Review – Ministry Of Sound – Perth 2006
Stepping away from dnb for the evening, Greg Packer pulled out his hiphop and stepped up to the decks. Watching Packer playing old school hiphop is always a treat, and the fact that he was able to run for an extra half an hour, dishing out classic after classic was a pleasant surprise.
After his late start, Grandmaster Flash entered the Capitol building. For everyone that had not seen grand master flash previously, his performance was a treat. From most reports, this half of the audience was loving the show – hands in the air, cheering and lots of people dancing to a variety of beats.
That said, the beats themselves were disappointing to his legion of hardcore fans. Those who had seen him play on both previous occassions he had performed in Perth were left shaking their heads in disappointment – their hopes of a fresh performance from this legandary man left in disarray. Stock standard AC/DC tune for the Aussie audience? Check. 10 minute repeatative beat montage of deceased rappers? Check. 15 minutes of old school Sugar Hill and other legendary tunes? check. The same tunes played previously at his other two performances? Check. Stock standard, boring, yet Paramount-crowd-pleasing commercial rnb and hiphop for over an hour? Check.
For anyone who had been to either of his previous performances here in Perth, there was no need to attend again, as there was nothing fresh to be found in his set and it was a shame that what was heard thoroughly disppointed those who have previously seen him play.
After the Upbeats ended their onslaught, Hazard utterly smashed the dancefloor, giving the wobble-crew everything they expected. With his very own Team Hazard amongst the crowd, his set definately stands out as one of the best of the year.
Ban-Ban came into the dnb arena next,and unfortunately gave a fairly off form set, with several trainwrecks heard. The crowd gradually thinned in favour of the a breaks arena, where Koma and Bones were smashing out 4/4 beats and breaks til the lights came on – topping off the capitol MOS session with an absolutely masterful set.
Loaded Dice once again pulled off a perfectly organised evening, which is to be expected with one of the best production crews in Perth at the helm.
Tags: ban-ban, drum'n'bass, grandmaster flash, greg packer, Hip Hop & Urban, sugar hill gang, upbeats