Walking into 170 Russell, I did what I usually do, go get a spot straight up the front. To give an idea of how excited everyone was, the front row was already taken up in the first five minutes of the doors opening. The stage was ominous with all the gear ready to go, the smoke machine at work. There was a clear vibe from the start, everyone standing around having a drink, strangers talking about Aussie Hip-Hop together, with some bass heavy GoldLink, Chance the Rapper and JOY. playing in the background. A mood was already set.

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Turquoise Prince came out, the crowd cheering now that the stage was no longer empty. Right off the bat, Turquoise was working the stage with a swagger and confidence that usually comes from the main act. Turquoise did a great job in getting the crowd amped up, getting their hands high and chanting with him when he asked for it, he had the crowds respect and engagement in the first couple of songs. He understood that the crowd didn’t know his music, but still got them nodding their heads and moving with him.

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David Dallas came out around about 10 minutes after Turquoise finished, a real positive for how little was wasted between performances. Though he didn’t work the stage as much as his predecessor his performance was still very strong. Dallas had some great notable moment, on stage and with the crowd. As he was telling the crowd he knew they wouldn’t really know his songs but to just vibe with him anyway, he began his next track only then to find a girl near the front who knew all the words. Dallas and his DJ were both thankful for the rhythmic clapping they asked from the crowd as we got informed most of the other legs of the tour had been “rhythmically impaired”. Dallas dove deep into his catalogue for his set list too, a few tracks from his new album, his more popular from past releases and even doing his verse from the Not Many Remix by Scribe; the crowd really able to get into the hook.

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A short time later, the main event. Freddy Crabs went to the keys, Surfer Jesus on the drums, A-Diddy got up on the decks and as they started playing Dead Star Shine, Kid Solo walked out on stage, grabbed the mic and went to town. Hands were up in the air, bouncing on the first song, and by the look on Solo’s face, his head shaking in disbelief, he knew the crowd was already completely engaged. Other favourites were delivered throughout the performance such as All Summer Long, Solo getting the crowd to sing with him on the bridge, No Rides Left, to which the entire crowd rap every line with him and a personal favourite of mine Walk You Home (This Day). Turquoise Prince came out for his tracks on Horrorshow’s latest album, My Time, Non-Stop and Wasteland, and Omar Musa arrived to do his verse for Ceiling Fan, having these guys come out for the tracks added a great layer to the experience, something you couldn’t from a backing track or Solo doing the verses. The audience also got a special treat, not only getting one but both of Horrorshow’s like a versions, Can I Kick It? and No Aphrodisiac.

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After fan favourites, like a versions, guests and the majority of the Bardo State catalogue, Horrorshow performed one of the album’s lead singles Push. After a passionate performance from Solo, he came down to the crowd and stood up right in front of me. He told the crowd “if you’ve had an awesome motherf****n time tonight, then I want you to make as much noise as you possibly can on the count of three”, I haven’t been to many big stages for a concert, but that was one of the loudest crowd roars I’ve heard. Solo, Adit, Freddy and S.J. all thanked the crowd, and left with the crowd chanting “one more song” and before we heard Solo over the speakers chanting with us from behind the stage. After they came back out and performed a favourite off the new album, Cherry Blossom everyone thought the night was over, until once again from backstage we all heard Solo say “Ayo, Melbourne”, and you can imagine the crowd went wild. For the last time, the crew came back out on stage with a bottle of wine and performed possibly one of their most well received track, The Rain. After that the four of them came out the front, arms around each other and as Solo told the crowd “Melbourne, when we perform to crowds like you, it’s what inspires us to keep going, and believe me when I say, we love each and every f***in’ one of you”.

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They walked off, the lights when dim and the crowd walked out of 170 Russell getting all sides of Horrorshow, party, conscious and heartfelt. We got to be apart of an experience and interacted with, a concert I don’t believe someone could forget.