Live Review: Kaiit, ThatKidMaz

5 August 2019 | 12:17 pm | Nicolas Huntington

"The Foundry stage just wasn't enough to contain Kaiit."

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The Foundry flooded with new diehard fans for Kaiit, who had just killed it at Splendour In The Grass, and a guaranteed sweatbox awaited inside.

Melbourne rapper ThatKidMaz took us from the slightly slimy floors of The Foundry to the Brooklyn underground. He's picked up Travis Scott's energy – goddamn was he a force to behold. The new wave of rap in Oz is in good hands. 

Kaiit took to the stage as if she was playing to 50,000 people, radiating confidence from the start.  The crowd was completely in the palm of her hand. Dressed in classic Kaiit style – a unique mix of streetwear and extravagant high fashion – she looked like a movie star. Phones went straight in the air and the fangirling was in overdrive. Give it six months and she will be playing the same stages as Sampa The Great. 

Floral patterns and leftover Splendour outfits peppered the audience, which was a pleasant, albeit weird, surprise considering the temperature outside. Normally The Foundry is reserved for the 'tastemaker' audience of Brisbane's underground but Kaiit brought in a different crosssection of Brisbane's culture vultures, Hit105 fangirls locking eyes with hardcore R&B fans as the slow drum slaps of 2000 N Somethin blasts over the PA.

It’s hard to choose a crowd favourite from Kaiit’s set, the room loved every track. The Foundry stage just wasn't enough to contain Kaiit and her five-piece band – it was a non-stop dance party. Natural Woman got a huge reaction, the body positive jam resonating with the crowd. Latest single Miss Shiney started an especially boppy dance circle. The moody, soulful OG Luv Kush, Pt 1 and absolute funk bop Pt 2, played back to back, made closed a stellar set.