At last, Drapht’s back. Since dropping the incredibly catchy album Life of Riley in 2011, Drapht has teased us with the odd single and featured verse on tracks with some of Australian hip hop’s elite. Now, to launch his new single Dancin’ John Doe, the Perth MC came to pay us a visit, and boy were his Melbourne fans glad to see him.
Drapht is a pretty unique specimen on the music landscape. His recognisable nasal twang and ability to write incredibly catchy hooks has given him broad, mainstream appeal. One look around the motley crowd on Sunday night was evidence of that. His songs are just too much fun – doubly so at his live shows when you’re trying to keep up with his boundless energy. He’s got this way of gliding around stage as if his legs are independent of the rest of his body. Half gazelle, half road-runner.
Sunday’s set was pretty tight all round. By now, Drapht has got such a following that most people are pretty familiar with his back catalogue. He got punters rowdy early on with Sing It (The Life of Riley), which aptly had the crowd singing along. He previewed a couple of songs off the forthcoming album, 7 Mirrors, including the single Dancin’ John Doe. Given his unique onstage moves, it’s not hard to see where the inspiration for this track comes from. With its old-timey swing music backing, it really does display the variety in what Drapht brings to the table – especially as it was placed right after the hard-edged Yoyo, an Illy song that Drapht features on.
There were some pretty cool re-workings of older material: hit single Falling was performed over the top of Flume’s Holding On, while a stripped-back verse from Boom Boom Boom was a bit of a nod to some of the older fans in the crowd. Drapht revived Jimmy Recard briefly, before immediately killing him off again with the sequel track R.I.P J.R, and then bringing the house down with crowd favourite Rapunzel.
There were a few issues early in the set, in terms of lag between the first few songs, which was a little confusing. But this was a killer set by one of Australia’s premier performers, which got everyone in the house partying Bali style. Hopefully it won’t be another four years before the next visit.
BY EBEN ROJTER
Loved: DJ Total Eclipse’s smooth moves on the decks.
Hated: Losing my voice far too early into Drapht’s set.
Drank: Iced water with a slice of week-old lemon.
