Paperchase Touring presents Supafest 2011
Supafest 2011 was a festival like no other. It grabbed a handful of the greatest hip hop artists, placed them all over Australia together, and set an enormous stage for them to perform for a day.
With Supafest touching down in Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, and Melbourne, I had the opportunity in shooting and reviewing the Brisbane show. Now with the 16 different performers throughout the day, I could have this review fill up an entire magazine, however, I will try and make this as short and sweet as possible.
Starting off the day with a couple local (to Australia) acts, were Miracle and Israel. And to say the least, I was thoroughly impressed. The vocals of each of them, had the crowd knowing, how great of a day it was going to be.
Following were New Boyz, Bow Wow, and Fat Joe. At this point, as the artists got bigger, so did the sounds, the visual effects, and the overall vibe. Each of the artists had top selling singles back in the day, that you can still hear on the radio, and throughout the clubs.
By this point, the RNA Showgrounds were full, with a whopping 23 000 people in attendance, all excited to hear at least one of their favourite artists perform. With Keri Hilson, Taio Cruz, and Ciara all set to take their turns, Keri Hilson managed to master both her vocals, and dance moves, resulting in an unbelievable performance. However, Ciara did take best dancing in my opinion. Taio Cruz, was my overall favourite of the night, as he sang the entire set, showing off why he became such the artist he is today!
The Game, T-Pain and Busta Rhymes, played back to back to back, featuring both old-school and new-age rap and hip hop. The Game played a variety of their hits from a couple of years ago, and Busta Rhymes busted out their hits from the 90′s.
T-Pain as well, had a solid effort out there, but unfortunately he was more of an ‘Emcee’, rather than a singer.
To end off the night, were headliners Nelly and Snoop Dogg. Nelly, like T-Pain, acted as an ‘Emcee’ the majority of the set. However sang the current Top 40 hit, Just A Dream, which had me singing as well. Snoop Dogg came out, after a 5 minute introduction on the gigantic TV screens in behind the stage, to play the longest set of the night. Half of the people were there for the artists I had listed before, but half of the people were there for Snoop. As a hip-hop legend, Snoop Dogg, managed to keep up his reputation, leaving the crowd in awe by the end of the night.
Overall, between Paperchase Touring’s fantastic lineup that they put together, their stage set up and visual extraordinaire, and how between the four cities, they managed to bring together 90 000 rap and hip hop fans together across the nation, to appreciate one of the best festivals Australia has seen to date. Not to mention, it was a great bonding experience for each of the artists, as the majority had stated, that it was the best tours of their lives, as they got to perform in front of die-hard fans, and had spent most of the time, hanging out with one another!
All photographs by John Delaney
www.exquisitephoto.ca
