Summafieldayze - 6.1.2007
Author: &ru
Tuesday, January 9, 2007
This year Future Entertainment, Fuzzy and Cross Promotions upped the ante with the biggest and most well organized show to date. No under 18s meant no fenced off "alcohol zones" which has my vote and should stay for 2008. Chopping off the young uns didn't hurt numbers either with around 20,000 in attendance.
To cope, an additional large tent (the "Smirnoff Experience") sat between the Fuzzy and Fieldayze tents while the smaller, local "Family Niteclub" stage was moved over to a new northern area. The additional space worked well to disperse the crowd somewhat and also helped add to the musical variety on offer at any given time.
The star-studded diverse lineup was of course why we were all there and we certainly weren't starved for choice. Big name internationals such as the Plumps, Freestylers, Bob Sinclair, Switch and Darren Emerson mixed it with a host of local favourites and every stage was packed throughout the day.
Actually, this really was the only complaint - with so many people at the event, it was sometimes impossible to see an act. For instance, I had to completely bypass Mylo's set as the crowd had overflowed out of the tent to nearly 10 deep around its edges. This led to many people picking a tent, edging their way forward and staying put for a few hours. A good technique… if you're patient.
There were numerous highlights throughout the day with many of the local acts really stepping up. Early on, Rubber Johnson (a new local group and one of the only live acts at the show) put on a great performance combining keys, base guitar, percussion and pre-recorded tracks (presumably mixed through Ableton Live). It was housey, groovy, funky but even had a bit of D&B thrown in for good measure. They were a surprise and provided a good alternative to Ajax, who played his unique style of electro house, and another crowd fave Kid Kenobi with the always vivacious MC Shureshock. Switch followed on and pushed out one of his typically eclectic sets taking in breaks, house and funked up old and new school beats. Apache, of course, was present through Switch's smash "A Little Bit Patchy". Meanwhile over at the Fuzzy stage, Tocadisco put together one of the most creative sets of the day blending a good range of new tracks with plenty of well known classics. He even did a massive dive off the enormous speaker bank as a funky broken beat mix of "Blur - Song 2" dropped its first, "woo hoo". Hats off for the extra theatrics!
As day ebbed away and the near full moon crept up from the horizon, the music got a bit darker. Mousse T led the charge with solid house and underground tracks even slipping in Darkmountaingroup's "Lose Control" which sounded wicked in a massive circus tent. Judge Jules has plenty of Aussie fans and they quickly filled the Fuzzy tent for his great set with his typical harder edge. Darren Emerson initially impressed with solid tech house and techno but unfortunately took a wacky turn after teasing the crowd with hints of "Born Slippy". And finally the Plump DJs put on a great performance to a completely packed floor and this year managed to not blow up their speakers. Well done lads!
The day wrapped up nicely with locals Vinyl Slingers, Magoo, Audun and Tydi occupying the four stages and offering up something for everyone. And really this type of finale was fitting. While the internationals were great to see, it was the local DJs and the local crowd who made the day special. Two thumbs up fo Tags