Rocking up to the Hordern last Tuesday inadequately loaded with only one margarita I had instant doubts whether I had come to the right place or not? What was in front of me seemed like some sort of mixture between a school fete and an episode of MTV’s my super sweet 16. But I scanned my ticket and all was well so I proceeded into the outside area of the Hordern and quickly got myself a beer (one plus about the high teen concentration was the minimal drink lines)
Chet Faker was first up and I unfortunately arrived about 10 minutes into his set so missed his opening (the most interesting parts of a set in my opinion). But this was made up for with the songs I did manage to catch. Chet Faker’s live sound took on a cool organic tone with Nick ditching the laptop in favour of a nice set of keys. It was the perfect start to the night, chilled but so danceable. Considering the large open venue I was pretty impressed with his set, although a lot of the depth in the sound was lost in the echoey chamber and among the constant screams of young girls when ever Nick opened his mouth. I’m Into You was definitely the highlight for me, and from the response probably the crowds fave too with 90% of the venue singing along in the chorus.
Flume comes on and takes up his spot on his podium in front of a big suspended LCD display… he says a few basic words “Sydney how’s it going’….. everyone screams for a while and then he gets straight into it. His intro is slightly obscure (for Flume anyway) and involves a very ambient track I hadn’t heard before with some African inspired samples. The lighting was kept simple with Flume engulfed in black and white projections. By this stage I was already impressed. He then continued to provide a set that hopped seamlessly through his string of genre defining tracks. A sea of phones held aloft by screaming teens captured an impressive LCD display and the Sydney local, sweating it out for the crowd. With a healthy 1 hour set time he managed to get through all the goodies from Paper Thin (one of my favs) to Holdin On and even a few new ones. Early in the set I hear the deep echoey vibe of Major Lazer’s Get Free and instantly my hands are in the air and I’m screaming with the rest of the crowd. Having only discovered the What So Not (Flume’s other crew) remix a few weeks ago I was frothing to hear it live on a big system and it didn’t disappoint.
Near the end of his set he abruptly says goodnight and walks off, an obvious indication an encore is in store. While the crowd talks amongst themselves and start a ‘Flume’ chant I see a guy come out and set up a mic on stage and instantly I know whats going on. Chet Faker comes on stage with Flume for Left Alone, the crowd goes wild and the addition of live vocals makes for a great encore. I leave before the last song to beat the crowd out of the carpark and my head is filled with a mashup of flume songs all playing at once. Although its easy to diss the hugely underage crowd and abundance of crop-tops and short shorts (slash undies) I must say it’s a step up from when I was 15 and going to Robbie Williams concerts with my parents, at least these kids seem to have some taste and appreciation for one of the world’s biggest up and coming producers.
-Jo L
Photo by Patrick Stevenson of Hobogestapo.
