Written and Photos by Phil Barton
Saturday, May 12th was a very special evening in Austin, TX when Kid Koala’s Vinyl Vaudeville – Floor Kids Edition tour, touted as the silliest show on Earth, stopped into the 3TEN at ACL Live for a night to remember. Upon arriving, fans were greeted with four video game consoles set up like old-school arcade machines spotlighting the game Floor Kids in which Eric San, AKA Kid Koala, produced the entire soundtrack for. This game made everyone a B-Girl, B-Boy, beat creator, and head bobber. And just in case you didn’t know what you were doing, the Kid himself was there to assist you. Floor Kids is currently available on Nintendo Switch, Steam, and coming soon to Xbox and PS. This is the perfect party game.
Taking the stage first was Austin’s own DJ Jester the Filipino Fist. A close friend of Koala and hometown hero, Jester is no stranger to the one’s and two’s. From cutting up tracks from the Pointer Sisters to old school hip-hop, he warmed up the crowd correctly and got everyone moving. Jester is also known for being the DJ for Grand Buffet and has toured with Of Montreal, MGMT, Third Eye Blind, and many others.
No waivers were signed, but we were properly warned by Kid Koala himself when he brought on the first headliner, Adira Amram and The Experience, that we would all “collectively loose our shit.” Having no idea what was about to happen next, the crowd was drawn in to Adira and her unique dance moves while starting on the synthesizer. Once she was joined on stage by her dance crew rocking what I can only describe as 80’s futuristic hip-hop gear, we all lost our shit. AA&TE brought what I had never experienced before. The combination of artistry, humor, dance beats, and absolute talent was nothing short of mesmerizing. If you don’t have the chance to see them live, you really need to check them out on YouTube to start to understand what happened.
Kid Koala is one of, if not the, greatest scratch DJ’s ever. His touring shows, dating all the way back to 2000 with Short Attention Span, bring to life his talent unlike any live DJ tour I’ve ever experienced. As I mentioned earlier, VV is the self-proclaimed “silliest show on Earth” and I have to say that doesn’t even start to describe how spectacular this show really was. If crowd participation is high on your priority list for live performances, you really need to see this first hand. Starting off with San on the tables, he is quickly joined by puppets. While spinning the entire spectrum of his catalogue, the crowd is joined by a 20 ft trumpeter, burlesque dancers Adira Amram and The Experience, penguins, robots, alien rave DJ’s from the Netherlands, and so much more. Playing his wireless sampler, we join KK and the performers in the crowd for a massive conga line and end the show with the most memorable kazoo battle. Printed words, photos, and even video trailers cannot do this entire show justice. Do yourself a favor, buy the game, grab some tickets and get ready for an experience of a lifetime at Kid Koala’s Vinyl Vaudeville tour.
