Gig Review - Tkay Maidza

Tkay Maidza

Live at Alhambra Lounge (15/11/2014)

Words by Jo Michelmore
Pics by Cordell Sanders

There was a strange little thing that happened in Brisbane this last weekend, some of you may have heard about it. It was called the G20 and it meant all sorts of important things to all sorts of people, but this is a music blog, so let's not get caught up in the politics of such things. That conference caused a lot of people to flee this fair city of ours, which probably has more to do with the long weekend and incredible weather than any fear of actual G20 trouble, but all I have to say is "SUCKERS!" to them, because they didn't get to experience the magic of one of our IMKOS faves, Tkay Maidza, who played the Alhambra Lounge on Saturday night.

Seeing ol Vlad Putin and his friends(?) wandering the streets of Brisbane might have been an impressive sight this long weekend, but politics isn't my first love. What was impressive was seeing a full gig which we have been waiting a long time to see by a performer we've been loving a long time on this here blog. While there weren't a huge amount of people who ventured onto the Brisbane streets on Saturday night, those that did and found themselves wandering into Alhambra found themselves watching a pretty impressive gig, one that generally a seasoned professional would perform, one that only the best and most dedicated musicians and entertainers manage to pull off. This says a lot about Tkay's talent and dedication to her sounds; to smash through a whole lot of songs over an hour set, to an overheated and small but definitely dedicated crowd. It wasn't a completely full venue but it was one that was impressed with every song they heard and every move they saw. While all of the tracks she played, espeically those from her debut EP, were impressive, 'Switch Lanes' was a particular highlight and the better known tracks 'Brontosaurus' and 'U-Huh' had everyone, including a very enthusaistic small man, bouncing around Alhambra's walls, which is probably more fun than Mr Putin and friends(?) had on the same evening.

There's a reason Matt labelled Tkay 'the new Queen of cool' earlier this year and if we weren't convinced already, seeing her gig on Saturday night explained exactly why. She is a vibrant force to be reckoned with, not just in the Aussie hip hop world, but as a musician and performer full stop. There's a reason people are talking about Tkay. It's because she has a whole heap of talent and she has the confidence to show it off, all the while keeping her charm and keeping her cool, comfortable with where she is at and where she is headed, which is somewhere much bigger and better than even she probably ever imagined. Perhaps some of the visitors to Brisbane this weekend (read: Putin and friends) could learn a little from a hip hop artist from Adelaide with her humble but self assured style....and that's enough politics on this blog for now, thanks. U-Huh.