Live Review: Jurassic 5, The Stoops

Vocalist Sarah Pellicano joined Perth's The Stoops one track into their opening set to add a little treble to the boom-bap. MCs Roc Wallabi and Pronto were played in by Arms In Motion's warm-up 30 minutes. The talented waxman spun Big Daddy Kane, Tha Alkaholiks, KRS-One and on through the golden era until the cuts were his own and the vocals came from live on stage. The Stoops sound is pure hip hop, with a direct and persuasive channel to unconvinced ears – a fundamental quality of the next name on the ticket.

It's hard to overstate the impact Jurassic 5's Jayou made when it hit JB's on CD single in '97. Commercially, their debut EP (which was beefed up to become a debut album) couldn't attract the teen dollars of Dru Hill, Usher or R Kelly and its absence from end of year R&B and hip hop charts was expected (though not deserved). But it was a critical success and, without hyperbole, one of the decade's most important releases when considered today.

Coming onstage to The Jackson 5's I Wanna Be Where You Are – “Could it be I stayed away too long/Did I leave your mind when I was gone?” – and opening with Back 4 U from 2006's Feedback, Jurassic 5 answered questions before the sold-out Perth crowd knew they'd been asked. Would all six of the Five be down to tour together after seven years apart? Yes. Does Cut Chemist seem like a spare part performing tracks from an album he was absent from? Emphatically not. Would a 'reunion tour' be a tick-the-boxes and count-the-ticket-stubs kind of affair? Kill that noise.

Of course, the biggest reaction was to Concrete Schoolyard's piano intro (honourable mention: Marc 7 – kazoo solo), but from start to finish there was the energy and response the event had earned. Jayou was dropped early on, and we got Monkey Bars, Improvise, Gotta Understand and a bonus version of Nu-Mark and 2na's Comin' Thru in the mix. Live, as on wax, Cut Chemist respectfully silenced the mics not once but twice with scratching and juggling worth the ticket price alone. Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark threw breaks into space from behind their individually branded DJ forts, the different logos showing a dual attack rather than a camp divided.

J5's split was as acrimonious as the coolest guys in hip hop could manage, and members pursuing solo careers are rumoured to have been the cause. Akil, Zaafir, Marc and Chali 2na were comfortable until What's Golden finished the set (and on throughout the merchandise signing afterward), even filming each other on a GoPro they'd picked up. There was no sign of disharmony before, during or after the 90-minute set – vocally, personally or otherwise – and we can wonder about what the missing seven years might have produced. A toast to J5, their 20th anniversary and many more.