
11 June 2023 – The Tivoli, Brisbane – words by Joe Harbour – pictures by Bec Harbour
Sunday day night I’m about to get comfy and then I’m reminded I’m going out to see some old school 90’s Hip hop legends!
First off for the night was local Ali the Great. Ali the Great comes to us via Toronto, has made a name by putting down some tracks for triple J unearthed and has been going hard ever since. I’m not gonna lie if I didn’t know better I thought they were on the bill as one of the headliners guys grabbing the mic for a spit but after some research I realised they were on their own thing. I didn’t know any of the tracks but they were solid with nice production, I’ll be keeping an eye/ear out for future work. Check it out here!



Ali the Great – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
Growing up in Darwin I didn’t think I’d get to see some of the music I have seen over the years but I’m not gonna lie I’ve managed to tick off some artists I thought I’d never see. The late great Guru (RIP), Lord Finesse, AG (from Show and AG), DJ Premier and Pete Rock to name a few and when I got the chance to see another absolute legend play I had to be there. So, who am I talking about? None other than Brooklyn New York’s Masta Ace. In hindsight, I’m surprised Masta Ace has gained more mainstream success as I believe he writes some of the most accessible songs with meaningful lyrics but alas underground music will always go over the heads of the masses. Was I excited to see Masta Ace? Yes!



Masta Ace & Marco Polo – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
So for this tour Ace decided to bring out production phenom Marco Polo. Hailing from Toronto via Brooklyn, Marco Polo has cemented himself as a beat smith with a modern classic album of his own (Port Authority) and now this collab with Masta Ace.
So tonight, we got tracks spanning a pretty solid career from over the years with bangers like ‘Born to Roll’, ‘Good ol Lovin’, ‘Nostalgia’’, ’Young Black Intelligent’ and mixed in with some tracks from the album A Breukelen Story. Tracks that got some play were ‘Breukelen “Brooklyn”’, ‘Kings’, those come to mind.



Masta Ace & Marco Polo – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
Overall Ace and Polo put on a hell of a show, if you have never heard of either I suggest you check them out if you like hip hop with actual beats and intelligence.
Last up was the Pharsyde, a group hailing from LA who have a couple albums from the 90’s; Bizarre ride II the Pharsyde and Labcabincalifornia. When I think of the Pharsyde I think of those west coast groups who were making music during the years when the west coast was known for gangsta rap, groups like Hieroglyphics, Freestyle Fellowship, Jurassic 5 and Blackalicious to name a few, who were doing it for fun and art.



The Pharcyde – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
They’re currently touring the 30 year anniversary for Bizarre and so played a set consisting of tracks ‘Oh Shit’, ‘Otha Fish’, ‘Pack the Pipe’ (did I mention there was so much weed smoke from the time I arrived out front to pretty much when I left or should I say floated home?) ‘Yo Mama’ and the catchy as ‘Passing Me By’. All tracks had thumping beats and they put on a hell of an energetic show throwing tunes like ‘Drop’ and closing out the night with ‘Runnin’’.




The Pharcyde – The Tivoli – photos by Bec Harbour
Over all it was a fun kick ass night with tracks from yesteryear that brought back tons of memories from my younger years.