Public Enemy @ The Espy

It was a pretty rough crowd down at the Espy, but that was to be expected. After all, this was Public (mutherfuckin’) Enemy! The rap legends have been in the game for 25 years – that’s longer than any one member of One (fuckin’) Direction has been alive.

Melbourne posse The Psyde Projects opened the night. The two MCs looked similar to Ice Cube from Higher Learning and Daniel Faraday from Lost, but they brought the noise. With a talented DJ to complete the lineup, they sounded like a cross between Cypress Hill, Ugly Duckling and early OutKast. Needless to say, they were impressive. Seth Sentry followed, but failed to lift the tempo. The crowd fell a little flat as he reeled off his “radio-friendly” brand of hip-hop, including that irritating The Waitress Song.

When the intro for Public Enemy No. 1 started, the crowd was packed in and pumped up. Chuck D exploded on the stage to a sea of raised fists and nodding heads, and everyone backed him word for word. Flavor Flav appear until mid-Rebel Without A Pause. The hype man did exactly what he came to do, and had everyone chanting in sync. From there, PE reeled of hit after hit, including Don’t Believe The Hype, 911 Is A Joke, He Got Game and Welcome To The Terrordome.

After hearing about his cameo in Sydney, the crowd went crazy when Flav mentioned Prince – I even saw one girl cry in excitement. But unfortunately, they were just pointing out Prince’s entourage who were sitting in the back room. Unfortunately, after such a good start the remainder of the show went a little downhill, with a few new songs and what seemed like un-rehearsed raps over the beats of Rapper’s Delight and Fight For Your Right (To Party).

BY CHRIS BRIGHT

LOVED: The first half.

HATED: The last half.

DRANK: Beers from little plastic cups.