THUNDAMENTALS

@ The Gov

29/03/18

(Live Review)

Reviewer: Chelsea Wood

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Thundamentals are currently touring the country on their mammoth, ‘Decade of the Thundakat’ tour celebrating their 10th birthday. On Thursday night (29th March) Tuka, Jeswon, and Morgs hit up Adelaide’s versatile and intimate gig venue, The Gov, treating the sold out crowd to an energetic 90 minute set crammed with a selection of favourite tunes from the past 10 years. The communal feel that the group’s fan base has led to the night being one of the many ultimate birthday parties being hosted around the country by the group.

The trio, reigning from New South Wales’ Blue Mountains region, brought along supports in the form of Sydney’s Bwise, and Adelaide’s own, Adrian Eagle to amp up the crowd. The night began with the soulful vocal of Adrian Eagle, followed by Bwise who truly caught the crowd’s attention. During his short set, Bwise gained control over the bursting crowd through his effortless style, charisma, and overall presence. If you were to walk into The Gov at that moment you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d walked into his headline show. As he finished up the set, Bwise left the stage to the crowd chanting along to Drake’s ‘God’s Plan’, but not before leaving no hand of the front of the crowd unshaken. This started off the night, exactly how it would end, with a mutual respect between fans and artists.

As soon as Morgs hit the decks with what seemed to be a Thundamentals remix of a sample of Imagine Dragons’ hit ‘Thunder’, along with an impressive lighting display, the atmosphere was buzzing, with the crowd reaching what seemed to be an electric peak, all before Tuka and Jeswon graced the stage. Bursting onto the stage and into Foreverlution’s, ‘Paint the Town Red’, the venue exploded with the bustling crowd matching the energy of the group. The playful, F U track to bosses from hell, ‘Quit Your Job’, came next providing the first moment of the night where the crowd’s voices almost topped Tuka and Jeswon’s. ‘Got Love’ featuring Bwise, ‘Never Say Never’, and ‘My Friends Say’, followed suit all before the lads chimed into anti violence anthem, ‘Noodle Soup’. The show wouldn’t have been complete without tracks from their debut full length album, ‘Sleeping On Your Style’, so we were treated to ‘My Favourite Song’, with a performance equally as humble and simple as the song’s lyrics.

After providing a shout out of encouragement to the next wave of Aussie Hip Hop artists, Adrian Eagle joined them back on stage to provide his smoky vocals to their version of Matt Corby’s ‘Brother’. Throughout the set the atmosphere within the venue continued to grow, and by the time ‘Think About It’ started, there was a sweet singalong that swept through the crowd. Once the lads had done a shout out to Adelaide’s Hilltop Hoods, it was no secret as to which song was coming next; ’21 Grams’. It’s clear that the crowd and both Tuka and Jeswon’s performances fed off of the shared energy in the room. ‘Smiles Don’t Lie’ brought a slower pace to the night, while ‘Sally’ brought out the fun and cheeky side to the lads, before finishing on a high with ‘Something I Said’.

Upon sharing their distaste for the cliché encore, Thundamentals suggested a personal touch to the end of their show, suggesting they meet every single person down at the merch desk. Even though this move made it pretty damn hard to leave The Gov, it shows the group’s dedication and adoration towards their fans. It’s refreshing to see a group like Thundamentals continuously use their platform for good, spreading their message of love, acceptance, and tolerance around Australia show by show. Over the past decade, their sound has matured but the one thing that still remains is the message they portray. By continuing to be the go to good guys of Aussie Hip Hop, Thundamentals haven’t just built a fan base but a community too.

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