We rocked up to a fairly busy and newly renovated traffic at around the same time that the Life Savas were getting ready to play, after an apology from Delta for him and Kim Dezen for not playing. I was a bit disappointed, as Kim and Delta rock it well, but that disappointment soon disappeared as Jumbo the Garbageman, Vursatyl the style warrior, and Reverend Rayzon Shines of the Life Savas jumped up on stage. Their hiphop is much in the Quannum style – quite funky, and very party. The crowd warmed to them quickly, and before we knew it we were all yelling, putting our hands in the air, and singing along. I was quite surprised to realise I knew more than a few of their tracks – God bless the Dutch Massive on Radio Adelaide and Triple J’s Hiphop show.

I’m not sure what the 200 strong crowd were expecting from Z-Trip, but really, nothing could have prepared anyone for what happened next. I have seen a lot of DJs, old school and new school hiphop, rave and dance, and even a couple of video DJs, but I have to say that this is one of the best sets I have ever witnessed. From the moment he mixed Janis Joplin’s Mercedes Benz with DJ Shadow’s Walkie Talkie we were in for an amazing night of music and mixing. Z-Trip is one of the original cut up, mash-up DJs, and although he despises the term, that’s exactly what he does on two turntables, 2 CDDJs and a sampler.

We were to witness his incredible “45 set” where he plays a bunch of 7-inch records, all cut up really fast. As he explained, he toured with Shadow and Cut Chemist, the kings of the funk 45, and because he couldn’t compete, he developed his own version using rock and roll records. So we were hearing The Who, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and AC/DC played as if they were funk 45s by a DJ who is every bit as talented as Shadow and Cut Chemist. His 45 set makes you realise that there’s so much more that can be done with music and turntables, and makes most other DJs look like a joke. And as he kept saying over the mic, “don’t get it twisted – it is still hiphop!”

We also witnessed Midnight Oil blended with Michael Jackson, with Z-Trip tapping the beats on the sampler, giving the Oils a much more funkified sound. Other times a record would play, and he’d scratch in the beats, keeping them time by constantly pushing the record, then pulling it back and cutting it up. He played Credence Clear Water, juggled Eric B & Rakim’s Paid in Full and then dropped some drum and bass in the form of Who Told You and Twist Em Out. People in the crowd were going mental, just looking at each other and going “Oh My God!” It was simply unbelievable, as these kinds of music shouldn’t be played like this, they simply shouldn’t work together, but they did, and they rocked the crowd in a big way. After the gig, nearly everybody bought a copy of his Live in LA CD, and clamoured up to get their copy signed. I reiterate, this was the best set I have ever seen, and every single person in traffic left feeling that way.