True Live @ The Zoo , Brisbane 4 July 2009
Supported by: The Kidney Thieves.
Author: Jose Eduardo Cruz

Saturday was a very cold and windy night in Brisbane, which would keep many a punter at home. Being Brisbane anything short of perfect weather keeps most concert goers away from live venues. Keeping this in mind, the attendance level was a testament to the calibre of performance we were about to witness. Supporting act, The Kidney Thieves are definitely not shy or suffer from stage fright. These guys have been around for a while now and have developed a nice following in their home town. Charismatic or maybe a bit insane is how you would

describe their front man, Jack Muzak. You can’t call these guys a warm up band; they are more like a set fire to the stage band and hope the next band can still use it. Their sound takes me back to a Faith No More era, where sounds and styles blended. Sex Panther an 8 minute epic, riddled with so many time changes that you forget which song it is, illustrated this bands wild nature. The Kidney Thieves equal fun.

The True Live strings (cello, violin and double bass) make this gig that much more incredible. How is it possible to integrate classical sounds into a modern genre? That is the magic of this band. All six highly skilled musicians bring to this ensemble a special element. Yes there are other hip hop bands, yes there are other bands using live instruments, but in the method an ingenuity of True Live, no.

Touring in support of their second extended release “Found Lost”, True Live entertained their fans all night long. What is interesting about this band is that one cannot classify them as Hip Hop, as Jazz, or as Alternative. Labelling them would be detracting from their artistic value. What is evident is the amalgamation of several musical influences with layers upon layers that blend nicely to create the True Live experience.

They went through their extended catalogue including massive hits such as TV, Something To Be and Damn Right. There was an obvious heavy focus on the new material, which was happily received and danced to by the audience.

Mid way through their set a request was made to the audience for five words which could be incorporated into a freestyle rhyme. Having been presented with Sex, Fish Sticks, Turkey, Mother and Antiquing, Ryan ‘RHyNO’ Ritchie proceeded to carve out a three minute improv rhyme that not only highlighted his skills, but brought the entire crowd to laughter for having somehow fitted Antiquing into the rhyme. Antiquing seems to be the act of going from shop to shop buying antiques.