The irony of the hiphop festival being named Heatwave, then falling on one of the coldest and windiest weekends this summer wasn’t lost, I assure you. But that didn’t deter Adelaide festival-goers from making the trek to Middleton to see the likes of Kid Cudi, Obie Trice, Chamillionaire, Mastacraft, Crazy Town and more in the flesh.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a music festival (read: it wouldn’t be an Adelaide music festival) without a hiccup or two. On Friday, January 13, festival promoters posted on their Facebook page that ‘even though we're off to a ripper start and every artist…is either here or about to land we have some bad news. D12 have missed their flights and will not be performing tonight as scheduled in SA’
D12 or no D12, the festival went on without a hitch. The Friday festival featured local hiphop artist Kerser and ‘Got Some Teeth’ rapper Obie Trice, and even with D12’s absence, Kansas rapper Tech N9ne managed to end the night on a high.
Adding a rock stage with local artists, including Burn Collect, Riot Runners and Chaos Burning, was a welcome addition, although it was clear that it was the rap and hiphop that revellers were there for.
The Saturday night (and clearly the biggest night of the festival) was undoubtedly the highlight. Local rap group Mastacraft (don’t confuse them with MSTRKRFT like I did, ‘Why would they be playing at a hiphop festival?') were the perfect warm up before Chamillionaire, and ended their energetic set with a well-timed cover of Bloodhound Gang’s ‘Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo’. Grammy-winner Chamillionaire performed songs from his debut album The Sound of Revenge, as well as new material (and even showing off an impressive singing voice), whilst leaving his biggest hit, Grammy Award-winning ‘Ridin’ for last. That short set resonated well with the crowd however, with the rapper even bringing up crowd members for a rap-off. And I was impressed with one young man who managed to find a rhyme for ‘McLaren Vale’
Rap-rockers Crazy Town may be a bit older than the group who released ‘Butterfly’ in 2001 (which, for the record reached #1 in 15 countries), but nonetheless, their youthful swagger and energy was still present. Their unusually long set (well, I say ‘long’ but it’s evident that we all really came to hear ‘Butterfly’) was bouncy and upbeat – a perfect mix of rock riffs and rap, with lead singer Shifty Shellshock’s Paul Oakenfold collaboration ‘Starry Eyed Surprise’ thrown in for good measure. For a group that’s been relatively absent from the public eye for so long, Crazy Town’s set proved they’re still a live act to be reckoned with.
Headliner and hipster king Kid Cudi finished the night, and was clearly a cut above the rest. The young rapper cum rocker may need to work on his setlist-compiling skills (I get easily perturbed when artists don’t perform their biggest hits at festivals), but his stage presence and vocals, whether rapping about the ‘Pursuit of Happiness’ or singing an ode to ‘Marijuana’, were faultless. After many a festival cancellation and what seems like an eternity waiting for the young Kanye West-protege to perform in Adelaide, I can assure you it was well worth the wait. Ending with two songs from his rock outfit WZRD, more than a few in the crowd were asking ‘Where was ‘Day N Nite’?, but keeping fan favourites ‘Erase Me’, ‘Man on the Moon’ and David Guetta-assisted ‘Memories’ in tow, there was enough to satiate anyone’s indie/hiphop craving.
While so many rappers, hiphop and urban artists are phoning up Afrojack, David Guetta and Diplo and switching beats for dancefloor fillers, a festival that was strictly hiphop and rap was refreshing. It will be interesting to see how Heatwave will hold up next year, that is if some other type of music hasn’t taken over already by then.
Photos by John Goodridge
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