Check out all the photos from the Sydney show here.

Thanks to Sydney’s woeful public transport I missed Thundamentals, but was reliably informed by a punter that they “fucking killed it”. Horrorshow came on stage with the Hordern only half-full, and pretty laid-back on a Wednesday night, but you couldn’t fault their energy. MC Nick Bryant-Smith was all over the stage, jumping up and down and trying to get the crowd involved as much as possible. Not all of them were getting into it, but I was certainly impressed – their personal, confessional style reminded me of Atmosphere, particularly during The Rain, and it would appear as though the Sydney hip hop renaissance is going from strength to strength.

Between the Horrorshow and Quest, the DJ and party-starting duties fell to Maseo of De La Soul fame. After warming up with a whole bunch of Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common and De La itself, he launched into a set of Notorious B.I.G tracks, mash-ups and remixes. He was really building to something, and the set peaked when he dropped Hypnotise – people were jumping around, broad smiles on their faces, and everyone was ready to party. Unfortunately, this all happened twenty minutes before Quest were scheduled to come out, and although he tried hard he just couldn’t quite hit that peak again – his efforts weren’t helped by the house lights coming on for a full five minutes, with absolutely no warning, sucking all the energy out of the room and clearly making a whole bunch of people visibly uncomfortable.

But, finally, after almost 25 years of waiting, Q-Tip, Phife Dawg and Ali Shaheed Muhammad came on to a Sydney stage to rapturous applause. This was a sold-out Hordern Pavilion, and 5,500 people were cheering and stamping to celebrate this (potentially) once-in-a-lifetime event.

They ripped through the first few tracks at a cracking pace, barely drawing breath while leaving Steve Biko, Bound To Wreck Your Body and The Chase, Part II in their wake. You couldn’t fault their energy, with Tip running all over the stage, and even Phife moving around a lot for a guy with his health problems.

But right from the get-go, technical problems threatened to distract from the energy on stage. The bass was much too high up in the mix, to the point where the friend I was with had to go and stand outside just to hear things properly. In addition to sound problems, one of the lighting rigs was out of action for much of the show, which meant that instead of being able to light the stage, the massive flood lights needed to be switched on to have the same effect.

For me, and for others I spoke to, having these enormous lights come on all the time killed off whatever atmosphere had managed to build in the interim. This was further compounded when the house lights came on, just as they had during Maseo’s set, halfway through On Point, which was already affected by too much bass.

Despite all this, the Tribe soldiered on. Occasional fourth member Jarobi White came on stage to lend a hand on Can I Kick It?, but there was nothing doing. It was almost impossible to hear any of the lyrics over the bass, and that wonderful Lou Reed sample was completely swamped. But few in the audience seemed to mind, especially when old favourites Bonita Applebum and Vivrant Thing got an airing.

As well as being their first show ever in Australia, it was also Ali’s birthday – and so we all sang a happy birthday before they launched into the last portion of the set, with Scenario and Award Tour getting everyone in the crowd jumping up and down in a frenzy. But still, sound issues abound, and Jarobi, try as he might, is no Busta Rhymes, and that final verse in Scenario loses all its power, and rawness, and excellence without him.

Overall, the show itself was a tremendous disappointment, despite the best efforts of the guys on stage. You could sense their frustration, too – it seemed like every time they weren’t on the mic, both Tip and Phife were at the side of the stage, yelling at someone and pointing to their mics. And they should be angry – Tribe’s signature samples and dexterous wordplay were completely overwhelmed by the technical problems. It was a hugely disappointing thing to happen after waiting so long to see them, especially when you consider that it may well be the only time they ever make it out here.

Mind you, I had a long conversation with another good friend who went to the show, and while acknowledging the technical defects, he thought that Tip’s showmanship and general energy levels overcame the tech issues. And god knows everyone in the audience was jumping up and down, and seemed to be having a great time. But, really, we should all be able to have a great time because we’re at a great show with world-class sound and lighting. We shouldn’t have to make an effort to have a good time despite technical issues.