Live Review: Atmosphere - Villa

Minneapolis' Atmosphere are both a product of, and huge contributor to, the introspective backpack rap movement that defined underground hip hop in the years following the millennium – just don't call them 'emo'. Now touring with live keys and strings, Slug (MC) and (producer) Ant's signature sound has been translated into something more tangible to a live audience, and the 80/20 spilt of college kids and 30-something couples at Villa Nightclub appreciated it.

WA locals Aero-D & Cortext had left their native Denmark, WA, in search of the paved gold streets of Perth City. They scored a good gig here and they knew it, going in hard as the first act on despite looking out onto a dancefloor that was more floor than dancing. Adam Crook (real name, no gimmicks) was all dreadlocks, party rhymes and pimping his new album, and he made a good fist of stirring up the crowd before Evidence entered stage left. The Dilated Person and Rhymesayer has been at pains lately to emphasise his credentials as a solo artist, and anyone hoping for a run through Dilated Peoples' back catalogue will have been disappointed. What the crowd got were laser-guided raps from one of the underground's true technical MCs, spitting without a hype man and never losing breath.

There was an awkward moment when Atmosphere kicked off with Became from last year's underwhelming The Family Sign, but they barreled straight into Guns & Cigarettes, then Girl With The Tattooed Hands and back through their 16-year career. The fuller live sound delivered by Nate Collis on guitar and Erick Anderson behind the keyboards added balance to counter the introverted and self deprecating subject matter that Slug has made his own. While other artists would have struggled to reconcile it, the polarity made the performance an involving and exhilarating live experience.

Just a couple of weeks ago I tweeted a passing thought – that most of the rappers I grew up listening to are now in their 40s. It's not going to win a Pulitzer, it just struck me that it was a funny contrast between the vitality and dynamism of the genre, and everything that goes with becoming middle aged. A week later, the sad news about Beastie Boy Adam Yauch was a reminder that 40s is not old, even in a career with a lower than average life expectancy. Whether Slug, 40 this year, will hold on to the vexation and vitality that makes Atmosphere what they are (and last night was one of the best shows Perth will see this year) remains to be seen. There are a few hundred happy punters hoping he can.