Freeform 1.1 @ Albert Hall, Launceston (12/05/01)
Reported by Bing Tuesday, January 8 2002
First of all let me start off by saying, damn, what a weekend! Without a doubt this was one of the better gig's so far this year in Tassie. Without a doubt. It all began with a quick trip to the pizza shop for a traveler and ended with a few mates babbling bullshit on the long car ride home from Launceston to Hobart. But what we saw in between was a dance music spectacle of first class entertainment.
Upon entering the Albert Hall, I was first struck by what a brilliant venue it is. There was heaps of space, nice looking decor around the edges, huge stage and a chill-out room with comfy seating, even a wooden dance floor to cut down on the old clubbers knee. The production was spot on with both great lighting and sound.
The first DJ I saw spin was Adam Turner, an ex-Luanceston boy, recently relocated to Hobart. Quite often Iām critical of a new face until they prove themselves on the stage but this didnāt last long. His skills were quite good, his style was interesting and his enthusiasm was unmatched for most of the night by those who followed. Basically he played some great tunes, showed off a few scratching techniques and made the early punters dance their asses off.
While Turner did a good job moving the crowd early, Chris B really pushed things up a notch. Back down south Chris quite often gets caught in the early slots at Carbon, however he reveled in his later time allocation for this gig. Playing a harder, faster, and stronger sound than Iāve recently become accustom to, he flushed all the preconceived notions of what a Chris B set sounds like down the toilet. Those who werenāt already dancing sure were by the time his set was half over. Young Chris should be pushed up a bit closer to peak time for his Hobart residency in my opinion.
And then there was Infusion. These three Sydney boys can do nothing wrong. Their CD is fantastic, their DJ sets are great but their live show is where they really shine. Mr. Turner may have been bopping around a bit but Infusion seemed to always have one or more members with their hands in the air, fists pumping, bodies moving or generally just working the crowd. A lot of people involved with dance music simply stand, mix, grab a record, mix again, stand a bit more, look grumpy, grab a record, mix etc. It was refreshing to see people who obviously love what they are doing giving it their all for our pleasure.
Live shows have a tendency to go one of three ways.
1) They turn out an almost exact carbon copy of the CD recording produced live without offering much more. Not much good can get this at home.
2) A shambles where you wonder what the big deal about live dance music is any way, and re-assess how much you like the act.
3) A brilliant showcase of the music the act produces where they take the music they have created and give it a little more by showing the fans something they havenāt seen or heard already.
Infusion was definitely a case of number three. In all honesty I couldnāt believe how good they were and I kicked myself for not going when they played in Hobart a few months back. For the most part they played a funky and yet hard sound that had the place absolutely rocked to the foundations. Every now and then they slowed up the pace a bit but somehow managed not to loose punters from the dance floor. That alone is a fairly amazing feat. Another amazing bit of the gig was their cover version of an old INXS tune. It sounded kinda 80ās but then kicked in with a wicked, rolling bass line and lifted the audience one step higher than they already were.
They are definitely one of the best live dance acts Australia has on offer, if not one of the best acts full stop. If they were born in another country they may have become the Chemical Brother or Underworld. Ok, Im getting carried away but they are damn fucking great, if you havent seen them, then go seem now!
If I had left at this point I would have felt like I got my moneys worth. However, the night was only half done.
A couple of weeks back Hobart saw Will e Tell rock the decks in the hard techno way he is known for. With his partner Simon Digby on the bill for Freeform, I assumed much of the same. Both have a strong reputation for pushing techno in Australia and building a scene that is on a par with any other in the world. They may be good promoters but I have of late become a little unsure about their DJāing. Iāve seen them both play many times and they are usually hot but occasionally quite cold. You either get wicked banging, minimal techno with a few tricks thrown in for relief or a mish mash where the tricks are either coming on to quickly without giving the music time to build again, or they are simply out of time with the music full stop. I was worried about how it would go when the first couple of Simonās mixes were somewhat lacking but once he settled in everything picked up and fell into place. A lot of fun was had in the end.
I honestly didnāt know much about Jayson Digby bar the fact that he was Simonās brother and one of his songs is on Dave Seamanās Desire CD. I wrongly assumed heād play mostly techno like his brother but it turned out to be a pretty tough sounding progressive set. There wasnt a lot of funk involved
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