Future Elements 2 @ Huon Quay, Hobart (01/06/02)
Reported by Tristan Thursday, August 8 2002
After the huge success that was Future Elements 1 on New Years Eve, when it was announced Future Elements would be returning on June 1, anticipation quickly built. The question remained though, minus the occasion that was New Years Eve, would FE2 attract the numbers? To help answer this question Stephen Allkins of Love [Tattoo] fame together with Ken Cloud were named as the drawcards for FE2. It appeared a subtle change in music policy from the chunky banging house of Sveta, to the housey vibes of Allkins and the tech vibes of Cloud, but nonetheless my ticket was among hundreds purchased very early in proceedings.
So around 1230 or so I began to the journey to Huon Quay. Despite its ragged appearance, the building has demonstrated on numerous occasions its suitability for these type of events and FE2 did nothing to subtract from it. The difficult search for a park, caused me to realise two things. Firstly, Huon Quay wasn?t meant to be used for events this size and secondly there was an amazing number of people present.
After waiting in line for three quarters of an hour, a novelty in Hobart, during which the event sold out, my feet were aching to get moving and so in I went to the kingdom of beats. Upon entrance, Chris B had done the hard yards and had a mass of ravers grooving to his deep progressive beats, producing an awesome set, which was the highlight of the night for many.
The first headliner to step up to the plate was Allkins who quickly set the mood dropping the ?Where?s you?re head at? sending the already packed crowd into spasm. He moved through his set changing directions more than once, through house to breaks to tech-house and back, perhaps searching for some common ground with the crowd. At times he appeared to lose the crowd, diversifying too much but he was always classy enough to realise this and get them back with tunes such as the original mix of his own ?Drop Some Drums? and the surprise of the night ?Fight For Your Right? from the Beastie Boys which caused the throbbing crowd to very nearly tear the place down. Overall not the best set I have ever heard, but he kept me moving and had no complaints from the masses, who were more than pleased to witness this stalwart of the Aussie scene perform on the apple isle.
Ken Cloud, always one to skirt the limits, took over carving out a educational set going from quite deep to full on techno as his set progressed. It was perhaps too high brow for the crowd never really inciting them to euphoric proportions, which prevented his set from being the mind pounding experience it had the potential to be. At times his selection of tunes left the crowd dancing on the sport until he returned to more familiar punter friendly territory. Overall though, Cloud played hard and definitely cemented himself a Tasmanian fan base.
Next to grace the decks was SMC, who had the task of keeping the amped crowd on the floor, following the completion of the main set. To say he did this admirably would not be doing him justice. Scott played a tight driving set, giving the crowd exactly what they wanted. Rewarding punters who stayed around or punishing early departees was the resurface of Cloud around 7 am for more tech action pleasantly surprising those hardy ravers still wanting more.
Throughout the night the pumping beats of the headliners ensured I didn?t venture away from the main room meaning I cannot provide a first hand impression of the breaks and DnB room. It is pleasing though to see a large enough crowd to supporting the provision of these alternatives and from all accounts the atmosphere was enough to rival that of the main room. The security element of the evening also did well, remaining courteous and helpful whenever called into action.
Opinions of the sound varied depending on where you were in the room, which isn?t a particularly good sign. Up the front was clearly the place to be, with some lack of depth and clarity in the middle of the main room and towards the rear as well, which could have been partly to blame for the apparent lower intensity of the headliners sets. The visuals were provided by the Visology crew, with a wide range of effects however the lighting could have been more varied and at times was too isolated to small areas of the room.
Overall FE2 appeared to me, the average punter, as a huge success. To sell out an event in Hobart so close to university exams must go down as a precedent for other promoters. The tunes were pumping, the large and diverse crowd was up for it and the main acts produced the goods. While there are areas for improvement, everyone who attended walked away with a big grin on their face and tinnitus for the next week. While not raising the bar, FE2 reached the standard set by FE1 and it?s now with eager anticipation Hobart awaits September 28 and the third instalment of Future Elements with Sugar Ray and Pocket in the drivers seat.
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