Justice Crew
& The Collective
Clipsal 500
Thursday, 28th
February 2013
Written by Tori Hyland
Written by Tori Hyland
The Clipsal 500 had
begun in Adelaide – the 4 day race that brings cars, bands and car fanatics
together. But today the grounds sported tonnes of kid’s all dressed in a
variety of school uniforms - including a large group of teenage girls gathered in front of the large concert stage.
Unlike previous years,
the Clipsal had organised for the Thursday’s bands to play during the day
rather than after the race to cater for the school students, and today’s live
music was the popular mainstream acts Justice Crew and The Collective.
Justice Crew were first
up – well known for winning the fourth season of Australia’s Got Talent as a
Dance crew then moved onto songs of theirs going to the top of the charts. They
entered with dramatic music before jumping into ‘Friday to Sunday’. Their
vocals were a little off to begin with but recovered quickly busting out their
signature moves – their strength. Showing off synchronised choreography hitting
every beat earned them respect amongst the crowd and had them cheering for
more.
Progressing through a
dance mixture of both group and solo dances showing off each of their styles,
including a ‘Gangnam Style’ break to add a little humour into the show. But it
wasn’t all serious, the boys of Justice Crew are cheeky, they know they do well
with the ladies adding some flirtatious moves whether it is pulling up their
shirt slightly or crutch thrusts; they had the females in the palms of their
hands. They spent a short amount of time after introducing each of the members,
which I thought was an unusual and nice gesture. Their half an hour set was
nearly over and definitely finished on a high with ‘Best Night’ and ‘Boom
Boom’.
About a quarter of the
crowd left afterwards, but the people left were all eager to see X Factor
Season four Finalists, The Collective. They had only recently released their
mini album featuring one original song along with seven covers of songs they
performed on X Factor (minus bonus track ‘Last Christmas’) meaning they did not
have heaps of repertoire and only played for a short 20 minutes. Opening with a
cover of Jessie J’s ‘Domino’ had the crowd already pumped. Although you may think
it was simply a cover, each of The Collective covers have been arranged in a
different way with more harmonies, more raps and generally a quicker tempo. Progressing
through with songs such as a medley of New Kid’s On The Block’s ‘You Got It
(The Right Stuff) and Michael Jackson’s ‘Billie Jean’ as well as slowing it
down with Ed Sheeran’s ‘Lego House’ created a great contrast. Only problem that
occurred was prominent singer, William Singe’s microphone was not working correctly
and the audience could barely hear him. Although this is a fault, it also reassures
the audience that they are in fact singing live and not lip syncing which can
commonly be thought about popular groups. His microphone was soon fixed after
two songs.
I had watched The
Collective on X Factor and although they did dance occasionally, I was nervous
whether their onstage energy would lack because they are not primarily dancers,
but that was not the case. They had a special connection with the audience - smiling and pointing at people in the crowd making that person feel special. They moved well and were choreographed a lot more, which was great to see such an improvement. With the tremendous harmonies, energetic dance moves and their general attractive appearance, they also had the ladies all over them.
Throwing in a cover of
Justin Bieber’s ‘As Long As You Love Me’ and old favourite ‘Footloose’ had the
audience singing along. Finishing with their single and original song ‘Surrender’
had the audience off their feet. It’s always good to see a group off of a
reality singing program, because to do far you have to be somewhat a decent
singer which usually reflects into their live show. You could tell the show had
helped them develop as they had a great vocal technique as well as having the
correct stage presence for what they needed.
The only disappointment
was the bands left quickly after, not giving any opportunity for fans to really
meet them, which might have been nice.
For more information on the Clipsal 500:
'Boom Boom' - Justice Crew
'Surrender' - The Collective
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