Live Review: Pete Rock, DJ Premier

For the first in a series of collaborative performances, Collision proudly graced Capitol with hip hop royalty. The opening DJ, playing more contemporary than classic rap, kept things fresh with a handful of Action Bronson numbers along with the likes of Danny Brown and Schoolboy Q. With latecomers filtering in well past nine, the headline set had to be pushed back half an hour, creating an atmosphere of anxious anticipation.

Pete Rock. Pic by James Killian.

When the headliners finally took the stage, it became one of those moments you know you'll remember forever, seeing two of hip hop's most influential producers on stage together for what would be arguably one of the best hip hop shows ever to come to Perth. Kicking things off, DJ Premier hyped up the crowd for the mayhem to follow, starting his set with a James Brown tribute. This was the case for about ten minutes, going track for track, each track one-upping the next in a fashion that would set the precedence for the rest of the night. The duo would go from artist to artist, playing what proved to be a catalogue of the biggest hip hop and rap anthems of the 1990s, with some medleys lasting up to 20 minutes (see J Dilla). One front-row fan was lucky enough to have his Illmatic vinyl signed by both DJs during the Nas segment, creating mass envy for collectors in the crowd. Although some were upset at the use of Serato in their set, the pair laid it down on the ones and twos, continuing to keep the crowd entertained throughout the night, dropping tracks like House Of Pain's infectious Jump Around amidst lesser-known head-boppers like INI's Fakin' Jax. With the entire crowd under their spell, DJ Premier stopped the music and called out Pete Rock to give the crowd something special, resulting in the Soul Brother leaving the decks to don the microphone in two minutes of unexpected bars. With the night coming to a close, the duo seemed to turn it up a notch, playing their most recognisable bodies of work in Gang Starr and Pete Rock & CL Smooth until the night ended with They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.), surely etching their performance in the minds of the attendees for years to come and making everyone realise how lucky they'd just been to witness DJ Premier and Pete Rock go back-to-back for upwards of two hours.