Mischief- Feat Felix Da Housecat, Audio Bullys & Sharam Jey at Public Office - 14.4.2006

Those pesky party people from Mischief- sure know how to throw a good event. Yet even the most talented miracle workers would struggle to make the Public Office a suitable venue for one of the most highly anticipated gigs of the year (imagine yourself being thrown into a cesspool and you're halfway there). So, doused in sweat that wasn't my own and enduring the belligerent chants from an obnoxious crowd, I was thankful that Mischief- had (for the most part) quality music to counteract its sordid surroundings.

Sharam Jey was the first international to greet the writhing crowd from behind the decks and played a solid set from start to finish. Unfortunately, Audio Bullys were unable to continue where Sharam Jey had left off and instead followed with a dismal performance worthy of Dance Music's Hall of Shame. The music itself wasn't the problem for, near the end of their set, Audio Bullys even managed to temporarily engage with the audience by dropping Pink Floyd's Another Brick In The Wall. Rather, the issue was the repetitious use of their remix of Nancy Sinatra's Shot You Down, whereupon the MC rambled various permutations of the chorus throughout their 1½ hour set: "Bang bang, he shot me down. Bang bang, I hit the ground. Bang bang, that awful sound. Bang bang, my baby shot me down." It is unclear what Audio Bullys sought to achieve from their monotonous MCing; however, as their set came to a close, they had successfully diluted their musical repertoire to the innocuous recantation of 24 words.

Felix Da Housecat graced the decks fashionably late and was quick to transform the disgruntled vibe generated from Audio Bullys' set. The Big Black Cat built the energy slowly by opening with the Jacque Lu Cont remix of Depeche Mode's A Pain That I'm Used To before leading into his own crowd pleaser, Silver Screen. Similar to his previous tour to Melbourne, Felix played a predominantly house/electro/electro-tech set punctured by the occasional indie anthem. In particular, his inclusion of Kaiser Chiefs' Every Day I Love You Less And Less and Marilyn Manson's cover of Depeche Mode's Personal Jesus demonstrated the continued success of Felix's winning electro/rock formula.

Although, at times, Felix dropped hackneyed songs like Blur's Song 2 or Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit, his set never degenerated into a jukebox of passe hits as the prevalence of fresh tracks far outweighed the old. Undoubtedly, Felix's greatest weakness - his DJ Achilles' heel if you will - was his mixing. Yet, in spite of his technical errors, Felix proved that a stellar track list can, of itself, prove to be the staple ingredient of a winning performance.
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