Kendrick Lamar & Hate From Ice Cube Fans: Horrorshow's Top Five Enmore Theatre Moments

Ah the Enmore Theatre… what a classic institution. Situated in the centre of Enmore Road in the heart of our spiritual homeland of Sydney’s inner west, The Enmore has played host to many a classic night of music, comedy and theatre.

There are many great venues in Sydney, but to us, the Enmore is the most classic one – the perfect size to be big and memorable but still up close and intimate, a rite of passage for artists before they make the jump into the more epic but impersonal larger venues the city has to offer.

Headlining the Enmore is something bands from around the country, but especially inner west bands such as ourselves, look forward to for their whole careers. We’ve seen countless shows there and played there a few times but this Saturday marks our first time headlining the joint and to help you get pumped up, we’ve put together a list of our top five most memorable moments at the Enmore. Come rock with us this weekend and let’s make some more Enmore history.

1. kendrick lamar — 2012

Anyone who was lucky enough to be at this gig remembers it as a special moment in the career of one of the most important artists of our times. Kendrick’s first visit to Australia fell perfectly at a time when he was well on his way to blowing up in the States, but word hadn’t quite caught on here in Australia and as a result he had been booked to play the Enmore rather than the larger arenas he’s played out here ever since.

The floor bounced up and down that night as the entire crowd shouted out every word to every song – a perfect embodiment of the truly electric atmosphere that can only happen at a rap show.

2. sticky fingers — 2016

Fellow inner west representatives Sticky Fingers are no strangers to The Enmore, having played a whopping six sold-out shows there over the last few years. Incidentally, we’re super honoured to have our close friend and Stickies keyboardist Freddy Crabs playing in our band on this tour!

At this particular Sti-Fi show we watched from up the back of the room amongst their adoring fans, occasionally shooting side glances at the VIP area where the band’s parents were proudly beaming as they bopped along. Afterwards, rumours circulated that an unnamed band member had let off a fire extinguisher backstage in a moment of excitement, resulting in a pretty hefty clean up fee. No love lost though, as the boys then returned to play a run of three sold out shows there the following year.

3. lauryn hill — 2010

Adit and I have seen the queen, Ms Lauryn Hill, live a few times over the years and sometimes it can be a disappointing experience. Not this time! We went along to Raggamuffin Festival and watched amazing artists like Julian Marley tear it up on stage before bringing out none other than the incomparable Ms Hill.

She had been a last minute addition to the line-up and many people hadn’t even heard she was there. As a result, the place was far from full and we were able to get up close and personal to witness Lauryn tear through her raps at 10bpm quicker than the studio versions without ever missing a beat. Truly inspiring stuff.

4. one day tour — 2014

The last time Adit and I graced the stage at the Enmore was for the One Day tour with Horrorshow, Spit Syndicate, Joyride and Jackie Onassis in 2014. It was off the back of our crew record Mainline and we all did individual sets then combined together to play at the end of the night.

For a bunch of boys from the neighbourhood it was a truly historic night with heaps of friends and family in the building. We actually got a film clip shot that night, you can check it out here – fuck it, I might even give it a watch just to get in the zone for the big show this Saturday night!

5. charlie murphy — 2012

Vale the darkness. We were saddened to hear of the passing of the elder Murphy brother earlier this year, but it also made us super thankful to have had the chance to see him do his thing live in the flesh a few years ago at none other than The Enmore.

A bunch of us went along and from memory it was actually Adit’s first time seeing live standup. We loved the way he got the Chappelle’s Show Rick James expectations out of the way up front and went on to deliver a killer set that had us all in stitches. Mr Murphy was truly one of the best to do it.

special mention: spit syndicate supporting ice cube — 2007

Special bonus round mentions have to go to the first time we (or any of our crew) graced the stage at The Enmore. Many years ago in their very early days, our One Day brethren Spit Syndicate were the go-to support act for many international rappers touring the land down under, and this time they got the call up to support Ice Cube.

Now what you gotta understand is this is a tall order for any local rap act – to go on stage in front of a crowd of Cube fans (many of whom wouldn’t be fucking with “Aussie hip hop”) who’ve been waiting years to see him and instead have to spend half an hour sitting through some white kids whose potential their minds are most likely totally closed to.

Nevertheless, we gave it our all when the SS boys kindly invited me on stage with them to kick a verse (from memory I think we had jacked Mattafix’s To & Fro or some other wildly misjudged choice of instrumental). We had fun with the set but got a pretty frosty reception and afterwards heard from our friends in the crowd that actually the people they were standing next to were not feeling us so hard that they were actually turning around and telling them not to cheer for us. That’s some cold shit. But here we are nearly 10 years later, ‘bout to headline the joint for ourselves.

Click on theGuide for more details on Horrorshow's Aussie tour.