Off the Record: ATCQ in Melbourne w/ Set-list

It was with much anticipation that we hit the Melbourne Festival Hall on Thursday 12th August to witness the legendary ATCQ perform to a sell-out crowd.

I was super-hyped, but was also vaguely concerned that my favourite group of all time might leave us a little dissapointed. There were nagging doubts that they might not be up to it, after all their hey-day was back in the early to mid-nineties.

Anyway, me and my boy Jellyfish smashed a few rums and bounced out there ready for some akshun.

Kool Keith kicked things off with a breezy 6-track set of freestyles topped off with his Dr. Octagon classics 'Blue Flowers' and 'Girl Let Me Touch You There'. What he was up to I don't know, cos he lip-synched them after clearly freestyling live the previous four tracks?! Lame.

DJ Maseo from De La Soul then hit the ones & twos for a hip-hop and funk warm-up to the main event. He did a nice job whilst pumping up the lax Aussie crowd on the mic with his gruff baritone.

He bounced, the stage lights dimmed and as I watched the turntables as close as I could, I saw Ali Shaheed's hand pop up on the right turnie. A quick cut and in came the familiar tones of the Midnight Marauders intro, and it was on!

Then cam e the horn intro for 'Steve Biko (Stir It Up'). "Lyndon Boulevard represent, represent, zent/Tribe Called Quest represent, represent, zent/... holy shit! And that was that. The crowd went absolutely bananas as Phife hit the stage and then Q-Tip as he kicked off the second verse.

From there the Tribe just flowed. For me it went way beyond expectation, they were totally on point, the sound was bang on, and you could hear every lyric crystal clear. They SMASHED it! For the first 10-15 minutes I actually couldn't believe it and was a bit bewildered really.

Anyway, I can't really say much more except that here is the playlist for all who are interested. It was Midnight Marauders heavy which seems to suggest that my fave record is also the band's favourite record. Dope.