Live Review

Shabazz Palaces & Joelistics

Joelistics seems like a slightly odd support choice, since his work sits squarely in the mainstream of Australian hip-hop, while tonight's headline act, Shabazz Palaces, are much more left-field. The crowd is still fairly sparse when he takes the stage, but Joelistics seems happy to be here nonetheless, launching into things as if he were playing to a packed house. He wins me over immediately by promising not to force us to wave our hands in the air or get up and dance - "but I want you to dance with your brains," he adds. There's at least one very enthusiastic (and somewhat drunk) crowd member who dances with more than his brains, taking over the floor during most of the set and even demanding that 4ZZZ's photographer take his picture at one point (we decided not to subject you to that picture).

It's a lively and varied set, the DJ mixing in segments of Prince and Dolly Parton's "Jolene" before closing with Joelistics' biggest hit, "Days". I wasn't much of a fan of Joelistics previously, but the show is entertaining enough that I'm glad I arrived early.

The Alhambra is filling up now and soon Shabazz Palaces take the stage, both members of the duo in sunglasses and looking like the coolest people in the room (who said wearing sunglasses indoors was pretentious?). They take their places side by side near the front of the stage, surrounded by an intriguing array of drum pads, laptops, small keyboards, electronic devices I don't know the name for, and miscellaneous percussion instruments. As they open with "Youlogy", the audience is rapt; it's a small but passionate crowd, and like Joelistics guessed, they're the sort of people who are here to focus intently on the music, not so much to dance.

When seeing hip-hop and electronic acts live, I'm never quite sure what to expect. When you're listening to the album you know that all this music has been carefully assembled in the studio, but I tend to associate live shows with watching people play live instruments. So there's always a danger that the live performance will feel redundant - you don't want to watch two guys clicking around on laptops all night, or essentially performing karaoke of their own songs.

Fortunately, Shabazz Palaces manage to avoid these traps. They do use pre-recorded segments - the weird noises and other samples that I recognise from their album - but percussionist Tendai Maraire performs most of the beats live with a set of conga drums. Later on, Maraire plays an extended piece on what seems to be a thumb piano, while elsewhere vocalist Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler joins in on maracas. You'd almost expect this to bring a ludicrous element to their dark, experimental music, but it actually meshes with the songs like it was always meant to be there. Overall, it's a more organic and immediate sound, and while I wouldn't say they've improved on the (fantastic) recorded versions, the live performance is a welcome reinterpretation of songs I'm quite familiar with by now.

Alhambra is a beautiful space to sit and have a drink with friends, but as a concert venue it leaves something to be desired. The performance space is barely raised above floor level, and the only way I can see anything is by standing on a couch (I'm sure that's technically against the rules, sorry Alhambra). Toward the end of their set, Butler thanks the audience - "Everybody's been hella cool" - and they break into an unexpectedly funny little dance as they begin the last song, "Recollections of the Wrath". Now I really feel sorry for the audience members who don't have furniture to stand on; for me, this is the sort of moment that makes going to live shows worthwhile.

All in all, a satisfying show, leaving me keen to listen to Shabazz Palaces' discography again with fresh ears. Everyone who was there knows that they're one of the most interesting hip-hop acts in the world right now; if you missed out, you'll want to be sure to catch them next time they're in town.

Words by Grace Nye, photos by Sky Kirkham

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