Live Review: Bliss N Eso, Dylan Joel

It's been a while since Bliss N Eso, one of the biggest acts in Australian hip hop history have played a headline gig in their hometown.

Support act Dylan Joel warmed up the Enmore stage, or more so set it on fire. The Melbourne rapper had the whole crowd doing a two-step to a beat he created using his acoustic guitar in the first few minutes of his set. Joined by a talented keys player and bassist, Joel played a few of his own tracks including his collab with DJ Izm, Swing, off his debut album Authentic Lemonade, as well as performing his triple j Like A Version cover of Randy Newman's You've Got A Friend In Me.

He changed the vibe, acoustically performing an unreleased song, written about a family member of his going through depression, before using a loop pedal and getting the crowd feeling nostalgic with a medley of Nelly's Ride Wit Me, R Kelly's Ignition and TLC's No Scrubs.

Then Bliss N Eso - MC Bliss, MC Eso and DJ Izm (accompanied by a keys player, drummer and two vocalists) took to the stage with the title track off their 2017 album Off The Grid. It was impressive how many of their songs they managed to fit into their set, a mixture of their classics like Act Your Age and Family Affair and tracks like Moments, Dopamine and Tear The Roof Off from their new album.

MC Bliss proceeded to show off his beatboxing skills and Down By The River had the floor of the Enmore in danger from all the jumping that ensued. Before performing Jungle, someone donning a gorilla costume held up their new record like baby Simba as The Circle Of Life played in the background. They later brought out Dylan Joel and his guitar for a singalong to Reflections.

They talked about their recent first tour of the United States and how shocked they were that none of the MCs they saw had DJs, while DJ Izm showed off his scratching skills with a bit of a solo moment which he had to improvise due to his gear messing up - even more impressive.

Things got emotional with Devil On My Shoulder and a discussion of MC Eso's overcoming of alcoholism, with everyone applauding his four years of sobriety. They closed their set on a high with Aussie hip hop classic Addicted before treating the crowd to not one but three encore performances.