Moguai & Phil Fuldner @ Prince: 22nd January 2005

Being relatively new to this fine city, I was a Onelove virgin and had only heard of Saturdays at the Prince being Melbourne's home of quality innovative house, breaks and funk. Last weekend I had my chance to break the seal and discover if the venue's rep rang true with resident Grant Smillie backing up the international legends that are Moguai and Phil Fuldner. Here goes.

To my surprise the dozen or so beautiful young 'thangs' I asked how excited they were to be seeing such an anticipated gig knew nothing of the line up or who Moguai/Fuldner were. "That's cool", I thought. You soon will.

My partner in crime on the night, Kellie, who had seen both Moguai and Phil Fuldner a couple of times in and around London, leant over to me as we were sipping our first beers, casually stating "You wait to check out this shit man, it will blow your mind!". Never truer words she has spoken...

Onelove resident Grant Smillie set the scene with his usual perfect blend of pumping house. Remixes of the Jackson Five got the crowd grooving hard early into the night. Vanilla Ice's "Ice-Ice Baby" sucked them deeper into the floor, stage and wings. This is one DJ I have seen a number of times over the years and not once been let down by the way he reads a crowd to sizzling perfection.

The seamless transition from Grant Smillie to Phil Fuldner on the decks was met with a cheeky grin from the German producer. An indication of what the coming hours had in store for the already beats-lubricated crowd- You bet your arse!

His set ranged from prog house to some of the funkiest, hip-swinging grooves I have heard in a long time. The crowd, now tasting the flavour, went absolutely nuts when he dropped his breaks classic 'Miami Pop'. It was like the whole room was engulfed by a heavy dose of familiarity and showed their appreciation by going just that little bit harder.

Then there was Mogaui. He drove home all his signature tunes including 'U Know Y' and 'Get On' with gusto, competing with the every increasing crowd presence dancing on the stage. Not too sure what security had in mind with this scene, but Mogaui seemed to take it in his stride go with the vibe. I have seen lesser professionals (i.e. Fat Boy Slim at BDO) spit the dummy at such antics.

Whether I was absorbed in the atmosphere the lads had created, or whether it was a nite of different remixes, the bass seemed cleaner, more-driven and seething than his past CD recordings. Trade mark guitars riffs heighten the intensity of his so-called "punk" tracks all on their own, a relatively under used sound-bite in Australia's beats scene. Cheers, claps, and wahoos could easily be heard over the beats as the guitars cut out, leaving the thumping bass-line no other option but to propel the crowd into a new track. The only downer was trying to take notes whilst my feet were doing their own thing. My personal highlight of the night was his remix of Blur's Song 2. Absolute perfection.

I had been waiting for the opportunity to see these guys for quite some time and was beyond stoked that I had finally caught them. I have no doubt that the 70% of the crowd that was glued to the dance floor now knows exactly who the German production duo are, and are likely to never forget.

Nice one Onelove. Tags