It’s official: Melbourne is the best. Q-Tip confirms our long held suspicions within minutes of taking the stage. The crowd laps it up, while those who have attended more than a handful of hip hop shows simply give a wry smile and salute with overpriced rum and cokes. A Tribe Called Quest may have disbanded back in 1998 but they still know how to rock a show.
With Festival Hall at capacity, the group opens with 'Steve Biko (Stir it Up)' and 'Phony Rappers' before Q-Tip takes a moment to remind us they’ve “been doing this for a minute” (two decades, in fact). This tour is supposed to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their debut, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, and take their live show to previously uncharted territories.
There’s certainly an interesting mix of people out to see the group – a combination of criminals, hipsters, hip hop dudes, b-girls and randoms – apparently we can all get along. In any case, the crowd is relaxed and mellow and there’s none of the wild-eyed meth addicts you might encounter at other hip hop shows. (*cough* Wu Tang *cough*)
Running through a medley of Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders classics, Tribe soon settle into their set list. They may have only played a handful of shows in recent years (and Phife is still recovering from health problems), but they prowl the stage like professionals, working the crowd and the stage with a paired-back mix of turntables (Ali Shaheed overseeing things from his raised perch) and a couple of mics.
While the nuances of Tribe’s jazz-based production gets lost to Festival Hall’s sound system, there’s no mistaking the intro to 'Sucka Nigga'. The track is an early highlight and leaves more than 3000 white people wondering if they’re supposed to sing along – most do.
Q-Tip pauses after this to inform us that it’s Ali Shaheed’s birthday and we all wish him well before the opening strains of 'Can I Kick It?' seep through the speakers. Wait… They wanna start over? Oh shit! Jarobi (the original fourth member of the group) is suddenly on stage. Dude left after the first album but he’s been brought back in recent years and his inclusion makes the crowd go suitably stupid as they sing the iconic chorus line. Things peak again when Q-Tip does a little beatbox intro to 'Bonita Applebum'. The girls swoon and 'Electric Relaxation' is the perfect follow-up. And then it’s all.
Only it’s not. The pretend 'this is the end' bit doesn’t fool anyone and the group is soon back on stage for a triumphant medley of 'Buggin Out', 'Scenario' and 'Check the Rhyme'. Thanks and goodnight. No. Wait. False alarm. The guys come back for a second encore and the crowd loses their shit as 'Award Tour' blasts through the speakers (after Shaheed back-spinning the intro at least three times as a teaser).
It may have taken them 20 years, but Tribe Called Quests greatest hits have been worth the wait… Now if only the tour tee-shirts weren’t so ugly.
Words by Mikolai. Full gallery of images by Tom Blachford
here.