Live Review: Horrorshow, Turquoise Prince, David Dallas

Turquoise Prince draws an unsurprisingly large crowd at 170 Russell. His energetic presence is felt front to back as his bouncing arm encourages the crowd to bounce with him. While we may not know the lyrics to every song, his passion for the music is refreshingly contagious. We know we're in for a treat this evening.

The crowd felt a little like David Dallas was out of left field. It was obvious a few members peppered in the audience are aware of Dallas' impressive rap sheet (having opened for the likes of Eminem and Run The Jewels in the past), while largely we feel a little impatient for the main event. Undeterred, Dallas is smooth in his lyrical delivery and by the time he reaches track Big Time he's worked the crowd participation to his advantage. We absolutely lose our minds when Dallas delivers a quick fire verse on Not Many. Cool, calm and collected he's left us wanting more.

Horrorshow take the stage with musicians on both drums and keys. Adit looks so confident behind the 'wheels of steel' and when a smooth young Nick Bryant-Smith (MC Solo) walks on stage, the cheers are deafening. The well-seasoned crew open with an inviting Dead Star Shine and from the very first bar the crowd has the backing vocals covered. The singles seamlessly transition between older albums and the current Bardo State. No Rides Left pleases the day-dot fans while How We Get Down has the younger front-rowers jumping. Solo is everywhere on the stage and Adit somehow has time for vocals in between impressive cuts and scratching. The crew raise the bar once more with their triple j Like A Version track Walk On The Wild Side and when Solo asks "Can I kick it?" it's as if we can't answer quick enough.

Turquoise Prince returns for My Time and the alcohol fuelled Wasteland. The message is a little lost when already messy audience members encourage a "shoey" chant. Thankfully, these rappers don't lend themselves to that immature shit. Omar Musa jumps out of stage right for Ceiling Fan and we're absolutely captivated. Latest single Eat The Cake has people jumping all over each other when the stings to Walk You Home start another singalong erupts. With a final rendition of Push and encore Cherry Blossom, this feels like a 'best of' set... But then that's exactly what Horrorshow are to Aus hip hop; some of the best of.