Live Review: Horrorshow, B Wise

Straight from the cultural melting pot of southwest Sydney, B Wise warmed up a sold out crowd at Factory Theatre last night. With a full set of bass-heavy tracks, he certainly got the audience as pumped as could be for what was to ensue. No Questions, a track from his new EP, highlighted the set with its strong drive and quality lyrics.

Emerging from a haze of purple and blue wash lights, Horrorshow open their set with a cover of Lou Reed's Walk On The Wild Side and Can I Kick It? by A Tribe Called Quest, blending the two expertly with Solo's own laid-back lyrics. After a few more tracks All Summer Long, a thoughtful meditation on past love, had the crowd singing along to every word. Horrorshow thrive in their ability to captivate an audience - a quality all live musicians should strive for - and they do it with ease. After a short and matter-of-fact speech on racism (and its evident need to be dispelled from the country and indeed the world), Solo welcomed Jimblah, Urthboy and Thelma Plum to the stage for a new tune tapping into the culture diversity issues in Australia.

It is for this very reason that Solo has found such widespread success in Australia. His lyrics intellectually and elegantly address various political issues throughout the country, using rap as a vehicle to generate awareness and change. Crowd favourites Dead Star Shine and Walk You Home earned thunderous applause, leaving the audience determined for an encore. After cheering and a foot stomping worthy of stampeding rhinos, Adit kicked off the beat to new single If You Know What I Mean. The boys really have it down pat with this one, proving their fluency in the language of rap. Closing the encore was a track from their next album, due to be released in 2017. It showcased some new beat styles on Adit's part accompanied Solo's trademark flow. With a great blend of old goldies and new material alike, it was certainly a show to satisfy any Horrorshow fan around.