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Frantic With Superfast Oz & Danny Gilligan - 16.7.2004

Author: Stuart Rae
Monday, August 2, 2004
Danny Gilligan is a legend. End of story.
Danny has a well-deserved and hard-earned reputation for being able to DJ while completely shit-faced. The last time I saw him he was absolutely blind, playing at the Spotted Dog in Willesden Green, London at a Sunday afternoon dance-party called Ground Zero. He was so completely wankered that somebody literally had to prop him up against the turntables and hang a set of headphones around his neck! And do you know what- His set was beat-perfect! I honestly don't know how he does it - in fact, sometimes I think that he actually plays *better* when he is completely trashed than when he is sober, although I can't confirm this, as I have never once seen him play while he is even close to being sober.

When I saw that Danny was headlining at Frantic I immediately put up my hand to review the night. If for no other reason that I just might get the chance to hear him play while sober for the first time ever, although I wasn't counting on it. Also headlining for the night was Superfast Oz and a number of Melbourne favourites (Craig Jon, Jase Wood), but to be honest, this night was all about Danny for me.

I had the chance to talk to the man before his set, and was surprised to see that he was sober enough to hold a reasonably coherent conversation. When I asked him what the Melbourne Frantic crowd could expect from his set, he replied "A cracking selection of new UK hard trance tunes, with a few classics thrown in for good measure," which quite accurately sums up exactly what he played during the night. He also confided that he was well on his way to being completely trashed - no surprises there, really. But if he was (as he claimed) teetering on the edge of losing it, he seemed to be hiding it very well while he played his set. It was, as always, beat-perfect, and there were some moments of absolute brilliance in there, such as when he slowly bought in Frantic anthem 'Instru(MENTAL)' during the breakdown of another tune. Ah, there's nothing like a classic to get the crowd going!

Danny's set was easily the highlight of the evening as far as I was concerned. It has to be said that Superfast Oz was a big disappointment, as he did a rather good job of clearing the dance-floor. Or maybe it was just the mere fact that he was following Mr Gilligan, who can say. I think it's fair to say that this Frantic was all about Danny Gilligan.

I shudder to think what he'd be capable of if he ever picked up his headphones while sober. Danny, you're a legend.
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