Live show: Dr Octagon & Kutmasta Kurt 22/01/08

I actually did end up going! The show was at The Metro Theatre which is pretty crusty inside. It's like a cross between the uni bar at Utas and an abandoned warehouse. Everyone was checked for weapons as they came in the door so I felt like I'd been transported to an American school.

The show started with a DJ playing competently but uninspiringly the kind of music which would have been good to listen to at home but wasn't suited for a show. That was ok though because there was only about 5 people there at that time including the sound guys. I spent most of the time talking to another guy who was there on his own.

Aceyalone was up next and he was pretty much what I'd expected. Not really my style of hip hop but he freestyles like he has adhd. Unfortunately most of the people there (including me) didn't know much of his music so even though he was very energetic it lacked the hyped vibe he was going for. One of his biggest skills is his complex rhyme patterns which I don't think translated very well to the live show. His hooks often aren't very catchy which held back his show. He played Freestyle Fellowship stuff, something from Project Blowed and heaps of stuff I didn't recognise.

Kutmasta Kurt and his fake beard came out after Aceyalone and he did a short set before Keith joined him. Kurt, aka The Funky Redneck, got everyone going. He played a good range of his own and other music, talking things up and doing all the things a DJ should do.


Kurt was joined by Dennis The Menace who was Keith's hypeman and then shortly after by Keith himself. Keith was fantastic, he came on, the crowd went bananas and he got into it. It looked like he was enjoying himself. He tried to tell us that he had always wanted to be a singer and screeched into the microphone for a bit. He played a few songs from Ultramagnetic days but the highlight for me was when they played the skit before Blue Flowers, "Oh shit, there's a horse in the hospital!" Then they went straight into the song and everyone in the crowd went crazy.


The blight on the evening as far as I was concerned came after that. They played 3-4 songs from Sex Style and Spankmaster and Keith chucked out pornos into the crowd. It was an intensely uncomfortable thing and it was a bit frustrating to spend time at a concert staring at the floor.

Once they'd moved on from that they did choruses from about 10 of his songs. The whole crowd sang along and we had a great time with it. He did Halfsharkalligatorhalfman, Earth People, Housing Authority, Test Press, Apartment 223 and others I can't remember any more. My only disappointment was that he didn't do the whole version of Housing Authority but I knew when I went that I wasn't going to be able to hear everything I wanted.

I can't say that I had the best time 'cause that bit in the middle sucked but it was great to see Keith. He's a very wacky dude but hip hop could probably do with more guys who aren't obsessed with being tough.