DJ Krush at Galatos

By STEPHEN JEWELL

The spectre of DJ Krush's former Mowax Recordings label-mate DJ Shadow loomed large over the Japanese hip-hopper's inaugural Auckland concert.

And not just because the third song I heard Krush (also known as Hideaki Iishi) drop was Organ Donor, one of the stand-out tracks from Shadow's seminal 1996 debut album, Entroducing, which has been feted by numerous critics as the best dance album of all time.

The fact that such an accolade has been bestowed on a hip-hop artist may seem ironic, but the truth was borne out by the crowd that showed up to see the similar-sounding Krush, and indeed Shadow's own Auckland date last year.

Hardcore hip-hop fans were in a minority at both events among audiences dominated by older, more discerning dance fans.

Krush was moved at the last minute from the Regent Theatre to the smaller Galatos, presumably because of low ticket sales.

However, Krush's relatively low local profile - his last album was not even released here by his record company, Sony Music - was always going to be insufficient to fill the more spacious Regent.

As it was, Galatos was jam-packed with eager fans, resulting in a long wait for drinks and a considerable fight to take up a position even just beyond the bar area.

And despite Galatos apparently having installed a phat new sound system, the sound, like many other Auckland club and rock gigs lately, was patchy and hard to hear above the general cacophony that came from the back of the venue.

But the omens looked good when I first arrived to hear Krush play the mighty Midnight Marauders by our own Joe Dukie and DJ Fitchie, also known as Dallas and Mu from Wellington's Fat Freddy's Drop.

Krush then slowly built up the momentum, frequently pausing between tracks to allow the crowd to voice their appreciation enthusiastically.

And enjoy the music was about all you could do, as the lack of big-screen visuals meant that only those in the front row could see Krush's much-vaunted turntable skills.

Once he hit his stride, Krush wove together an interesting set of instrumental hip-hop, dominated by the same symphonic breaks and clattering drums which made Entroducing so memorable all those years ago.

But while Shadow's sophomore album, The Private Press, delivered on his debut's promise, only a handful of the 500-strong Galatos crowd, who had paid up to $50 to attend, would actually own a Krush CD.

But if Krush is to be better known for his DJ-ing than his albums, he at least knows how to put on a memorable performance.