Warehouse Music Festival 2011 @ AIS Arena

In a move that had more than a few Canberrans confused, Kicks Entertainment moved the Warehouse Music Festival from its usual winter time slot and stuck on the end of the worlds longest weekend. This had its benefits as the weather was warmer and the outside areas and stage were able to be enjoyed by everyone, but having it on the Tuesday didn’t give punters much time to recover for work.

Hangovers aside, it was a fantastic day overall. I started my day watching Canberra locals Peking Duk warm up the outdoor stage. The boys were dressed in singlets and sunnies, and played a bunch of their base heavy remixes to get the early arrivals warmed up. There was easy access to a bar and sausage sizzle, and a few tables and chairs scattered at one end to provide a place to sit and chat or take a break from the dance floors.

By the time Ian Carey took to the decks the terrace was packed with hot young things not wearing many clothes. I always enjoy seeing the festival fashion trends change, and Warehouse was all about animal prints, short shorts and long shirts and boots for the girls and fluro singlets and shorts for the boys. Ian Carey played his house hits like Shot Caller,  Get Shaky and his new hit featuring Snoop Dog Last Night. The crowd reacted well to the tunes, but I couldn’t help feeling that Carey was a little bored with not much crowd interaction from him.

The main arena looked great, with the stadium seating providing a great view of the stage for those who wanted to see Wytner Gordon in all her glory take the stage. In a super quick twenty-minute set, she stepped out in a white body suit with a cropped yellow jacket and sky-high blue ankle boots. Her super curly hair was flying everywhere as she belted out her hit Dirty Talk and Toyfriend which made the crowd go a little crazy, but she was off the stage before they could really get into it.

 

Martin Solvig arrived on stage wearing a black leather jacket and his trade-mark sweatband and immediately set the mood for his set with ready to go. He was super enthusiastic bopping along to the music and jumping up on the rail in the middle of songs. He played a heap of remixes from a range of genres that kept the punters engaged. In a surprise appearance, gorgeous British singer Sunday Girl joined him on stage to sing hello and bring his set to a close.

Dubstep poster boy Skrillex was next on stage who was the first act to really make use of the huge multimedia screen behind the stage. The pint-sized guru wore his infamous black-framed glasses and his eccentric long dark hair with one side shaved made sure you couldn’t mistake him for anyone else.

 

He built his set steadily, and it didn’t take long for a mosh circle to form right in front of the main stage. His music was clearly different from anything else on the day, with heavy bass tracks creating a darker, dirtier and heavier feel to his tunes. He played remixes of La Roux’s In for the Kill and GaGas Alejandro but the most popular tracks from the crowds point of view was his own Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, Reptiles which whipped the crowd into dangerous insanity, with a couple of over-excited boys being removed for crowd surfing and moshing. 

The night finished with the most anticipated act, Canadian DJ Deadmau5 who spoilt Australia on this tour by bringing his whole light show setup to enthrall the masses. His mouse head outfit was also kitted out with lights, which changed to make faces to match the songs. The visually spectacular 90 minute set was backed up with solid mixes of some of his most popular songs Ghosts n Stuff, Sometimes things get, Whatever, and One trick pony. Another guest appearance came courtesy of Sofi who came out to do live vocals on Sofi needs a ladder, who added a dynamic live element. Unfortunately right at the end just as he was about to drop the last song, his computer died and the crowd were left feeling a little un-satisfied with the abrupt ending to an otherwise spectacular day.

The Holidays @ Transit Bar

The super long-weekend found an aptly named band pack out Transit bar on Saturday night. Hailing from Sydney, The Holidays stopped over to celebrate Easter with their Canberra fans on their Seven Million Mornings tour sold-out show.

I arrived mid-way through Gold Field’s set, who have been supporting The Holidays throughout their tour, and was surprised at the level of energy that was on display by the young, hip and friendly crowd. It was standing room only, with everyone squishing closer to the stage to get a good view of the male five-piece. Their music was light, frivolous and fun with a good dash of cheekiness, making the crowd bust out their best shimmies and shakes to their popular single ‘Treehouse.’

If their music was a cocktail, The Holidays would be a pinacolada sipped at a beach party under a palm tree, and the guys perfected the laid back look with checked shirts, un-kept hair and stubble on their chins. The boys displayed their electro-pop tunes, with a hint of funk and reggae, and kept the bar jumping with excitement. Having two drummers can sometimes be disastrous, but the Holidays pulled it off. The bright red bongos added a dynamic element to their music, and a tambourine got passed around the band members and even made a quick visit to the front row for some impromptu audience participation.

Their set list included Triple J high-rotations Moonlight Hours, 2 days and Broken Bones with additional tunes Computer Triangles and Conga keeping the loyal fans happy. They topped off the night with hit Golden Sky, dedicating it to a girl in the front row ‘who has been wiping my spit off her face all night,’ and promised their set at Groovin the Moo in two weeks would be just as much fun, minus the squishiness. Make sure you check them out.