I really didn't want my first gig review for Hot4s to be a fawning display of sycophancy. I wanted to be the tough, hardened and cynical reviewer; to be able to give a measured, slightly overlording assessment. But I can't. Because De La Soul at the Metro on Monday night was honest-to-goodness one of the best gigs ever witnessed.

Cut Chemist opened the show. I'd say he was the support act, but can someone of that calibre really be called 'support'? His funky-ass beats had the place packed and jumping, and it was only 8:30. He got into the crowd with his camera and filmed a couple of front-rowers saying their name (as well as a few other things from a nice bogan lass), and then looped and scratched the bejesus out of it.

Just before De La Soul hit the stage, a group of girls began to form in the front corner. Literally jumping for joy, these potential dancers/groupies could not contain their excitement. Were they going up on stage? Which song? How long would they have to wait? A long time it turned out. I hope they didn't leave anyone waiting for them back in the crowd because they didn't get their moment in the spotlight until one of the last songs.

So I'm really just telling you this stuff to drag it out.

De La Soul eventually hit the stage after a long sound check and got straight into it. It was hard to remember that these guys aren’t that young anymore. But the energy didn’t let up, and neither did the good feelings. The joy that DLS obviously has for being on stage is infectious and the crowd was a ridiculously happy, good-natured and generous bunch of people that you (sadly) don’t often see in Sydney. Friendships were forged by nostalgia and the happiness in the lyrics and tunes of De La Soul. The Rhythm Roots Allstars were tight as backup band. A horn section, percussionists as well as your regulars, the fifteen-piece were so good they should have been more than just a backup band and been able to do more solos. The sound was both crisp and thumping. I'm not sure there has been better sound quality at the Metro or anywhere else.

Posdnuos and Trugoy the Dove are two extremely charismatic MCs. Live Hip Hop has an energy that a band (and especially a DJ) can’t replicate. (Maybe because the audience is so involved? I don’t know. Someone should write a paper on it or something.) The energy and intensity that Posdnuos and Trugoy brought to the stage wrapped everybody up and made them a part of the action. It was a party, not a performance is what I think I’m trying to say.
I kept writing down song names- “biggest hit-Me Myself and I” but then crossing it out because the next song would get an even bigger response. I can’t give you a highlight. They did many hits. Ring Ring Ring was probably the biggest singalong. A Roller Skating Jam Named Saturday was also fantastic ( “What’s better than a Friday?”... “Saturdaaaaaay!”) They did many songs I didn’t know but still got into just as much. Midway through the set the band left the stage for a rest and we enjoyed some intimate DJ and MC time. DJ Maseo kept the tunes coming through his decks with no loss of power, and he occasionally stepped out to help MC. You barely noticed the band was gone. Bringing out Black Sheep from the Native Tongues Posse was pretty bloody awesome. As was their rendition of Feel Good Inc. Which DJ Maseo kicked off with That Laugh, and they held the song up without so much as a sample of Damon Albarn. At the end of an oh-too-short gig (they could have played all night and it would have been too short) they said goodnight, and the crowd was left smiling with their heads held high. We were all part of something special that night.

Maybe it was the venue. Maybe it was the sound engineers. Maybe it was the crowd just needing to hear some happy Hip Hop in these troubled times of unemployment and Soulja Boy (which one is worse is a debate for later). Maybe it is the talent and synergy of three guys that have been together for so long. Whatever the reason, Monday night’s concert showed that De La Soul, at once both timeless and nostalgic, are one of the best performances you can see, which is why they are doing a sell out twentieth anniversary tour, even when half the audience were in nappies the first time around.