It’s just the third show of Seth Sentry’s “This Was Tomorrow” album tour and the Melbourne MC has managed to sell out his home town.
As revellers from the AFL Grand Final flood Richmond streets, those show-goers smart enough to arrive at the Corner early manage to catch a short but sweet set from warm-up act, Kryptic.
Those familiar with The Melodics will also instantly recognise the main support in Grey Ghost. He brings a sizzling charge to the now-packed band room and manages to pull off a simple solo performance while spruiking his next show with a full band.
Happening in December, he doesn’t need to convince us to head along to it as his set displays some brilliant prospects and imaginations run wild imagining ‘Ghosty’ (as he’s affectionately known by) headlining his own show and with more than just a laptop to play with.
His excellent remix of The Black Keys’ “Gold on the Ceiling” drives the mosh wild, and closing on the gradually-exploding “Dynamite” ensures the fans here for Seth Sentry will now be fans of Grey Ghost as well.
After heavily touring a 5-track EP for almost as many years and with experience at open mic nights before that, Seth Sentry is truly no stranger to the stage. Beginning the show by shooting at the crowd, including some well-aimed head shots with Nerf guns only adds fuel to the swarming fire of adoring fans.
Sentry’s debut album, This Was Tomorrow, has been out for barely two weeks (you can read the Tone Deaf review here) and yet he’s earned himself a backing choir of over 800 people to join his performance.
What a performance it turns out to be. Drenched in sweat by the end of the opening song, “Vacation” (although props to the sharp two-piece suit Sentry wears for the first half of the show, it was sweltering inside), the Melbourne rapper admits, “Mate, I’m fucked already!” to his DJ.
In fact, one of many highlights is the interaction Seth and his DJ have throughout the show. They’re always hilarious and always inclusive – it’s a flawless chemistry the whole night.
Perhaps one of the most serious raps he’s written (as Sentry himself claims), “Dear Science” evokes a massive reaction and tumultuous agreement from the crowd because we’re all wondering where our hoverboards are?
Sure, you can lump Seth Sentry with all the other Aussie hip hop artists flooding the airwaves or you can look beyond the common accent and realise this MC is in a league of his own.
Who else could create a deafening response to a track more or less about stalking? “The Waitress Song” is an inevitable highlight, with Sentry barely needing to do any work during this old favourite, while “Train Catcher” – another golden oldie from his first EP – is yet another song that holds universal meaning.
This is definitely the niche Sentry has created for himself. Along with working with some insanely talented producers, like Matik and Trials, Seth Sentry simply tells stories in which any one of us could be a character.
“Room for Rent” and “Thanks For Your Hospitality” are perfect examples. One exploring the many, many lows of house sharing and the other the oftentimes unending struggle to leave a shitty job (Sentry spent 10 years in the hospitality industry), they’re both performed with bucket loads of humour and the energy never once falters.
New singles “My Scene” and the encore “Float Away” cement the rising rap star’s fan base as being well and truly in love with him as several passionately exclaim on the way out.
Sentry hangs out with the crowd, nicking a person’s phone at one point to sell online and at other times bringing a fan on stage to show off a fresh tattoo in dedication to the rapper.
He has the crowd in the palm of his hand but there’s not an ounce of conceited pretention involved. The sense of equality permeates and you walk away from a gig like this knowing you were truly a part of something special.
