JUDGING by the unbelievable run of form that this year has brought them, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Hector Bizerk’s appearance at T in the Park would yield absolute greatness. Performing a headline set at the Transmissions Stage, the mid-sized tent was brimming with not only fervent supporters of the band; but newcomers awaiting their conversion.
On account of the crowd’s response, they left their central fanbase with something to smile about; and those who hadn’t yet been enlightened with a band to fall in love with.
Kicking off with the ever-arresting ‘Skin & Bone’, Louie’s visceral delivery and the sheer primal energy that the percussion provides to the proceedings got things off to a great start. As the MC whipped the crowd up into an absolute state of unabashed euphoria, it was clear that both him and the incredibly accomplished band had set out with something to prove.
With Audrey Tait on blistering form as she pounded the kit with absolute precision, gripping renditions of tracks such as ‘Little Man Says’ and ‘Festival Boy’ hit home with authority and kept the crowd moving at a rate of knots.
The latter of the two songs proved to be a particularly pivotal moment in the set, as Louie’s semi-biographical account of the festival experience encapsulated the gritty hedonism of T in the Park to the letter.
Stepping away from the kit in order to lend her soothing lilt to ‘Columbus’, Audrey Tait proved that she was every bit as multi faceted as the group’s frontman; acting as an effective coolant to Louie’s ferocious rhyming.
Combined with stellar break dancing and a masterfully crafted painting from frequent collaborator Pearl Kinnear; they transcended what is expected from a hip-hop show in order to provide something more substantial.
As previously aired during their BBC radio session with Vic Galloway, their rousing reinterpretation of Blur’s famed ‘Song 2’ proved to be a pleasant surprise.
Faithfully performing the track at the outset before neatly segueing into a much more refined groove; it enabled Louie to lace social commentary alongside neatly woven references to the Brit pop era that spawned the anthemic song.
Ramping things up once again with the absolutely mindblowing ‘Rust Cohle’, Louie’s easy going crowd banter and personality instantaneously dissipates as he embodies an altogether more formidable entity.
As the hundreds in attendance bellowed “It’s Not My Problem” along with the MC, there was no denying the absolute joy that shone through in the band’s every move.
The KRS-ONE nodding ‘Party at A&E’ captures the spirit of Glasgow’s nightlife and the many things that can go awry just as well in front of the Strathallan audience as it does on record; with the crowd once again sent into raptures as they belt out the track’s ‘all cops are bastards’ refrain.
As they round the set off with an emphatic version of ‘Nothing But Hip-hop’, the track produces something of a dichotomy.
Whilst their music is steeped in the traditions of the genre and purveys every single aspect of the five elements as though they’d been there during its genesis; they’ve became more than just Scotland’s leading rap group.
Simply put; Hector Bizerk are the leaders of a movement which is enabling Scottish hip-hop acts to not be pigeonholed as something of a niche or a genre with plateaus and boundaries. Thanks to their contributions, the scene has grown at an exponential rate and is now respected the world over by those who hold hip-hop so near and dear to them.
With Louie’s eloquent yet at times vitriolic poetry and the unbelievable musicianship of Audrey Tait, Fraser Sneddon and David Calder; Hector Bizerk are nothing short of a force to be reckoned with.
This set at The Transmissions Stage will be looked back on fondly as the moment when Hector Bizerk’s mastery of the genre truly became legendary.
