Gatecrasher - The Digital Experience - Perth Review
So last night was the gatecrasher event in Perth, and I figured that some guys might want to read a review of what it was like, so here it is after a few hours of sleep. The venue for this event was the Globe on Murray Street, Perth. Not the best club in town, but it would suffice.
[/B]10pm-11pm – Boy
The night started off at 10:15pm when we got in, we got in early so we could camp the stairs to get to the second level when it eventually opened. The music spun by Boy wasn’t bad, but, he flat out didn’t want to be there, especially at that time spot. He looked pretty pissed, and he only cued the next record, mixed it in, then repeated those 2 steps until his set was over. At the end of his set the second level was open and my friends I went to snab some comfy seats.
11pm-12 Midnight – Adam Kelly
Adam Kelly mixed on from Boy’s last song. Adam Kelly is by far my favourite local dj. His track selection and mixing are good and he knows how to work the crowd. The first half hour of his set was spent sitting in a comfy chair, listening to a few familiar but unknown tunes. He played Junkie XL’s and Tiesto’s – Obsession, which went over well, and the crowd was beginning to really enjoy his set, and then, it ended.
12am-1am – Freestyle
“This is only a test” Freestyle opened with a song which had that repeating sample in it, I didn’t like it after the 3 time, so naturally when he used the sample through out his entire mix I wasn’t too fond of it. Freestyle was playing progressive house (but I suck at genres so maybe you would call it something else), which was much deep and dark after the nice set we had heard from Mr Kelly.
1am-3:30am – Mario Piu
After the shocking set from Freestyle the internationals came on. Mario lifted the crowd up from the depths of Freestyles progressive set from the first track he dropped. Mario’s set continued the way it had started for the rest of set, mostly uplifting, commercial tracks, which wasn’t too bad. Mario loved his Tiesto and dropped the original mixes of Lethal Industry, Flight 643, and Urban Train. I was happy that it was not the My Love Is On Fire remix because I would not have been surprised if it was. A low point of the set was when an MC (of sorts, he didn’t say much) ruined a build in urban train by screaming;
“FDSDFGATECRASHERDFGJDIGITALEXPERIENCEGLJ”
Which is always good. It is a personal hate of mine for MC’s to talk during mixes, they always talk at the most inopportune times and fuck something up. Mario Piu was never really into the crowd, he just smoked and mixed, sometimes putting his hands in the air and moving them to the beat. Which would have been ok if he was busy on the decks all that time, but he wasn’t. We kept on dancing, I was hoping for Tiesto’s remix of southern sun, and toward the end of his set my ears where playing tricks on me, but it was not to be, and I thought I would go home disappointed.
3:30am-6:15am – SCOTT BOND
Wow, that is best introduction I can give this set. After dancing through most of Mario’s set I was keen on stealing one of the comfy chairs upstairs again. Though they were all taken by club bunnies and whores, so it wasn’t to be. I sat by a speaker near the dance floor and the bass pound my chest. Bond opened with a familiar track, which I don’t know the name of, but it was perfect, it got some energy back in the crowd, and a little back in me, and then he dropped Tiesto’s remix of Southern Sun, I was more than happy and got my ass to the dance floor to show some respect, and sing the words to it. Unfortunately not many other people knew words, but it was still a good track to throw down, every one loved it and I had gotten my second wind. Scott Bond’s set was a perfect balance between beats and melodies. The tracks he played fit extremely well and considering he had the last spot of the tonight, the crowd was still well up for it. I continued dancing until five where at my friend said time to sit down. We listened to some tunes upstairs, again, a perfect mix, and getting slowly more mellow to the end of his set, but still banging in parts. At about 5:30 we headed down and watched Mr Bond dj for a bit. He was always busy working the turntables and mixer, and the crowd reflected his efforts. People were still going at it right until the very end. Towards the end he played the Svenson and Gielen remix of Lethal Industry, which is a top-notch song, and went well with the crowd.
To finish his set of Scott Bond played Svenson and Gielen – We Know What You Did, it was well received and when it finished everyone was happy, and thought it was the end. I was hoping for the classical outro to Magik Journey but it was still good. After the crowd had finished cheering he played an encore. I’m not sure what the track was but it wasn’t anything hot, especially after We Know What You Did. But the crowd were happy they were getting more than they should and danced along with it. After that track finished, people began heading for the door, but then, Scott Bond dropped another track.
It was un-fucking-believable remix of Robert Miles – Children. This remix blew my mind as well as the crowds they loved it. The song summed up Scott’s set well, hard and fast in parts, but melodic in others, it was a beautiful track to end the night. After it finished the crowd started cheering for a 2nd time and the lights came on. Assuming it was over we began to heard for the door, but something could be heard building, and he played one more track. This track didn’t do too much for me, but it was alright. When it was over the crowd cheered and loved the musical journey Scott Bond had taken them on.
The music he played was amazing, so well balanced, and good enough to give me another hour and a half worth of dancing in me. Even when I was sitting down, or just watching him dj, I wanted to get out there and move, but my body wasn’t willing, though I was always moving in some way. As we walked to the door we heard chants of “one more” but he was already out of the booth after receiving his much deserved kudos. Thank you Scott Bond.
Visuals and Lighting
The visuals were lacking to say the least. There was a screen above the dj booth, which had a video looping. All I could think of, was why bother? It was less than pointless and did not sync with the music at all. All clubs NEED to get the milkdrop plug in for winamp and run that for their visuals. Obviously they can’t run it in winamp, but they should buy a modified version. For anyone who doesn’t know what milkdrop is, do a google search and find it. It is the best visualisation plug in for winamp that I have ever seen. The gatecrasher lion was cut out of white cardboard and hung around a few places, as well as few gatecrasher posters.
The lighting was so-so. There was one green laser, which was made to look even cooler by all the cigarette smoke in the air. The laser was not overly great though and often did not go with the music. There were 4 lights in front of the Dj booth, which were put to average use, but again they weren’t great. Then there were the lights on the ceiling and mirrorballs, which, again, were average. It’s a good job lighting does not make or break an event because if it did, this event would on the side of the road with it’s hazards on.
[B]Other Cool Stuff
They handed out CD’s, which were signed by Scott Bond, but not many as well as a shirt or two. Also glasses of water were for a change, free which was excellent. No spending 20 dollars on water for a night, which I think, is fucking ridiculous. However other drink prices were through the roof, so I kept on free waters all night.
Overall
The night was turning out to be average until Scott Bond’s set. His set brought the house down and everyone was into it. Scott Bond turned the night into a great one with such and awesome selection of tunes, which made the audience, keep on going.
Ill probably give you guys another review this Thursday when I see Paul Van Dyk at the Globe.
|
