Parklife Brisbane @ Botanical Gardens, Brisbane (26/09/09)

It might have surprised anyone not familiar with a typical Brisbane climate to learn that even though it’s not summer yet, Mother Nature had turned up the heat to a stroke-inducing 32º, leaving many people to think we were in the throes of a heat wave. However such was the lot of the Parklife faithful who had a blisteringly good day to soak in some sun, some alcohol, and some killer music.

With any festival, it is obviously impossible to cover every single act, and, as much as that was the intention, some were missed, but one early starter who deserved not to be missed was Junkbeats opening up the Air Stage. Coming out with their live show, they won over the crowd early by employing the services of dancing animals to throw candy at the crowd. Dave Basek had an auxiliary-percussion back up working overtime to compensate the smooth House he was laying out.

Early on in the Fire Stage’s day, Fans! DJs showed off some nice mixing and mashing and was a good accompaniment to the early afternoon vibe that permeated around the area, stretching from the Earth Stage, through Woods, and up to Fire. When 99 Problems, the most overused track in most mix bags, was spun, it was time to venture further into the Botanic Gardens.

That venture turned into more of trek, but before a Sherpa’s services were called upon, the winding track was finally negotiated and opened up to the Riverstage, and to the sounds of Miami Horror who by lunchtime, had claimed most of the Parklife crowd. Front of stage was already packed, bodies heaving to the Melbourne-based band’s ‘80s inspired electro. Down front wouldn’t have had any sounds issues, but it certainly didn’t seem loud enough to fill the ears of those taking in the view from the top of the hill.

Taking it down tempo a notch were Dubmarine, one of Brisbane’s best homegrown Dub and Reggae bands, at the Woods Stage. D-Kaz Man was giving it his all on the man, stirring the passing crowd into bouncing along to tracks including their infectiously Eastern inspired track Singie and finishing up with the funky Dancehall beats of Pass It On. The only problem with the Woods Stage was that it did seem somewhat sandwiched between the three other intermediate stages, so it was on occasion difficult to concentrate on an act without hearing the dull thud of a different tempo emanating from elsewhere. However, the roar of the crowd was unmistakable, and, as Dubmarine were packing up and making way for The Loops of Fury, the rapturous ovation demanded investigation.

Coming from the Air Stage, it was the sounds of Art vs Science filling its own corner of the Gardens with their fiery and blistering performance. Their ballsy set got into full flow with the likes of Parlez Vous Francais?, New Order and they kept the energy and the pace rocking with the biggest track of their show, Flippers. The hill in front of the Air Stage writhed as one wave of people, with thousands lapping up the raw energy of the boys’ set, and the dial was turned to 11 when they came out with a brilliantly original cover of Where’s Your Head At.

The Loops of Fury were doing a great job with the relatively small stage they were given, packing out the makeshift dancefloor as best they could and throwing out some bassy breaks in the afternoon sun. Operon tried to keep the energy going and it was all looking good but for some lacklustre MCing and a technical hitch here or there emptying the floor out somewhat. When the music he produces is so good, it’s better to let it speak for itself rather than blare over the top of it.

With the intention of catching a bit of Little Boots, preparations were made and provisions packed for the second expedition towards Riverstage. Obviously weather conditions were too treacherous as our party were informed that capacity was reached and the stage was closed. The Air Stage made a good base camp though and we were more than rewarded with a solid set from Autokratz. The London duo rocking out with some electronica liveliness in the form of What You Want, What You Got and a blinding cover of Primal Scream’s Swastika Eyes.

Not getting to the Riverstage had been a wise move as it might have meant missing one of the highlights of the Air Stage. The host for the venue, Busy P took his turn on the decks and blew everyone away with an absolutely banging set that started off with a certain Italian duo’s hardcore release Warp that you might just have heard of, and only got better from there. The crowd looked to be enjoying it almost as much as he was, especially with one fan showing him two particular motivational aids.

Highlight of the day was the Earth Stage in general. Few stages had the consistency of greatness on display here, none more so than Junior Boys. Their chilled out electronica suited the stage and the atmosphere perfectly. In The Morning typified a perfectly balanced and laidback style that ran throughout the set, Jeremy’s finely tuned vocals suiting Matt’s skilled production down to a tee.

Reaching the summit of Riverstage once more it was clear to see (or hear) that the sound restrictions were only going to become more intrusive as the night wore on, so what was indeed a great performance from The Aston Shuffle, with For Everyone a definite highlight from the ACT boys, was somewhat dampened by the curbing of the noise. If you weren’t in the thick of the pit front of stage and prepared to stay for the whole day then you were going to miss out.

Coming back down to Earth, the second half of the greatest piece of lineup scheduling was well under way, as Aeroplane carried on immaculately with the vibe that Junior Boys had carved out. The space in front of the stage lent itself well to having lots of room, and as a result it was the sanctuary within the park. Plus, when you have the smoothest of DJ sets from the likes of these Belgian maestros then you have a recipe for a perfect festival experience. Every track they laid out, from Joris Voorn’s Sweep The Floor to some subtle inclusions of their own making like Now Til ‘69, was met with stoic appreciation from the happiest crowd in the park. They brought the sun down over the park with their minimal tech and there was simply no better way to meet the dusk.

The draw of the Air Stage was ever present and it was difficult to miss Erol Alkan who pulled off one of the most eclectic sets of the day. Combining a healthy dose of disco house, jungle, bass heavy breaks and driving techno, there was something for every raver in the crowd. The Gossip had never sounded so good after Joakim had finished with a powerful mix of their big sounding Heavy Cross.

Catching Tiga finish up the day at Air Stage was a sight to behold. The strobes dousing the crowd in intermittent blue rays of intense energy gave the whole area a vibrancy that seemed to represent the electricity that had been building up at the Air Stage all day. This exploded in raptures when he dropped his signature Mind Dimension, one of the strangest but most compelling tracks to come out of the Montreal house scene in years. Never has a DJ so seemingly unassuming had so much success with a track that can hold one note for so long.

Not wanting to stay away from the best stage in the park it was back to Earth and back to minimal with Claude Von Stroke sealing the deal on Parklife for the night. His dark and seedy samples, the smoky and melodic synths all framed within a subtle but contagious beat, was an overpowering concoction of superior electro that rounded off the day beautifully and left those who had found the jewel in the crown of Parklife wanting more.

Shapeshifter @ The Hi Fi, Brisbane (11/09/09)

When this Kiwi live act is described in press cuttings and reviews, the words “dynamic” and “explosive” are often the first that wordsmiths go for. The only problem with these terms, aside from being repeated time and again, is that they don’t go far enough in describing the complexity of their euphonic brilliance. Almost a year ago to the day, Shapeshifter were showing The Zoo what it was like to take a chunk of New Zealand’s greatest music and plant it firmly in Brisbane for a night.

A year on and the anticipation of a great night of drum n bass hadn’t changed, just the venue had. With The Hi Fi hosting Shapeshifter for the first time (though with most members being individually familiar with the place), there was the potential for a bigger crowd and a bigger sound.

First though, it was down to Sunshine Sound System to lay the foundations of the evening and they more than answered the call to arms. With Downtown Brown manning the wheels of steel and mixing in some infectious hip hop beats, and Killa Puha and MC Switch on the mic, ushering the crowd to get some drinks down them and dance, there were few left in the crowd who didn’t feel the need to move.

Giving us the fundamentals of breaking down a track and mixing it in with some matching loops and vibes, Brown was displaying how: one track added to one track, makes one track, multiplied by the spirit of both. Trust me, it made sense at the time, and was this reviewer’s excuse for getting down to some Red Red Wine by British jamsters UB40 mixed in with some righteous hip hop flavour.

Puha and Switch also showed off their freestyling skills, getting the crowd to lift up anything so they could rhyme off about it, all to the rhythm of a reggae-inspired reworking of No Diggity. The boys weren’t just showing off their skills on the mic when it came to fresestyling, but in keeping the crowd geed up as best they could, especially when, half an hour after their due time, Shapeshifter were still nowhere to be seen.

Puha had been crying out “are you ready!?” for about half an hour, and the answer was now an emphatic and resounding “yes!” So when Tiki Taane, Shapeshifter’s touring sound man and live legend in his own right, took to his desk as his ownhis hip hop thumper R U Ready? rang out, it was clear that things were beginning to move.

A sign of just how desperate the crowd was getting for the band came as Red from the band came out and, in testing his bass drum, got an unexpectedly huge roar from the crowd. This faded into a whisper however, compared to the sound The Hi Fi made when he was joined by the rest of the boys. It was the kind of cheer that you don’t just hear, you feel, inside your head and throughout your body. The guys always look genuinely pleased to be in each city, and often say as much. Tonight was no different, because this particular city was genuinely pleased to see them.

Some old favourites got people in the mood early, with New Day Come blending seamlessly into Bring Change. If you’re a fan of these guys then you’ll know that these tracks are their old faithfuls and are well on their way to being established as Drum n Bass classics, and a staple in any serious DnB fan’s collection. They dropped these two in the same order last year and they’ll keep doing it as long as the people keep loving it. Personal favourite Electric Dream kept the Hi Fi’s sound system busy as it poured out thick bass. The signature electronica of the track had never sounded so crisp and the grinding backing synths nearly blew some hoodies off the crowd as it tore through the room. It was the kind of relentless hardcore that you can feel lift you off your feet and make you do anything but remain static.

This was mercifully followed up by some smooth liquid dnb with a jazzy edge and allowed for some slow grooning from side to side as people caught their breaths listening to Devin work his magic on the sax. But it didn’t last long as an unknown 2-step track from the new album showed off the drummer’s vast array of skills, going from a banging bass-mongering terrier of a tune to finishing in a percussive flurry of jungle floor toms.

Possibly the highlight of the night came in the form of an astoundingly explosive (yes I did just say “explosive”) version of Stryka. The 2-step intro is already powerful enough but with the added reverb and amplified bass that was latched onto it, it was the essence of cool in musical form. Hands floated in the air in front of you as you twisted your body and ground your shoulders to the techy riff laid over the top. Then the dark breakdown hits and you’re left swooning and waiting for the all-too-brief buildup which soon comes in an overwhelming wave of effects and percussion.

You watch the people as they begin to rise to their toes and lift their hands until the shockwave dealt out by the DnB climax shakes people violently; arms flailing and heads going off on neck-cracking tangents. When the 2-step kicks back in it’s even more pronounced and that’s you for the rest of the track; flipping between the two and feeling heightened all the way along.

The end of the set proper came in the form of new track Metals that gave Sam the freedom to rock out, with some punk-inspired hard and heavy guitars pounding through the equally hard and heavy DnB beats. It ended the set on a high, and left everyone wanting more, which they of course got. After some rhythmic floor stomping and chants from the crowd, they came out to finish the night with one of their more special tunes.

One is the kind of track that, if you’re a fan of Shapeshifter, is very personal but at the same time makes you feel an affinity with your fellow fan. It typified a set that had no surprises; they mostly end their encores with One. However just like the familiarity with the set itself, the track provides a warmth and respect that, coupled with the security brought about by P Digsss’ smooth vocals, culminates in a track that brings all the Kiwis home to their land, and all the rest of us yearning to visit the kind of place that could produce such musical forces of nature.

Jack'd High: Barefoot Bowls @ Toowong Bowls Club, Brisbane (05/09/09)

It was a mild Saturday afternoon and all was set for a nice quiet game of bowls down at the Toowong Bowls Club. Some of the old regulars were polishing their bowls and getting ready to line up the jack, puzzled but unperturbed by the lack of fellow bowlers. Sadly for them, no one had told them that the Jack’d High circus was rolling into town and wouldn’t be leaving ‘til well into the wee small ours.

Things were kicking off at 5pm and by that time the Bowls Club was already overrun with punters ready to take advantage of the “attractive” drinks offers and the prospect of coming away with top prize in the eventual bowls comp. The outside tent was set up for some smooth and steady beats while indoors was going to be focusing on the slightly harder stuff.

Verner made his mark with some impressive hip hop beats that had a bevy of fans grooving in the evening light, but when the tent gave way to Dan Gavel the beats turned up a notch and had the green vibrating. The sun had truly set and in the light of the full moon the atmosphere was one of happily fuelled punters and enjoyable banter.

Ducking indoors and, despite having half the people appreciating his stellar form,Chappo had twice the bass pumping through the speakers. There was a nice balance of big beat rhythms with some juicy tech, and all came together in the form of a very crisp and inviting set.
The casual bowls continued well into the night; though perhaps without the same level of skill that had (mostly) been on display during the comp earlier in the night. IndoorsCosmo Carter had taken over the reigns and was inspiring some dangerously athletic dancefloor moves by some of the more “jovial” punters with his proficiently old school set. Despite the low numbers, the thin crowd that did remain had a similar energy to any up-for-it crowd you’d see in the Valley on a typical Saturday night.
Outdoors it was left up to Manuka to finish proceedings and it was done in style with some wonderfully laid back psy-inspired beats that really captured the mood of the evening. The dropping of Underworld’s Dark & Long emphasised this mood completely and was a perfect choice to capture the soul of the evening outdoors. It was a night of hard drinking, yes, but it was also a night to sit back, take in the beautiful evening, and enjoy the surrounds of people dancing to good music and others trying to bowl. The total lack of stress was not only reflected in the people who attended, but in the music itself.

That’s of course until you went back indoors where Digital Divide were closing the inside set-up with a bang. There was some premium house on display, which, if it had have been blasting out the speakers in any club in Brisbane, would have absolutely killed. All the elements were there for a quietly epic set; the floor getting into the dizzying heights of double figures by the end of the night, the smoke machine sputtering as best it could like heavy breaths on a Winter’s morning, the sound system struggling to keep up with the fine house that is being pumped through it.

Jack’d High had everything you’d ever need for a thoroughly good night out, a plethora of beats, beers, and bowls. Who could ask for more?

Salmonella Dub @ The Hi Fi, Brisbane (26/06/2009)

On a rainy night in Brisbane, the Hi Fi were playing host to two of New Zealand’s best exports, one who’s been doing the live circuit on both sides of the Tasman for well over a decade, and the other who was simply doing a gig for a $50 bar tab a few short years ago.

Thankfully the rain hadn’t dampened anyone’s enthusiasm for coming out and the queue was well stocked with soaked music fans. Once we were finally in, The Mighty Asterix was showing off his enthusiasm for reggae and lyrical dexterity with some nicely chilled out beats that encouraged people to make their way from the bar to the floor and sway along with him. The room really got warmed up as Ladi6 took to the stage alongside able accomplice DJ Parks.

The Queen of NZ hip hop has been touring with some of the best Kiwi and international artists for years, and finally, with the release of her debut album Time Is Not Much the fans have something they can truly get their teeth into when not seeing her live. Her attitude and flair on stage all lent itself to her being much bigger in the future; she has a wonderful mastery over her lyrics, and with DJ Parks backing her up with the beats, it’s a finely crafted performance that you can’t help but groove to. The fans cheered when she brought out Call You Out, a particular favourite from the album, and her vocal contribution to the Fat Freddy’s Drop wunderkind track Roady went down with style.

But it was new 12” Go Get It that really hit pay dirt. This bouncy little 2-Step track has a fantastic big band rhythm section and with Ladi 6’s sultry vocals all over it, it’s a smoking release that will undoubtedly be a popular choice when included in all of her future tours.

In the interim between Ladi 6’s fantastic appearance and the main act for the night, Asterix helped drop some drum n bass with the help of Paddy Free from Pitch Black to get people moving, including the odd hint of who was up next here and there. Soon enough the kiwi dub royalty Salmonella Dub took up their places and kicked off the night with an effects-driven reworking of Dub Survivors. Almost instantly the smell of something illegal was in the air, and the mood was set.

After a percussion-driven jam that ebbed and flowed with the skill of seasoned dubsters,Push On Thu was met with enthusiastic recognition. Love Sunshine and Happiness too was a popular choice, the chilled summer tune being infused this time around with a more DnB vibe than the mellow original. Their tour of the remix EP Freak Local was obviously allowing the band the freedom to play around with some older tunes.

For the most part this worked, but a divergence from the usual way some of the tracks were played had an element of roughness to them, as though alternative versions of tracks hadn’t been as ingrained as the studio versions. Having said that, the performance of title track Freak Local was played with an animated funky vigour that spread throughout the band and into the crowd.

Another DnB jam was called for and the band let loose with some towering improvisations, Dave on the drums really working the toms and getting as much funk out the jam as possible, and Mark slapping the bass with relish. The floor was bouncing and jiving (mostly) in time and having a lot of the fun with this fresh approach to Sal Dub’s sound.

The band slipped back into a on older favourite Slip n Slide, and finished with a relaxed and soulful dub sound that allowed everyone to take a deep breath and end the night in a chilled mood. The band benefited greatly from Asterix’s inclusion, his enthusiasm and authoritative Rasta vocals brought up each track he came out for and encouraged the people to get into it. It was a strange gig in the sense that almost everything played was a divergence from the typical Salmonella Dub sound, but for a band that in the past have been accused of not being fresh, can’t be a bad thing.

Outrage feat. The Bloody Beetroots @ Family, Brisbane (25/06/2009)

It was April of this year that saw Arcade Creative bring Sinden & Fake Blood to the Empire, the word of the night being sweat. They ripped up the place and brought everyone on a hectic journey through garage, electro and some glorious dubstep. After Thursday night at the Family, that night in April now seems about as hardcore as adopting a kitten. Arcade Creative had this time snagged The Bloody Beetroots, and those in attendance couldn’t so much be described as revelers but casualties of war.

As we ticked over into the break of Friday, the crowd welcomed Ajax with open arms. Getting stuck into his set from the get go, the grinding synth was working overtime and devastating the crowd with a dirty bass that almost shook the skin off your back. Ajax cuts an unassuming figure behind the decks, which made his hard house all the more impressive as he let the fast and loud beats speak for themselves. His buildups were tuned entirely to the crowd reaction and they responded in kind with some perfectly timed bouncing.

The admirable job the security were doing of clearing out the people who couldn’t handle the pace was getting increasingly difficult as the masses crowded in at the back to catch the start of the Beetroots, pulverising those at the front who had no choice but to spill out onto the sides of the stage. The crowd had turned into a voracious stockpile of energy and were chewing their own faces off in anticipation, and Ajax hadn’t even finished yet. So when he did end his set on a very considerable high, there was an explosion of hysteria, but they barely had time to applaud him off before they were screaming for the oncoming Italian duo, who were already holding up their kit bags in triumph.

Luckily, security were more on top of things by the time the Beetroots took to the stage, and were hauling out shattered victims of the packed room by the bucketload with well-practised regularity. The Family has never been so crammed on a Saturday night, so it was remarkable to remember that this was a Thursday. Even if the dancefloor hadn’t been reduced to make way for a floor-level stage in place of the enclosed booth, the building would still have been busting at the seams to contain the masses at this sold out pandemonium.

The Bloody Beetroots ripped the Family a new one, rolling the purest of trance, house, techno and electronica all up in a ball of voracious hardcore. They taught the insatiable gathering of lunatics really what it meant to go insane, how to pound the dancefloor and each other with their bodies and how to disregard all pretense of personal safety and let the music take you to the asylum. The Family isn’t going to witness a night like this for quite a while to come, the building is probably still a bit shaken up about what it had to play host to.

The rhythmical hardcore of the electronica buzzed with the lethal ferocity of Leatherface with a chainsaw and even when a relative breather was bestowed upon the crowd in the form of the Beastie Boys’ Sabotage, it was given a good going over and bent to the will of the Bloody Beetroots. Having said that, come 2AM things had calmed somewhat to a mere deafening roar and some 2-Step goodness was unleashed, the drilling snare cutting through the cloud from the smoke machine like a knife through butter.

As the 2-Step built once again into the driving techno the crowd knew and loved, we were wondering how much more the duo had left to give. We were soon put in no doubt that there was a lot more gas left in the tank. Tommy Tea crawled under the table to get at the flailing hands of the crowd and they turned into a ravenous horde, diving for him, wanting to grab a hold of just some of that insane genius. It was then that they let loose their most recognisable tune Cornelius, and only from the Bloody Beetroots could you catch the combination of atmospheric Gregorian chants with pulsating hard house and a mass of seething revelers screaming “Hey!’ over and over.

The Bloody Beetroots have been described as the product of a grisly union betweenThe Misfits and Daft Punk, so it was no surprise then that the latter were given some exposure in the form of One More Time. Only, where this track is one of the more upbeat and merry moments on Discovery, the Beetroots subverted and corrupted it with a searing intensity that ripped through the crowd and made the sweat pour once more.

They built upon that new found hysteria brought about by the use of Daft Punk by bringing out their relatively recent collaboration with Steve Aoki, the impeccably unyielding track Warp. There had been an initial fear that coming out so strong and pummeling the crowd with such staggering brutality would have led them to climax too early, but when Warp peaked, the crowd peaked, and quite simply blew the lid off the Family. The full capacity of the venue moved as one throng, as one of the best tracks to come out of the year so far tore through everyone equally, whether they were on the floor, on the balconies, or at the bar.

The crowd truly went ballistic and were left in a worn out trance until the Beetroots came out and finished them all off with a comparably mellow encore, giving out another little touch of Cornelius, but before it went back into a proper frenzy, they ended the night with an appropriately hyperactive dissemination of the 50s classic Shout. By 3AM I had to leave Danny T to work his techy breaks magic on the crowd; I was spent, and unlike most of the young’uns here, I had work in the morning.

This night will be remembered by those in attendance as resembling more of a warzone than a dancefloor. The shark pit that was the main floor was at every moment throughout the set, a rampaging multitude of crazed fans that lapped up the refreshingly hardcore beats the boys were masterly and unrelentingly dealing out. This gig had Beetroots, but if it had have been any more brutal, there really would have been blood.

Saturdays @ Family pres. Kid Kenobi & MC Shureshock, Brisbane (20/06/209)

There are two different types of hangovers; the first is defined by a solid kick to the face by an imaginary demon as soon as one of your eyes blearily cracks open and before it’s even focused on anything, your head has imploded and your brain is seeping out your nose.

The second is more deceptive and begins without any hint of pain at all. You wake up and feel wonderful, you get up and it’s a beautiful Sunday morning, the trees are singing and the birds are swaying. Then, just when you begin to think about cooking a mammoth fry up, something crawls into your head, defecates all over your mind before festering in your stomach for the rest of the day.

I only mention this to excuse myself from my fragmented memory of the night before; and to explain that the intended reviewer for the night bailed on us and left it up to a pisshead to pick up the pieces of what turned out to be a (no doubt) awesome night.

After stamping their authority in Brisbane when they last visited, the powerhouse duo ofKid Kenobi & MC Shureshock were back in the Family for another round of speaker-blowing tunes. The glass booth had been abandoned for the night and a stage was produced up front in the main room. Prior to the main event, Jason Morely was making the new stage his own with a 3 CDJ set up and a turntable being used as nothing more than a shelf for the next few CDs he was lining up, alas. By 11PM the main room was a hive of well turned-out bodies making their mark upon the dancefloor.

The Family always knows how to put on an impressive light show and the massive expanse of bulbs decked out against the back wall added a thoroughly disco feel to proceedings, even if what was stomping through the speakers was greatness of the more techy variety. What drew me away from all the pretty lights fanning out across the main floor, was an alarmingly unexpected display of what I like to call CockArt. An artist by the name of Pricasso had set up a little studio in the members area and was showing off the artistic flair of his own member, painting surprisingly good portraits of those willing to sit and stare at his tool of the trade for half an hour.

As mesmerising as watching a man paint with his penis was, when Kenobi and Shureshock came out, all attention turned to the stage. They came out strong, with Shureshock getting straight into and geeing the crowd up for a night of hard beats and heavy bass declaring that “tonight, this is your family!” Fending off bugged-eyed, teeth-grindingly enthusiastic fans who took to the stage, his performance was professional and did the trick in keeping energy levels in the room on a constant high.

The two have been working together for the past few years and they bounce off each other nicely, with Shureshock’s explosive outbursts timed to perfection but never overpowering the beats being thrown out by Kenobi. Some of his moves left a little to be desired, but nonetheless it was entertaining to see him almost poke some of the frontrowers’ eyes out with a pelvic thrust or two. The set itself (from what my post-hangover head could recollect) started off with the nicely accessible dance to ease people into a night that got harder and faster as it went on. One particular highlight of the night had everyone gleefully signing along to the massive Justice vs. Simian trackWe Are Your Friends.

Kenobi’s mastery of his set up and the tracklist he had fun playing around with meant the night went off with maximum amounts of energy and very little let up. The two make a great team and with their powers combined made for a great night, it would have been so much more memorable if I hadn’t been off the clock and making up for a week’s worth of non-drinking in one night.

The Presets @ The Riverstage, Brisbane 07/06/2009

You’d have to have been living under a rock (or at least have been overseas) for the past few years not to have noticed how meteoric the rise of The Presets has been. From playing to crowds in the tens a few years ago to selling out stadiums and arenas is no small feat. Sydney duo Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes have not only stamped their inimitable mark on the Australian dance scene, they’ve taken their sound around the rest of the world. On Sunday night, at the very end of their successful campaign across the globe, they were sharing the end of their adventure with Brisbane.

Sadly, due to Riverstage time and noise constraints, no gig ever goes for as long as it should, or is as loud as it could be. Despite this, the crowd were treated to more than ample support from Van She and Architecture in Helsinki. It wasn’t until the epic synth fanfare announced the arrival of the main act that almost the whole hill shook with applause and excitement. The welcoming roars from the crowd changed pitch to screams when the fanfare melded into Talk Like That. Kim on the drums really amplified the bass that shook the ground and kicked the set off with an infectious beat to the third single from Apocalypso. Five minutes in and they had everyone hooked, and following up with Yippiyo-Ay kept the crowd moving. Opening their shows with these two tracks has been a tried and tested formula for getting the best out of the crowd early on, and tonight was no different.

The Presets don’t just seem to have the monopoly on the Australian dance scene, they also seem to have some of the most fanatic fans. When seeking a good vantage point it was at times difficult to move without stepping on a pint-sized reveller, their too-tight jeans flailing in excitement at not having school on Monday. They just seemed to keep coming, threading their way through the static fans as they maniacally wheeled their way down to the stage. At particularly acute high points during the set, the front of the stage was nothing but a sea of power-grabbing, pointing, flapping, maddened jazz hands. Obviously seeing some of the crazed looks in fans’ eyes, even Julian had to comment, “don’t get too nuts down the front.”

As for the rest of us, we were too busy enjoying A New Sky to pay much attention to the unnervingly young specimens running around. To give the finale a fuller effect later, the rhythm was taken down a notch or two with earlier release, Girl and the Sea. It would be wise at this point to give special mention to the lighting, as the projections on-screen and otherwise were timed to perfection, no more so than when Kim got on the xylophone for a beautiful rendition of Aeons. The lights coursing through the on-stage rods that were scattered about, burst out with aurora borealis luminescence and added a depth and beauty to the music that would have been lost without such illumination.

If the seething mass of fans at the front didn’t know what to do with themselves during this relatively down tempo interlude of chilled out electronica, they were back on track when If I Know You kicked off. Are You The One kept the energy levels up, especially with the particularly effective climax to the track’s build up knocking the first couple of rows over with its reverb, while Together had even the older fans (us mid to late twentysomethings) towards the back moving and doing some pretty exhausting head bopping. This Boy’s In Love went out to all the fans who’d seen The Presets at Ric’s five years ago (“all twenty of you”), and as the track made the crowd go crazy (all couple of thousand of them), it was interesting to think what it must have sounded like five years ago. The Presets have such a stadium sound that it is almost impossible to imagine what venue, other than a few thousand capacity arena, they would otherwise be comfortable playing to.

This Boy’s In Love is a perfect example of that sound, with a leading piano, some epic synths and the soaring vocals easily taking in a crowd of thousands and keeping them dancing. The track has now become a finale trio that has been tried and tested at Presets gigs, and so the boys finished with ­_Kicking and Screaming_ and the ridiculously good My People. The latter is arguably the best track on their acclaimed album Apocalypso; it fits its anthem status very well, as the bass throbs, the industrial electronica pummels the eardrums, and the forthright lyrics carry everyone along on a track that just gets better the bigger the venue.

Then, it was time at the hideously overpriced drinks tent, and the boys were backstage for their obligatory pre-encore disappearance. When they came back out, a nice double header of Anywhere and I Go Hard, I Go Home rounded off the short but very sweet set. This was a well rehearsed set, and one mirrored throughout the land, but it shows that the system works as the crowds had been treated to a typically brilliant Presets show.

It is true they have been relying on a tried and true setlist, and using very much the same set throughout most of their Australian tour could have fatigued some of the die hards going to multiple shows. However two things have to be taken into account, firstly that this was the last night of what has been a very long and undoubtedly exhausting tour, and secondly, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.

The Presets obviously have a bright future ahead of them, so it was nice to have had a tour the length and breadth of Australia before they move on to bigger and better things. Now that the tour is wrapped up, the Sydney duo are squirreling themselves away to work on their third studio release, but they deserve a break before they achieve well earned world domination.

Wonderland feat. The Potbelleez @ The Met, Brisbane (22/05/09)

You couldn’t have turned on a radio two years ago without hearing a certain little song called Don’t Hold Back. It was arguably the biggest dance track of 2007 and helped fill out dancefloors all over Australia. A certain half Irish, half Australian four-piece were bringing the sounds of their self-titled debut album and more to The Met, and they weren’t leaving until they’d rung the sweat out of everybody in the place. Before they had the chance to, however, Pete Smith had the bass pumping and the strobes working overtime as he worked through some nice house tunes. By the stroke of midnight the floor was full to the brim and the numbers never really dropped the whole night. While about half of those were lit up by the glow of their mobile phones, the rest were getting on with the business of dancing.

It’s always fascinating to stop and take stock of just how far music has come over the decades, which makes it interesting to note that it’s usually reworkings of 80s club hits that never fail to get the best reception when they’re thrown into a set, and tonight was no different. Sweet Dreams went down with much enthusiasm and was the highlight of Smith’s set, with the reverberating electronica of the Eurythmics and Annie Lennox’s commanding vocals inspiring hands in the air all round. For those who’d heard it all before in the plethora of sets where reliable 80s classic are given an airing, well, the dancing girls were always a distraction.

When 1am rolled around it was time for Pete Smith to make way for the main attraction.The Potbelleez, or at least half of them, came out to as good a reception as the Met could muster, which, when packed is quite something. DJs Dave Goodie and Johnny Sonic took to the stage and got straight into it, proclaiming “We have one job tonight – and that is to fuck you up.” With an effects-addled intro to Don’t Hold Back kicking off their set, they came out punching and started out on a high, but the night was young and they had plenty more energy to release on the crowd. With a very welcome divergence into the all-to rarely used Nightmare by Brainbug, the beats were rolling throughout the main room, all the way back to the bar.

Pog Ma Thon (or Kiss My Ass for those not fluent in Gaelic insults) went out to all the Irish revellers in the crowd and there must have been a few as ample cheers sprang up around the room, but it wasn’t just the Irish who grooved to the dancey number. There was certainly no lack of enthusiasm during the set on the part of the duo either, but just to make sure they had the crowd on side, there were plenty of shout outs to Brisbane, and no small number of mentions of its superiority to Sydney. Future DJs take note; if you want to win over a Brisbane Met crowd, just tell them they’re better than Sydneysiders and they’re putty in your hands.

Then to build on this vibe and gee up anybody planning on sitting down or going to the bar any time soon, the most leftfield choice of the set was thrown in. Killing In The Name Of had the Met briefly rocking out and screaming along to Rage’s bawling angry epic. It did its job and picked the people right up again, the ballsy guitar riffs ending to shrieks of applause.

Precisely one hour in the remaining band members, vocalists MC Blu and Ilan Kidron, took to the stage looking pepped and ready to see out the rest of the set with as much energy as the crowd had put into the first hour. As if he was playing to a stadium, Kidron took command of the stage to the sounds of Trouble Trouble. The two were leaping about and thoroughly enjoying it, whipping the crowd up into a frenzy while the DJs laid down some heavy bass before settling behind the mics for Everything.

Some of the stragglers towards the back of the crowd had thought about going back to the bar to refuel but when the unmistakable piano riff of Are You With Me started flowing out of the speakers, there were some literally running back to the stage to catch it. This melodic little track wouldn’t be out of place on a Coldplay album; the recurring piano melody combined with the simple but gratifying lyrics have that same formulaic but successful sound that have made the English U2 wannabes what they are today.

Junkyard soon shook off any sentimentality and upped the tempo, getting the room pumping again to the big club beats. Kidron had already showed off some of his guitar skills, and that combined with Blu’s MCing and the DJs ripping up the decks all solidified to form a pretty tight group that compliment each other well and know where to shift the focus to at any one time. It was time then for this to all culminate in their biggest single to date and the biggest moment of the night when The Potbelleez finally let Don’t Hold Back loose on the masses.

Kidron played the signature acoustic guitar and the crowd immediately erupted. The beats seeped into the rhythm until that massive club track of 2007 was in full swing and the crowd were soon jumping and waving as one. It eventually slowed its pace until it was just the guitar again, and so the set finished with the crowd belting out the chorus along with the band until both could do no more. Seemingly going against management, they got on with the encore almost immediately and tore straight into Hold On, one of the technically more sophisticated tracks that has a very welcome hint of breaks. It would have been good to get a fuller exposure of it during the set but alas their time was up and they, along with most of the crowd, flooded out into the night.

Junglettes vs Shifty @ The Empire Moonbar, Brisbane (16/05/09)

Primetime Saturday night in the Valley, and the Moonbar was playing host to theJunglettes versus Shifty. It was a night featuring all styles to suit all tastes and certainly delivered a varied mix of old school beats and more current face-melting bass.De la Haye and Syntax were first up battling between early hip hop and the relatively recent, so there was a healthy mix of everything from O.P.P. to ODB. Of course no night of hip hop on display would be complete without Paid In Full getting its turn, and if there had have been more than a few people on the floor, it would have undoubtedly got them moving.

Sadly though, it was taking a while for people to be drawn away from the middle bar and make it to the top floor and so far the bass emanating from downstairs was at times more pronounced than what was pumping out Moonbar’s speakers. For the last half an hour or so the pace was changed as the hip hop gave way to a more dubstep feel, and some of the people who’d been loitering around the fringes edged closer and began to breathe a bit of life into the floor.

Chancing upon this, and with de la Haye nowehere to be seen, Syntax gave way to Dr Dom & Phylum who immediately set upon the crowd with a striking DnB assault onRadiohead’s Creep. The heavy bass and the thick beat of the hardcore rhythm somehow married perfectly with the vocals and really lifted the remix beyond your average DnB track. It certainly inspired a few hands in the air, and more were sure to follow.

It was looking like the packed floor would be there for the night, but the numbers seemed to inexplicably fluctuate, with one minute there being a sea of bodies, and then ten minutes later the floor had the look of closing time with a few stragglers drunkenly bopping as best they could to the beat.

Despite of this, or perhaps because of it, the duo determinedly refused to relent the hardcore pace and only did so to introduce another nice DnB reworking of a recognisable track. They turned their hand to the biggest track for Pharoahe MonchSimon Says, and gave it driven and nicely craft DnB edge, with Monch’s lyrics being amplified by the deep bass. The numbers on the dancefloor had fluctuated in the negative when they blasted out the highlight of their set, namely one of the biggest tracks of 1996, Ready Or Not by you-know-who.

Justus kept the momentum going, and like everyone before him, enjoyed periods of a crammed dancefloor to a dearth of souls reluctant to move their feet to the beats on offer. Following on from his predecessors, Justus threaded some soulful hip hop throughout his set that poured a nice mix of DnB and dubstep into the set, with No Diggity a notable highlight of his hour in the spotlight. He soldiered on and put in a solid hour of some great tunes, accompanied by, it should be mentioned, some great visuals by Dilate that distracted from the frustratingly low turnout.

At 2am it was the turn of Cutloose and he was definitely the highlight of the whole night. Breaking out some of the deepest, darkest dubstep he could find, Cutloose planned to use his hour as fully as possible. Going berserk behind the turntables, he showed off a hefty mixed bag of floor-shakingly loud breaks-laden beats to booming funky electro dubstep.

If the whole night had had the kind of energy that the aptly named Cutloose showed, the people who had come to the floor to pack it out the first time, probably wouldn’t have left. It is always a pleasure to see DJs who take great pleasure in what they do, and the fact that Cutloose had the kind of attitude to his set when the room was hardly bouncing means that his professional approach towards his music means that he’ll go far. He already is, with some dates in California and Vegas over the coming months. Before he sets off for the States he has a few more dates lined up in Brisbane so catch him before he becomes too big for his home city.

Tahuna Breaks National Tour @ Stepp Inn, Brisbane (15/05/09)

Tahuna Breaks have been making waves in New Zealand and emerging as one of the pre-eminent live acts to catch this year. Their Australian commitments mean they’ve been coming back to our shores on a regular basis, which is just as well as they certainly know how to get a party started. The Stepp Inn had already seen a night of some great support with the occasional smattering of live drum and bass, reggae, and ska, so when Tahuna Breaks hit the stage the venue was already packed.

From the outset they had some funky grooves to ease everybody into their set with help from the likes of tracks such as Empower Me (the first single from the new album) reflecting how frontman Marty Greentree feel about fatherhood. A feel-good reggae track with some nice rhythm guitars that flowed into elements of rock, all proficiently carried out by guitarist Tom Charleson, this had heads moving, and feet were sure to follow. Following on from this, Jonny on sax and Tim on trumpets provided some smokin’ horns to the funky number that evidences its roots in blues, with Marty’s gravelled voice thrown in a few Brownesque “WAOW”s along the way.

You don’t often get a sombre sounding reggae tune but Tahuna have achieved a soft and contemplative number with Real Life that, whilst retaining some funky elements, especially from James Winkle’s bass, convey a theme of going through hard times from the heartrending lyrics and longing sax. An upbeat, effects-driven ska number that made the people go from swaying to bouncing promptly followed. The momentum was kept up with debut album title track Reflections, a fast-paced bouncy reggae number that, after an atmospheric and soft bassy intro, really got going with Tim Gemmell’s drums really going for it and Tom’s guitar adding some smooth reverb to his soaring guitar.

Casually Acquainted really let the band cut loose with everyone giving it their all in possibly the funkiest big band track on the album. It could have been an early incarnation of James Brown and The JBs on stage, with Marty really exercising his vocal chords and the band swaying and grooving as one. The biggest single on the record, Voodoo, sounds like a modern reggae classic and gained a big cheer from the crowd. It’s a short, very tight little track with a great rhythm section reminiscent of some of Marley’s best, adding a fresh approach with uplifting drums and accompanying horns. If it wasn’t obvious who influenced this track, the band flowed directly and seamlessly into _Could You Be Loved? With Tom being dead on the money with the instantly recognisable riff and the rest of the band following suit.

After that they owned the crowd and so finished by milking the funk for all it was worth. There was real groove you could get your teeth into, with some juicy fat funk inspiring curious disco moves by some of the crowd on the floor. They’re possibly one of the largest bands to fit on the Stepp Inn stage, but they made a sound much bigger than their seven-strong turnout let on. With Adam Fuhr really letting fly on the keys, and James’s bass in full swing, all of the band were really giving it to the crowd and going out with a bang.

After a brief disappearance they wanted to get straight back into it and were eager to get into their encore, which went off with a screaming funk climax. The band jammed together and were obviously comfortable in each other’s abilities, flowing nicely from all out funk to some more laidback grooves and then back into it again. The Sex Machinewas a fitting homage to the Godfather of Soul and the perfect way to end the night.

Tiki Taane @ The HiFi, Brisbane (07/05/09)

The debut solo album from ex Salmonella Dub frontman Tiki Taane was released in late 2007, and to celebrate with his Australian fans he played a number of dates this side of the Tasman including Brisbane’s newly opened venue The HiFi. Looking like a stylishly converted corporate cinema, the West End hotspot had friendly door and bar staff, a very clean-cut finish in the main room, and a simple but effective layout that slopped progressively down to the stage, which (height permitting) is easy to see from almost anywhere in the room. All it needs now is to feel somewhat more “lived in” and it will be one of the premium locations in Brisbane to spend your weekly pay packet when the weekend rolls around. If their upcoming rundown of artists they’ve got coming up is anything to go by, it won’t take long for business to be booming.

Touring with Tiki on his Past, Present, Future LP tour were the Dub Soldiers in the form of a select group of Shapeshifter regulars making up the live accompaniment. Two of those members, DJs Sambora and Reno started the night off with a healthy plethora of industrial dubstep rhythms and smoothly paced reggae beats that mixed perfectly with the laidback but eager atmosphere permeating throughout the crowd. Some climactic DnB that simmered with the faintest hints of the Shapeshifter sound had the packed house moving and turned peoples’ attention to the stage almost immediately. It was the perfect warming up they would need for what would turn out to be an exhausting and uplifting performance. Sambora’s set finished with the kind of aplomb and expertise you’d expect from a Shapeshifter co-founder who is a triumvirate of ‘ists’; guitarist, keyboardist, and percussionist.

An excited tension descended on the crowd as they awaited the arrival of the Kiwi dubster, and so it was interesting just how discreetly Tiki made his way to the stage, surprising everyone. But this didn’t mean a less rapturous applause when he began, conch in hand, with the smoothly restructured dudstep prologue of Whakapuaki. The conch produced a beautifully haunting lilt that permeated throughout the room and soared far beyond it. Then, along with his live support, Tiki was joined onstage by his father Uekaha, who spoke the ethereal Māori chant of Whakapuaki and complimented the conch with what looked to be a Kōauau flute. With the combination of the synths and auxiliary percussion, this powerful incantation transported all the ex-pats home, and invited everyone else to sample the beauty of an Aotearoa Awakening.

Then the lights exploded into life and the people followed suit when Now This Is It hit. It was time to build on the atmosphere that had been created, but at a totally different pace, and the Hifi was exposed to some bass-heavy dubbed out hip hop beats. A perfect opening to a live set, this track turns up the energy levels, not to mention the sound levels, so it was satisfying to hear the venue’s sound system more than cope. Another of the Shapeshifter crew, Paora ‘P Digsss’ Apera’s vocal talents were brought to the fore on his and Tiki’s collaborative track Faded. This uplifting funky track is sure to be a dub classic in a few short years, and did its job of inspiring smiles all round. The duo certainly seemed to particularly enjoy performing it, along with the rest of the band.

The dial was then turned up to 11 when Wotcha Got followed on from the upped pace that had been set. Merging an almost jazzy percussion with an industrial DnB backing, fast-paced lyrics and a metal undercurrent, as the opening lines explained, it had a “little bit of this, a little bit of that.” Not only did it have the people at the stage really going for it, but the ripples from the combination of all these styles were spreading all the way back to the bar as the people danced waiting for their drinks and loose change to arrive. The crowd were then treated to a track not on the album that, on the night, was calledClayt Dog. An effects-infused blend of reggae harmonies and chilled out beats, it was a suitable follow-up to Faded and served nicely as a segue to Music Has Saved Me. The good feeling that had been generated from the set so far was built upon when Tiki asked, “who loves guitars?” He certainly does, and his love of balls to the wall heavy metal was plain to see on this amped up version of his most personal track on the LP. Indeed Sam Trevethick, AKA the aforementioned Sambora, looked like he was enjoying himself as he was given free reign to let loose on the guitar and rock out along with the crowd.

From such a heightened peak, the mood was vastly changed and the crowd, aside from the odd holler of appreciation, were reverently hushed to the sound of the eponymousPast, Present, Future. Dedicated to loved ones who have passed, it afforded the crowd a solemn moment of reflection rarely expressed in live music, and when Uekaha reappeared to provide some superbly poignant falsetto vocals, the atmosphere created was positively touching. Easing out of the title track was a toned down but sleek reworking of Saviour Dub that, on the album has its roots very much in the origins of jungle and DnB but here was given a more laidback reggae twist.

No Tiki Live show would be complete without the gathered masses being given possibly the most evocative track on the album, Tangaroa. This tribute to the Māori god of the sea is a terrific track on the album, but is something else to behold in a live setting. Combining a thundering drum, with razor sharp synth effects, this stirring haka epic being bellowed out by P Diggs, Uekaha and Tiki literally shook the freshly made construction dust of the new venue from the ceiling. It is one of those tracks that you can really relish when playing live as the beat is just irresistible not to move to and its fluidity means it can be forever improvised and played with depending on the crowd. The crowd on this particular Thursday night were very much up for it and bounced enthusiastically to the tribal-inspired beats that rumbled and cracked over their heads. The coming together of such primal rhythms and electronically enhanced effects really amplified the vibe in the room and got to the heart of everyone on the floor.

Tiki and the Dub Soldiers left the stage to the applause of all and as an encore, Tiki returned with his most recognisable release Always On My Mind. Showing off a love of the acoustic as well as the electric he closed (or so we thought) the night with the popular love song that you could just as easily hear being sung round a campfire as you could in an arena. Audience participation was actively encouraged, with Tiki getting all the boys to sing the chorus to the girls, and then the girls to respond in kind. With time to spare, a mini impromptu acoustic Salmonella Dub set consisting of Love Your Wayswas instantly recognised and sung along to. The rest of the band got in on the act when Tiki started up Longtime, which this time was the last track of the night. The crowd were reluctant to leave, lingering to savour the waning moments of the positive energy that had filled the room, before going out into the night to finish off the working week.