I got that feeling as I walked into Transit on Friday night; the one where you realise that something pretty special and amazing is about to happen. We were there to see turntablism extraordinaire Robert Swift in his final Australian show – and he was not about to disappoint. Promoting his 2009 release The Architect, Swift’s career officially stretches over the last two decades, beginning in 1991 when he joined the much-coveted X-Ecutioners. The crowd oozed with purpose, it was very clear that those present understood exactly why they were there.

The excitement of the crowd was met equally with a sense of apprehension. With a career spanning twenty years from influences such as Herbie Hancock, James Brown, Quincy Jones and Grandmaster Flash, it was hard to know what to expect of Swift. Having only listened to “The Architect” days before the gig, I was interested as to the approach he would take and how the crowd would receive him. “The Architect” aims to reconcile classical music with contemporary hip hop – no easy feat. Subscribing to a classical structure, it contrasts darkness and light via conventional uses of major and minor chords. Experimental to its core, the album is at once as confusing as it is captivating and brilliant. What would Canberra think?

ACT’s own DMC champion, Buick was mighty in the lead up to Swift. Winding up with some Glitch Mob and Vibesquad, he set the mood and the pace perfectly.

And then Swift played. What ensued was unlike anything this seasoned punter has seen in a long time. By far superior to anyone that’s come through Canberra of late, Swift was both creative and technically flawless. As he geared up I began my usual worrying when I attend a gig like this, especially in Canberra. I fret that the artist and the audience won’t ‘get along’ so to speak. What will he expect of us – Canberra audiences aren’t always the loudest, even when they are having the time of their lives. But I think Swift knew straight away. He understood from the get the go that people weren’t screaming their heads off, simply because they were too busy watching and listening.

Essentially, they were in awe. Aesthetically, Swift looked amazing. Requesting the lights brighter, donning a red cap and Red Hot Chilli Peppers T, he seemed completely at ease. The set was as much a feast for the eyes as it was for the ears. The opening hour was devoted almost in its entirety to scratching. Amazing. He even did some behind the back scratching, just to take things up a notch really.

At completion of the first hour, Swift began to say a couple of things, clearly a little tired and in need of a bit of a T.O. He began with “So what I’m going to do now is…” only to be interrupted by someone in the crowd screaming “SCRATCH!”. Swift replied with a chuckle “I’ve been scratching for over like 45 minutes now! Can’t I have a break?” – No sir, you may not! – was the general consensus. After acknowledging the energy in the room, he gave us one more treat before cruising into some hip hop. He had promised to keep scratching throughout – so he was let off the hook. This night was about the audience just enjoying themselves. And we did. What followed was a combination of tunes in the style of The Architect, hip hop (ODB and Wu Tang a-plentiful!) and also some crazy jazz hop. Remaining on stage for a marathon three and a half hours – ninety minutes longer than intended – Swift took Transit by storm.

Seeing great music for uber cheap at Transit unfortunately sometimes involves dealing with people who have no appreciation for what they’re being exposed to. Frustrating as it is, the $10 cover on Friday is so ridiculously reasonable, there really is no room for complaint. The downside to the whole event was the presence of a couple of screw balls who took it upon themselves to chant some pretty offensive shit as Swift was talking. However, these guys got no real reaction from anyone, illustrating how far beyond the music they were and how focused everyone was on the man himself.

Thankyou Rob Swift. I now feel I understand and appreciate music a little more. Your creativity in composition was inspiring; it was a true honour to bear witness to such skills.