Live Review: DJ Shadow, Sampology

See. Sampology. Now! Brisbane-ite Sam Poggioli (imagine looping a sample of that name; it just naturally morphs into the most apt DJ moniker ever!) has been pushing the boundaries of live audio/video mixing to a point where during his show, some punters are overheard asking if the main act had hit the stage early. By themselves, Poggioli's frisky beats are enough to cause minor seismic activity on the dance floor. Married with a playful array of live-mixed visuals which took in everything from The Graduate, Bollywood colloquia and homespun animations, Sampology's hour is a stupendous wower.

Welcomed with reverence wearing a hometown-championing baseball cap, the always charming (and dare I say studly) San Franciscan Joshua Paul Davis, aka DJ Shadow, set out the manifesto: Tonight would not be a 'Greatest Hits' set. We are promised the “newest new shit”, beats and cuts he's ravenously snuffled from new artists. Newer than new, in fact. So ironically, as the intro counted us in and asked “Are you ready?” electrical issues packs in and Shadow is halted as soon as he's started. A second necessary stop stymies the vibes with heartfelt apology, but the packed Chevron Gardens are a forgiving lot. Finally, Shadow is able to deliver a hip hop-fortified wall of beats and bass. Sans the visual element of the support act, his ephemera came across as more studious and serious in comparison but no less effective. His selections would have yielded few reliable Shazam results, but occasionally, a smack of Luniz or a poke of ODB provided grounding. A few Shadowy classics made the mix (a reconstructed Six Days, a dirgey Number Song, the marching I Gotta Rokk, the inevitable Organ Donor) but most tantalising was a new track (of his own making, this time) barely two weeks old which came across like Squarepusher going acid-house. Considering the critical mauling he suffered for 2006's The Outsider album, nobody should really be surprised at his constant questing for new directions. He may forever be trying to break free of the shadow of his classic Endtroducing/Private Press period but as he reminded us when recovering from an earlier technical hitch: “'Keep looking forward'- that's my motto.”