Live Review: Urthboy, L-FRESH The LION, Okenyo

27 May 2016 | 2:45 pm | Maxine Gatt

"All five incredible women — Tyrrell, Puru, Blackman, Okenya and Urthboy's bandmate Chaos Emerald — spread across the front of the stage."

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Okenyo starts things off solo with synth, beat pad and soulful vocals. The room fills up quickly and punters enjoy the chilled, electronic vibes.

L-FRESH The LION turns it up thanks to bouncing beats from DJ MK-1 and energetic hype-woman and singer Mirrah. The Sikh rapper has excellent flow and the crowd put hands up and dance along to the harmonic sounds. It's a diverse and dynamic set with MK-1 dropping a Dr Dre sample followed by some dubstep beats. The last song of the set is from L-FRESH The LION's new album Become and he dedicates this to Punjabi women warriors and suffragettes.

The stage lights up and DJ Jayteehazard scratches behind the decks to a cheering crowd. The room erupts as Urthboy enters the stage with band in tow, welcomes us and pays his respects with a Welcome To Country. The bouncing beats of first song Stories beckon all hands skyward and Jane Tyrrell (The Herd) joins Urthboy to sing the chorus for melodic hip hop song Shruggin. The breakbeat sounds of Nuthin I'd Rather Do gets everyone dancing and singing along. Urthboy introduces Kira Puru to the stage and she wows the audience with her explosive vocals on the Daughter Of The Light chorus. Urthboy acknowledges that today is "Sorry Day", adding this needs to have authenticity and be genuine in its meaning. The crowd sings along to the up-tempo beats of We Get Around. We're already delighted by the array of featured artists gracing the stage… and then Bertie Blackman appears. The crowd goes crazy for Long Loud Hours, jumping along to the song's electronic dub sound. L-FRESH The LION is invited back to the stage and rips out a verse on Running Into The Flames before Okenyo drops a rap on Second Heartbeat. Urthboy's flow is effortless.

The punters chant loudly for one more song and are thrilled when Urthboy answers their call. Just when we were feeling spoiled, all five incredible women — Tyrrell, Puru, Blackman, Okenya and Urthboy's bandmate Chaos Emerald — spread across the front of the stage, together with Urthboy, to finish the night off with a cover of Meg Mac's Roll Up Your Sleeves. We're blown away.

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