It’s been nearly six years since I first saw Seth Sentry live. At the time, he’d recently dropped The Waitress Song and was onstage alongside Pez as a support act for the Drapht/Downsyde City Brothers tour, also at The Hi-Fi. As he kicked into his melodic single with the crowd swaying, all I remember thinking to myself was: ‘Where the hell is Jimmy Recard already?’ Misplaced Moe Szyslak-esque anger issues aside, this was a relatively unknown dude on the verge of making a name for himself, and he already has a packed out house with him for the ride. Moe turned into a fan: that was an impressive effort.
Fast forward six years, Sentry is back at The Hi-Fi, deservedly selling out one of Melbourne’s most iconic venues for the second straight night as part of his Run single tour. The dude puts on one killer show, but I thought he was in danger of being upstaged early on. If not by Citizen Kaye absolutely owning it as the main support act, then by the oversized beach ball that emerged between sets and got the whole crowd – security guards included – more excited than a hipster on hard rubbish week. But when Sentry finally hit the stage, boy, did we know about it. A dark silhouetted figure in a flexi cap spitting some rhymes to some hard-edge beats, he had the crowd on board for the journey within the first ten seconds before kicking into a set of what already feel like hip hop classics. As an emcee, stage presence is everything and Sentry’s got buckets of it. But what really made the set was his chemistry with well-known hype-man DJ Sizzle, his partner in crime of the past two years. Unlike many other DJs, he’s not afraid to jump front-and-centre to take charge of the show. After a little stage dive action, the pair engineered a crowd surf for Sizzle from the stage, up the side stairs and into the balcony bar to grab a beer, before being turfed back onstage by an audience that were loving every minute of it. Working a crowd is no mean feat; it’s more than making the obligatory “Make some noiiiiiise” callouts and asking a Melbourne audience if they think they’re better than Sydney. These fellas waste little time on trivial shit. They engage their audience, talk WITH them, get them involved on every song, and encourage them to get loose like only a venue like The Hi-Fi would allow.
The harder edged tracks really hit the spot, and I’m a big fan of the tour’s title single. But the biggest highlight of the set was his freestyle session. I’d almost forgotten just how good he is at it, pulling out lyrics like a magician does a rabbit out of a hat, and you can see how much he enjoys it. With a new album supposedly coming out later in the year, here’s hoping this ain’t his last Melbourne show for 2015.
BY EBEN ROJTER
LOVED: Crowd surfing galore.
HATED: Not planning ahead and wearing a long sleeved top.
DRANK: Carlton Dry.
