Live Review: OFWGKTA, Enmore Theatre

30 January 2012

by Alex Tulett

It's hard to watch the kind of show I saw at the Enmore on the 24th of January without struggling to divorce my very strong and (generally) positive opinion about the group in question from the entire point of a live review: "Was The Show Any Good?". Truth be told, I'm incredibly aware of how utterly indefensible Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All are towards anybody who has already dismissed them either as offensive juvenilia or just plain untalented hip hop artists. If you belong in these groups then you'd be right to assume that this show would have done little to change your opinion.

:: VIEW PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW

In fact, it was barely a hip hop show at all. My rap loving peers who witnessed it came away angry at how incomprehensible the lyrics sounded, how muddy the mix was and how oblivious the (noticeably young) crowd were when it came to behaving like there were emcees on the stage and not a punk band. Overall, however, this was a truly live experience, more-so than most shows of any genre that I've attended in recent times. More often than not, artists coast through their live set with the most crowd interaction you get being some halfhearted indication for everyone to clap. When was the last time you saw your favourite rock band argue with each other about what song to play next on stage? Or stop the intro to demand more energy from the crowd? This kind of DGAF attitude can be annoying to some, but personally I loved it.

Right from the moment Hodgy Beats and Left Brain (aka Mellowhype) exploded on stage with their single 64 the crowd was in their hands, and Tyler's appearance with the rest of the group for Transylvania immediately secured that attention. The set-list differed little from the group's three shows at Vivid Festival last year, although amongst the obvious (Yonkers, Bitch Suck Dick, French) and the very welcome back catalogue (Tang Golf, Rolling Papers) were a couple of new songs, which are presumably on this years highly anticipated OF Tape 2. Personal highlights (besides DJ Syd tha Kyd's sustained energy and killer moves throughout the entire set) were easily Domo Genesis and Mike G, who both proved you can be part of hip hop's least hip hop crew and still deliver a professional rap performance.

So, was The Show Any Good? Well, yeah. Towards the end of the night, as Sandwiches started and the crowd once again surged forward, I could contain myself no longer. Gone was my phone that I was taking notes on; gone was my trepidation about how ridiculous I would look moshing along with 15 year olds. Flinging headfirst past the mesmerised, obsessed fans and the cynical detractors alike (and almost copping a crowd-surfing Mike G's foot to the head), I found myself having the most fun I'd had since the last time I saw Odd Future. And I suppose that's the best way to enjoy these guys - by ignoring everybody else and flinging yourself headfirst into it.

KP BS FS.