It’s not often that I venture out of my cosy Hamilton bubble, but I guess for Horrorshow I could make an exception. Anyone that knows me is quite aware that I share an aversion to (the majority of) Australian Hip Hop, but what I was greeted with on Saturday night at Bar On The Hill definitely swayed my preconceptions.
Surrounded by the most diverse crowd I’d ever seen, the initial support Turquoise Prince burst out onto the stage, mic in hand. If I was to use only two words to describe the up-and-comer, vivacious and charismatic definitely come to mind. Turquoise Prince seemed to bounce across the stage, throwing his lyrics out to the building crowd with his trademark attitude. Highlights of the set included a very danceable closing tune One Day I’ll Be King and a track aptly named Bangers and Mash.
My only issue with this set, was that I couldn’t help but feel a little irked by the rappers catch phrase, ‘LTC get it in ya’. I realise that you’ve got a brand to maintain but yelling it out after every song (or during might I add), gets a little tiresome.
After what seems like an eternity of mellow backing tracks, Auckland rapper David Dallas took to the stage, reminding everyone that New Zealand is far more than just hobbits and extreme sports. Kicking off the set with one of his recent singles Probably, Dallas caught the attention of the crowd almost immediately. It was touching to see the rapper so thrilled to be in Newcastle, playing to a (relatively) regional crowd.
Tracks like Runnin’ and Ring A Bell were hot favourites with Dallas going on to treat the crowd to a snippet of Scribe and P-Money’s Not Many, the track that single handedly kicked off his career in rap. After his set, Dallas went along the barrier and shook everyone’s hands to thank them; I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an artist individually thank their fans before. It must be a New Zealand thing, but that’s what I call a nice gesture.
Bursting out onto the stage with Dead Star Shine, Horrorshow reminded everyone of what they’ve been missing. As it turns out, Solo and Adit decided to bring along a live band for their Bardo State Tour which included Sticky Finger’s Freddy Crabs on keyboard. I’m sure that as a duo Horrorshow are still incredible, but there was something so personal and captivating about having the added band members on stage.
In addition to old favourites such as Walk You Home and No Rides Left, the band pulled David Dallas and Turquoise Prince back onto the stage to take on their recent single Wasteland. Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve never personally drunk a tall cup of melancholy, but I can imagine it would be similar to hearing Horrorshow’s rendition of The Whitlam’s classic, No Aphrodisiac.
As incredible as Horrowshow was, I couldn’t possibly write this article without addressing the recurring issue of the night, crowd behaviour. I unequivocally love Newcastle, but I can’t help but feel disheartened by the overriding theme of violence and ignorance that’s ingrained into the local gig culture. I’ve always been aware of this factor, but it has never seemed as prevalent as it was throughout Horrowshow’s performance.
Lead singer Solo stopped mid-track on a number of occasions to call out a group of crowd members due to violence and reports of sexual assault. This also included an audience member smoking pot inside and a drunken idiot who snatched a mic off the stage and tried to take over Horrowshow’s set.
After the fourth crowd related incident Solo reached out to the audience, ‘We came here to party, respect each other and have a good time’. While it’s incredible to see musicians and the like finally calling out shitty behaviour at gigs, it blows my mind that we need to continually remind everyone to not be a dick.
If you were part of the small group in the middle of crowd, feel free to never attend another music event in Newcastle; I’m sure everyone would be better off without you and your disrespectful attitudes. Keep your hands to yourself and pay attention to the music, or (not so) politely piss off.
– Bree Smith
Bree is a Newcastle import who survives off British television and hummus. She spends the majority of her time chasing bands up and down the east coast. Never without a set of headphones, you’ll often find her lost in a wormhole of related artists on Spotify. One day she hopes to impress people by being able to play more than one song on guitar.
