By DAVE OAKES
What’s the difference between Rap and Hip Hop?
An unlikely place to find this out was the Yipirinya School yesterday afternoon, scene of a Heavy Metal concert for the young (and the not so young – me, pictured with J-Milla).
The answer came from the Emcee Jahdai Vigona: Rap is poetry put to music and Hip Hop is how you dance to it.
The youth concert organised by the town council was a focus on the possibilities in life as opposed to anti social behaviour.
The starring band was Mulga Bore Hard Rock (photo at top) – you guessed it – from Mulga Bore, north-east of Alice Springs.
The crowd wasn’t huge, 200 estimated by the council (I thought it was more like 150), despite free admission, casks of water and paper cups, free sausage sandwiches and ice cream, and the stage set for a Hip Hop and Heavy Metal crusade.
The weather was inclement so the concert was held indoors. A live stream on indigiTUBE was available for those who couldn’t make it.
Jahdai got us underway introducing the first act, a duo from Alice Springs “Karnage N Darknis” aka Tristrum Watkins and Corinna Hall who set the tempo alight with a lively and bouncy set to get the audience in the groove.
All the performers where aware of the reason for the concert and there was no holding back.
Next to take the stage was the family connected Hard Rock band Mulga Bore. Avid fans of Kiss whom they had supported at the Gold Coast and with face paint to prove it, they launched into an extremely entertaining set with all the antics of glitz and glamour.
It was clear to see that they were enjoying themselves and the audience appreciated the showbiz flare.
The drummer Aiden was a prime example of what you can make of your life. He is 15 and had that back-beat throbbing. He started playing drums when he was seven.
We can only be grateful his family approved.
Their latest song, Fame not Shame, was indicative of the significance of the concert. They where also excellent musicians who knew their instruments well particularly when laying on some thunderous thrash.
Kirklen Bird of Mulga Bore Hard Rock.
And so to the headline act, a very charismatic young man from the Northern Territory, J-MILLA.
He jumped off the stage and engaged the crowd with a very professional and competent set including his song Unlock the System with all proceeds of its sale going to assist the family of Kumanjayi Walker from Yuendumu.
His energetic Rap was well received, he charmed everyone.
Let’s see more of this type of showcase and hope it can have an influence on the lives of those it was aimed at.
What a great initiative by Alice Springs Town Council (ASTC) in expanding the range of activities for our town’s youth, who may not be particularly interested in sport.
How great would it be if such an event was run as a regular Saturday afternoon gig, somewhere central like Anzac Oval, where local budding and established artists and bands could just get up on a stage and do their thing.
There’s hope yet for ASTC to be able to claim to be “Working for the (whole) Community”.