Tonite, Trigger Trials, Marksman Lloyd, Dylan Joel
Capitol
Saturday, October 22, 2016
What. A. Night.
A keen crowd gathered at Capitol to be a part of the final show of Drapht’s national tour for his new album Seven Mirrors. Being Drapht’s hometown, Perth punters were on board to give him the welcome he deserves. The venue filled early and quickly as the support acts took to the stage, setting it alight and hyping the crowd to exploding point for the hometown hero.
Tonite opened the stage with an a cappella track that had the crowd captivated from the get-go. Only a young guy – Tonite has been a part of the Perth hip-hop scene for a number of years. He opened for Drapht a couple of years back, and it’s no wonder he’s continued to experience success after success. His rhymes were slick and thoughtful, enticing people to the front of the stage to be a part of the set.
Trigger Trials from Adelaide based act The Funkoars filled the slots between all of the sets. Working the decks – and the crowd – he managed to get everyone moving and definitely in the mood to party.
Next up was Marksman Lloyd. With Trigger spinning the decks for him he ignited the fire in the bellies of the audience. The crowd lapped up the freestyle rhymes that Marksman dropped with the assistance of several punters handing over objects for him to use. By getting down amongst it with the audience in his last track of the night, Marksman demonstrated to all present that he is an artist breaking down the stereotypes of the Australian hip-hop scene. Clearly a favourite in Perth, we’ve no doubt not seen the last of such an exciting artist.
Dylan Joel had the slot of final support before Drapht took to the stage. The Melbourne based artist owned the stage from the moment his set started. Swapping seamlessly between samples and live instrumentation, including him performing solo on an acoustic guitar validates the enormous praise received by him to date. A very individualised sound that melds melody, harmony and tight lyrics – Dylan Joel won the hearts of the crowd with his ‘two step’ and the Like a Version cover recently recorded by Triple J, You Got a Friend in Me. Dylan Joel showed the audience tonight why he is someone to watch carefully and why he is an artist that is earning the respect of so many in the industry.
Trigger Trials readied the crowd in the final moments before Drapht took to the stage. Dropping tracks like Jump Around and Insane in the Membrane was an indicator of the vibe and only excited the crowd even further. Finally, Perth-boy-done-good, Drapht arrived on stage to a chorus of cheers and whistles. The Western Australian hip-hop scene is undoubtedly alive, well and very strong. There is so much love for the man, so many smiles on the faces of the crowd. Opening with All Love, it was clear that Drapht loved being back on stage in his hometown for the final gig on the tour.
Drapht’s set comprised of a mix of Seven Mirrors bangers as well as some older, well-known tracks. Mexico and Another Juliet were undeniable favourites of the bouncing crowd and when Drapht introduced Morgan Bain and they jumped into Frank Sinatra – they were putty in the hands of the man of the evening. Clearly happy with how the track went, announcing to the crowd, ‘That’s the best one we’ve done so far!’
Don Quixote mashed up into Jimmy Recard, and on into Rapunzel. The crowd, by this time, were absolutely ecstatic and there was not a wrong step that Drapht could have made. The other artists joined him on stage, much to the delight of the already peaking audience.
On the final night of his national tour, Drapht proved to all present why he is considered to be a leading force of the Australian hip-hop movement and a name that is synonymously mentioned with others who’ve been on the scene for a number of years. His command of the stage is inspiring and the impact of his mark on the industry is only going to see his star brighten.
KIRSTEN DOWD
Photos by Paul Dowd
