REVIEW Hilltop Hoods - State of the Art Tour (Melbourne - Palace Theatre)

After spending more than a decade breaking down barriers, the Hilltop Hoods have gained the commercial recognition that’s seen its fan-base swell to unprecedented levels. Testament to this, the Melbourne leg of the crew’s State of the Art Tour sold out early. In fact, the general consensus was that those who hesitated, missed out. A positive sign for Australian music, and more specifically, local hip hop.

Those fortunate enough to score a ticket formed a diverse mix of young and not-so-young – a fair portion quintessential hip hop heads, and many whose vocal chords seemed well lubricated by the beverages available at the few crowded bars.

Melbourne MC Briggs and Canadian MC Classified did a solid job in warming up the crowd, and with the Hoods not appearing on stage until 11.30pm, most ticket-holders at least caught the latter. But, it was as the time for the headline act grew nearer, that space across all three levels of the venue really began to disappear.

Bouncing out to deafening cheers, Pressure and Suffa, following DJ Debris, hit the stage and marked their return to Melbourne with the aptly named, ‘The Return’, from State of the Art. The aggressive track got the crowd jumping with them and provided the perfect introduction to the show.

Mixing up their latest work with tracks from The Hard Road and classics from The Calling, the Hoods did well in catering to all fans. The third track of the night, ‘Still Standing’ was a clear crowd favourite – spitting the final bars in rapid-fire style, Pressure, Suffa and Debris demonstrated how seamlessly they are able to transfer their music from the studio to stage, and not lose, but gain effect. At times they also took the mood down a peg, with Pressure performing ‘Last Confession’ from State of the Art – a track dedicated to his son, while the melancholic ‘Stopping all Stations’ was also well received.

Perhaps the only negative of the night came from what was omitted. ‘Hillatoppa’ from the new album would have worked brilliantly live, while Suffa’s social commentary, ‘Fifty in Five’, would have been another welcome addition. With a reasonably long encore set, these track were expected by many, and it’s a mystery as to why older cuts like ‘Illusionary Lines’ and ‘Testimonial Year’ were chosen ahead of them. But to finish on a negative would be remiss – when the only real criticism is that you haven’t heard enough, you know you’ve witnessed a quality show.

The Hilltop Hoods have a reputation as one of the best live acts in the country, and after a relatively long hiatus, they reminded Melbourne why. It seems the the crew’s new record label is aptly named. Surely we’ll look back on this period, with the Hilltop Hoods at the peak of their powers, performing as they did at The Palace, as a truly Golden Era in Australian hip hop.

Review by Aaron Nicholson

Awesome review!