and interstate b-boys and b-girls and encourages them to showcase their skills to a soundtrack of fine breaks and funk.

All the dancers are in the running to take out first place, which would leave them with a cool $400 for their hip pocket, massive amounts of respect from their peers and no doubt will open the door to further opportunities to showcase their moves. In preparation for the main event, Battle City hosts “the warm up”: a series of five two-hour long Saturday afternoon jam sessions where breakers can size up their competition, test out some new moves and also have a little fun along the way.

Funk exploded through the inner city-scape on this fine Saturday afternoon as b-boys of young and old warmed up for Battle City. With only two sessions left after today’s jam, the atmosphere was at a peak and within the first 30 minutes the King George Square deck area was filling out nicely.

The newly renovated area was the perfect setting for the event, due to its adequate shade, accessibility and also its size. It held just the right capacity of people, with more than enough space for the dance areas and turntables. The venue contains the music well and has the correct dose of sound spilling over to attract the attention of passers-by.

The skills of the breakers that turned up today were phenomenal. Each dancer brought their own unique style and as the afternoon progressed and the sun was going down new bursts of energy filled the space. Flairs, pikes and back spins were rocked as dedicated friends looked on, while the city shoppers appeared mesmerised by the moves being displayed by the breakers.

DJ Bacon supplied some of the beats for the afternoon and chose some quality funk and breaks laced with hip hop samples that united each mix. Track after track Bacon built the set up then would break it down to a smooth electro percussive groove, allowing the B-Boys to practise their slick footwork and top rocking.

One thing that was apparent today was the lack of B-Girls. In fact there were none stepping up to the vinyl to practice, which led me to think that they were either uniting at some mass meeting to plan strategies on how to take out the B-Boys or leisurely resting up and keeping their fresh styles under lock and key.

Click here for my pics of the day.