Live Review: Horrorshow, Tuka, Tom Thum

It’s a rare and beautiful thing, an acoustic hip hop performance in a renovated theatre with, to the shock of this reviewer, chairs. You mean we have to sit and wave our hands?

Once the shock wore off and beers were had,

appeared with a table of pedals. Think Michael Winslow, multiply the talent by ten, remove the douche-baggery and you have a guy that can create a dance party with one instrument, his voice. Thum is someone you have to see and hear to believe. A truly talented and classy human that takes beat-boxing to the next level.

As his group, Thundamentals, simultaneously tours around the country,

appears on stage in a different guise with a double-bass player, keyboardist (the immensely talented Vanessa Caspersz) and cajón. He is performing solo tracks tonight from his second album,

, as well as new tracks like

. Showing off the flow and lyrical talent that has established him as one of the country’s pre-eminent emcees, we get to see a softer side of Tuka alongside a talented group of musicians. 

Finally,

take to the stage with DJ Adit on bass, Kristen Fletcher on keys and Left guitarist Jono Graham. There’s something about emcee Solo’s voice that feels like slipping on a well-loved glove. The bass-driven, personal and powerful lyrics give Horrorshow the connection Australian hip hop has the ability to provide and makes this intimate performance all the more special.

It’s not all sensitivity though, as renditions of

and One Day’s

bring fans closer to the stage, forming a small dance floor to the side. Both support artists joined the troupe for several songs, Thum providing some inspired ‘scratching’ and vocal beats.

I kept waiting for Solo to stand and get us to push the chairs back and jump around with him but, alas, it was not to be. This time we just listened close.