Hip Hop fans young and old filled the Hordern Pavilion to capacity on Wednesday night, there to experience the legends of the genre in the flesh: A Tribe Called Quest. For some in the room, tonight was not only a night they’d waited almost two decades to experience, but a night they perhaps never thought would come. At least on Australian shores. Thankfully, following the course of a slew of America’s finest Hip Hop acts graced our shores over the past year – Q-Tip, Phife, Ali and even Jarobi (who left the group in 1990 before unofficially reuniting in 2006) gave into our demands, and gave us a night we’d not soon forget.
Launching the show sans Jarobi with “Steve Biko (Stir It Up)”, Q-Tip and Phife wasted no time in showing us why they were two of hip hops greatest MCs. They played off each other, flowing flawlessly from lyric to lyric, from track to track. As only the finest can – they made it look oh so easy. And they’re not shy to admit it – Q-Tip proclaiming “in this lyrics game we’re pretty efficient”, before pumping out “Lyrics To Go”. Ali, meanwhile, perched high atop the MCs on the decks, celebrated his birthday by keeping the beats flowing. As the smell of weed drifted through the air, they were accompanied by a pretty fantastic light show, although the sound left a lot to be desired. Set at an unnecessarily high volume, those of us who still had reasonable hearing were left wishing they’d bought ear plugs.
With “Steve Biko” getting the crowd bouncing, they kept the party going from start to finish, interacting well with their audience – Q-Tip spending several songs with the crowd – and playing crowd favourite after crowd favourite. Of course, there were two tracks that we were all hanging out for, but more on them later. First, they had to churn out some great tracks like “Butter” (an easy highlight of the night), “Phony Rappers” and “The Chase Pt II”.
We were all surprised when “Can I Kick It?” was popped out early on in the set, the first of their two biggest hits, but it served as the best possible introduction for Jarobi White – the on-and-off-again fourth member of the group – who remained on stage for the rest of the show. Of course, “Can I…” set the room on fire – but there was still plenty more to come. Personal favourite “Bonita Applebum” was a gem, in which we got a taste of Q-Tip beatboxing, which flowed into “Electric Relaxation” and “Buggin’ Out”.
But if one song had to have stolen the show, it was always going to be “Scenario”, and it certainly did – the group even stalled the song several times to make sure the crowd was truly ready to lose their shit. After we all sung happy birthday to Ali, and an hour or so on the stage, the band said their goodbyes, and it seemed like the night was over. Eventually the lights came back on, but the crowd kept chanting and refused to leave until the group they’d waited twenty years for returned to the stage.
Unlike Janes Addiction earlier this year, they gave in to the audiences demands, which they humorously likened to putting out on a first date. They chatted amongst themselves and pulled out “His Name Is Mutty Ranks” for the first track, before they freestyled (or played a track I’d just never heard) and invited us all along to the Oxford Art Factory afterparty. Of course, with 450 capacity, the venue was hardly capable of housing us all, which Phife failed to mention.
While it certainly hadn’t been twenty years in the waiting for yours truly (6 or 7?), it was a long anticipated thrill to get to see the masters at work, playing the tracks live that had been locked away in my hard drive for so many years. I sensed mixed emotions leaving the venue – some complained about the sound, others about the reasonably short set, but all in all the consenscus was the same: in spite of the jet lag, the boys from Queens showed us all how it was done, having a great time, and giving us one too. And if their banter was anything to go by, it won’t be the last time we’ll see them on our shores, either.
