Thank God for the internet. Twitter may be a garbage fire of MAGA trolls and One Nation voters from time to time, but it brought together Ice-T and Briggs – and that makes up for all the other bullshit, doesn’t it?
Having the righteous fury of A.B. Original leading into tonight’s headliner is a no-brainer on paper, but in the flesh it works even better. Although a lot of the cross-armed metalheads keeping watch toward the back are wary of a straight hip hop duo taking to the stage, it’s not long before they’ve found the connection and are getting their hands up with the rest of us.
‘2 Black 2 Strong’ and ‘Report To The Mist’ are both powerful and biting in their delivery – especially from MC Trials – while a surprise run-through of Briggs’ solo cut ‘Bad Apples’ drives home the fact that we’re dealing with some of the most vital hip hop to emerge from this country in years. Finale ‘January 26’, which features the sadly absent Dan Sultan on the hook, sees two flags go waving up in the air – an Aboriginal one, and an A.B. Original one. Both are entirely worthy of a full salute.
This is art by means of catharsis – a cacophony of ramming guitars and punishing drums.
22 years. That’s how long it’s been since Body Count were last in Australia, performing as part of the now-legendary Alternative Nation festival. As police sirens wail and the band emerges to the familiar strains of Slayer’s ‘Raining Blood’, those years go by in a flash.
“Show me some fucking action!” barks Ice-T at a crowd that doesn’t need a second invitation. At a time when Sydney is aglow with the lights of Vivid festivities, it’s a stark contrast to be in a dark room of black-clad punters screaming along to songs like ‘No Lives Matter’ and ‘KKK Bitch’. This is art by means of catharsis – a cacophony of ramming guitars and punishing drums with manifestos on institutionalised racism and corporate greed riding atop.
Classics from Body Count’s arsenal, such as their title track and ‘Cop Killer’, go well alongside Bloodlust cuts ‘The Ski Mask Way’ and ‘Black Hoodie’, emphasising that while some things change, some shit never does.
Ice admits towards the end we may never see Body Count again – “I’m an old motherfucker,” he deadpans. If this is it, let the record show they went out the exact same way they came in: all guns blazing.
Body Count played the Big Top Sydney, Luna Park on Saturday June 3.
