Initially I thought the Adelaide Uni Bar was a little bit of a weird place for the Herd. I’ve seen a few acts there, including hiphop acts like DJ Vadim a few years ago, but I’ve never been a fan of the sound in there. The windows reflect the sound back weirdly, and if it’s a hot and humid night like it was on Saturday, when standing out on the balcony the windows produce the most god-awful racket. But that’s where most of the crowd had gathered early, as it was perfect for sitting and chatting and drinking on such a balmy night. However, when at the bar you could hear the warm up DJ BVA playing funky, alternative hiphop like DJ Shadow, Jurassic 5, and Aussie hiphop like Katalyst and Koolism.

When Mindfield hit the stage, the crowd quickly filtered in, and were presented with a fine representation of South Aussie hiphop. Sounding as though the come from the Hilltop Hood School of party hiphop, this talented local trio busted lots of fun rhymes about drinking, smoking, and having a good time with just a little hint of political edge. Working mostly off CD, with DJ Mark One not only scratching but joining in the rhyming, a harsher critic may call them derivative, but I was much more impressed that not all Aussie hiphop has gone harder and ‘gangster’, and that party hiphop was still very much where Aussie hiphop is at.

Following them was BVA, but I returned to the balcony to have a breather, so only heard distorted bass slamming against the windows.
Not having seen the Herd before, I was impressed with the amount of stage space they took up, and the presence they projected. As they began, I couldn’t help but get caught up in the energy of nine people partying on stage. As I looked around the crowd, I noticed I wasn’t the only one, as people were smiling and cheering and clapping and singing along. I was very impressed with the addition Jane Tyrell, who has an amazing voice and complimented the three MCs Ozi Batla, Urthboy and Bezerkatron wonderfully. I’m not sure who was at the back, although I spied Uncle Ho (whom I recently saw in Sydney) jamming on his laptop, but what impressed me the most was the piano accordion that was pulled out for more than a few tunes – not usually an instrument associated with hiphop, but it sounded damn cool amongst the guitars, beats and scratches.

I surprised myself by knowing more than a few of their songs and singing along, such as We Can’t Hear You and 77%, and with the clear rhyming and banter between songs, it was more than apparent what Starship Trooper is about. The anti-war sentiment is cemented with their cover of Redgum’s I was Only 19 (A Walk In The Light Green), and they gave a shout out to John Schumann to riotous applause. Although on reflection it seemed a lot like they were preaching to the perverted – a university crowd is usually going to be anti-government and anti-war. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but such powerful sentiment performed by such charismatic people should be seen by a greater audience. Hopefully The Herd will be seen and heard (forgive the pun) by a wider audience in the future, as they have the talent, skills and energy to take on the world with their poignant lyrics and fantastic stage presence.