Peaktime 3 @ Sub Club (11/11/2000)
Reported by Bing Tuesday, January 8 2002
The popular party series Peaktime always promises a lot to Hobartās party population. They have become renowned for the quality of both the production of the event and the DJās they have headline them. For Peaktime 3 the Freshdisko boys pulled out all the stops.
First of all they took over one of the biggest clubs in Hobart for the evening. Second they booked all the best DJās and live acts in this state. Third they booked not one but three headline DJās from Melbourne. Fourth they soupped up the Sub Clubs already fantastic sound system to an ear ringing proportion. Finally they put on the undoubted party of the year.
The downstairs room was dedicated to breaks and drum and bass. In all honesty, I didn't personally spend a lot of time in this room. What I did hear was some of the darkest, scariest bass coupled with frenetic drums and stuttered raps from the MC's. Although not my usual cup of tea it did appear pretty god damn cool. Judging from the people on the dance floor giving it plenty, and dripping in sweat, it was a top night out for fans of the genre.
However the larger main room was the true focus of the night. One of the best things about this party was the variety of musical styles and the talent of our locals. The evening started out with house music in varying vocal and funky degrees provided by locals like Matt B and DJ Bluff. Later there was the more upbeat progressive styles of the two live acts Batrachian and Sounds Activated. And finishing off the night after the headliners was Jack Disko in what I thought was the most banging, passionate, down right fucking wicked set he has played all year.
The focus for the headliners had a distinct Melbourne theme. Freshdisko bringing probably two of the most successful and talented people involved in dance music in this country on the same night was a touch of genius as either would draw a crowd by themselves. Together the club was packed to the rafters.
Around 1.30am Madison Avenueās Andy Van took the stage. I honestly thought his involvement with MA would draw in a very young, cheesy crowd but thankfully I was wrong. Andy has been a successful club DJ for ten years and those in attendance knew all about it. There was no sign of Donāt Call Me Baby. There was on the other hand some fantastic, funky house music. The melodies where catchy, the lyrics inspired sing-a-longs and the bass lines keep driving the crowd further into a frenzy. Andy worked his audience to perfection waving his arms and bobbing his head, it was easy to tell that this is his home rather than on the TV pretending to spin records for video clips. A little surprisingly he picked up the pace towards the end of his set, I donāt believe anyone knew he could play that hard.
Speaking of hard. Second headline act Jayse Knipe popped onto the stage around 4am. By this time the beats had lost their funky edge and were simply pounding. Jayse played possibly the most entertaining set to grace Hobart's shores in the last few years. It was surprisingly up beat and yet dark and brooding at the same time. His record collection is at the moment heavily influence by Germany s man of the moment Timo Mass and his progressive house/dirty trance sound. Basically the crowd went nuts. Just like Andy before him Jayse had a few crowd working tricks up his sleeve. At one point he abruptly stopped the record that was playing, slowing the dancers down altogether, listened to the cheers from the crowd and then effortlessly released the pounding beats back into their ecstatic cryās for more.
At the end of the night the promoters thanked the crowd for the best party ever. The crowd cheered and thanked the DJ's and promoters. It was a beautiful thing at 7am on a Sunday morning to see that many happy people. For the truly hard core Cheeky Little Monkey opened at 6am as a special Recovery party spot for those still flying around the rafters. This party finished up around lunchtime but that is another story altogether.
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