They say two is company and three is a crowd, but in the case of De La Soul, three is the magic number. Anyone who has observed the humble bar stool before may understand the power of this number and perhaps more auspiciously, anyone who was at Gluttony on what would have otherwise been an uneventful Monday night, may have also been injected with a dose of appreciation. It’s been 20 years since the release of De La Soul’s ground breaking record De La Soul Is Dead and to celebrate, Posdnous, Trugoy and Maseo threw one hell of a head bouncing, hip swaying party.

Admittedly, my first thoughts upon entering the newly created Fringe venue were not positive. For starters there was little to no space for punters to stand up. Instead, there were many seats. The outcome of this was that everyone who entered the Gluttony tent, no doubt in a state of confusion, went ahead and parked their bottoms down – a first at a De La Soul show, I’m sure. The other thing that really stood out was the size of the crowd. To put it simply, it was small. This I assume, could be attributed to the fact that little to no advertising had been made about the event in Adelaide and that it was a school night – and no less, a Monday night at that.

However, all qualms aside, it wasn’t long after the trio took the stage that people started coming to terms with the awkwardness of sitting down at a De La Soul show and instead got up to stand, sway and bob along. Opening with Talkin’ Bout Hey Love off of De La Soul Is Dead, emcees Posdnuos and Trugoy emerged from the wings, followed by Maseo. For the next hour or so, De La’s unrelenting energy and physical presence went beyond what could possibly be expected from three men, two mics and two turntables.

A reputation can be a tough thing to live up to, no less so for a group that have been branded as being one of the most influential hip hop groups of all time. However, on an otherwise relatively uneventful Monday night in Adelaide, De La Soul proved not only why the trio have stayed together, but also why they’ve stayed relevant.

Their show combined eclectic wordplay, comedic skits and material that drew from Three Feet High and Rising, Art Official Intelligence and of course, De La Soul Is Dead. Punters who were expecting De La Soul to be covering De La Soul Is Dead from start to finish would have been disappointed though, as their performance was more a collage of hits rather than a sole celebration of the album.

Stakes Is High, from 1996, was covered with the song of the same name and Itzsoweezee. Their debut, Three Feet High and Rising, saw Me, Myself and I and Potholes In My Lawn lapped right up. Oooh and All Good off the album Art Official Intelligence were crowd favourites, as was Rock Co.Kane Flow off The Grind Date album.

The only two songs covered from the album De La Soul Is Dead were A Roller Skating Jam Named ‘Saturdays’ and Talkin’ ‘Bout Hey Love, and were both performed relatively early in their set. It was obvious through these song choices that whilst many bands might seem galled by the fact that the majority of their glory days were two decades ago, De La Soul remain gracious, enthusiastic and keen to celebrate the songs that made them what they are.

In terms of the performance, one of the most noteworthy characteristics of their show was the unrestricted and comprehensive use of body language to back up the word-play. De La Soul are well known for their clever witty lyrics, so it was very entertaining to see these played out physically. Even Maseo couldn’t hide behind the decks for too long appearing front of stage with a mic in hand at baffling speeds for a big guy. He even made a comical reference to his weight lifting up his shirt to slap his stomach telling the whole crowd “to get some of fatty” in one of his rhymes.

This reflects everything that defines De La Soul’s left-of-centre success. The group can laugh at themselves and bring people together in unity through music, instead of providing an aggressive outlook on the culture hip hop is so often linked to.

Above all, it was clear that when De La Soul are on, they’re on – and tonight was no exception. De La Soul showed up to make sure the audience got their money’s worth, even if it wasn’t necessarily with the songs they were expecting to hear. With nothing less than a commanding set, why would they ever consider giving it up? Here’s to their next tour, and the one after that, ad infinitum.