Sydney hip hop duo Horrorshow hit the road at the end of the year for their 'Cherry Blossom' acoustic tour where they will perform stripped-back versions of their songs with a live band.
“This is something that we've started building into our album cycles and we've been doing live, stripped-down versions of our tracks since we started doing music,” producer Adit Gauchan says. “It's always a fun part of the journey for us to keep coming back to and re-imagining the songs with a full band.”
Horrorshow released their fourth studio album, 'Bardo State', back in February. Named after the Bardo Thodol (Tibetan Book Of The Dead), the album features the single 'Cherry Blossom' from which the upcoming tour takes its title.
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Adit says both he and bandmate MC Solo (Nick Bryant-Smith) are looking forward to being able to perform the live band versions of tracks from 'Bardo State' to audiences for the first time as well as some unmissable hits and classics.
“We'll be doing some songs from the back catalogue as well [but] a lot of the focus is going to be on the new album because people haven't heard the new album in this light before,” he says. “The last time we did a tour like this was in 2015 and it was all songs off our first three albums, so this one is going to have more of a focus on the new one but we're going to play a bunch of classics as well.”
An act perfectly adept at drawing major crowds and putting on a wild and sweaty hip hop party, the 'Cherry Blossom' acoustic tour is a chance for Horrorshow to shift back a gear and perform in a more intimate setting.
“They're going to be awesome shows and slightly smaller venues than the ones where we played on the last tour,” Adit says. “So it's a bit more of an intimate format that goes along with the live band feel of it. It'll be dope.
“It's like seeing Horrorshow in a smoky jazz bar with a couple hundred people. Pour yourself a glass of champagne or a cocktail and come check it out. It's going to be a very different vibe, but best believe we still get everyone moving and people throwing their hands in the air.”
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As producer, Adit is usually the man behind the desk at live shows operating as DJ for the musical elements that underpin Solo's vocals and rhymes. In these shows, however, Adit is able to express another side of his musicality as the bass player.
“Bass was my first instrument when I was in high school,” he says. “When we re-imagine the songs I pick up the bass and lay down some fat grooves for people to vibe along to. In our usual set often it's a two-man show... I'm usually DJing.
“It's cool to explore the songs with some hectic musicians, which we have surrounded ourselves with. It's been sounding really tight and there's still going to be those recognisable melodies and elements that people have already listened to and come to love; we're just going to give it a nice, little twist.”
Horrorshow Cherry Blossom Acoustic Tour Dates
Wed 22 Nov - The Corner Hotel (Melbourne)Fri 24 Nov - Rosemount Hotel (Perth)
Sat 25 Nov - The Gov (Adelaide)
Fri 1 Dec - Woolly Mammoth (Brisbane)
Sat 2 Dec - Solbar (Sunshine Coast)
Thu 7 Dec - The Factory Theatre (Sydney)
Fri 8 Dec - Cambridge Hotel (Newcastle)
Sat 9 Dec - Festival Of The Sun (Port Macquarie)
