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Reviewer: Richard Brown
MOS October 2002
As my companions and I walked over the bridge towards our destination,
the night air of a balmy spring evening is softly rippled by deep
beats emanating in the distance. No I'm not entering a competition
for lyrical prose, but starting a review for the latest installment
of Ministry of Sound, which again did it's epic super-club thing
over three venues.
It was only 11:00 PM and the crowd of people lined up outside Metro
City resembled the throngs of bargain-hunters who wait to stampede
the entrance of Myers on the first day of post-Christmas sales.
But these people weren't a bunch of psychos after fridge for 20
bucks. Far from it! They were set to groove the night away to the
sounds of Ferry Corsten, Fabio, Voitek, Tall Paul and Kid Kenobi
to name but a few.
On that point, I can only boast extended personal knowledge of
the acts that took to the decks at Metros. Not that I wanted to
miss out on the hoopla of Globe and Old Berlin, but there were just
too many kick-arse DJs playing all over the place for little old
me to cover everything. A cruel irony but life goes on.
Anyway as I was saying the rave masses were out in force from the
early stages, and Kriece did a good job at working a packed dance
floor with a strong selection of thumping progressive. Taking over
at midnight was Sydney stalwart, Mark Dynamix, who was rightly greeted
with rapturous applause. Mark delivered a typically classy performance,
his technical mastery complemented by an acute ability to read the
crowd. The energy was kinetic and the transitions seamless, as Mark's
mix of hard progressive with funked-out house electrified the Metros
crowd into frenzy. Once Dynamix wound things up it was over to the
eponymous Tall Paul.
Predictably TP tranced things up a fair bit, dropping several times
dropping tracks where the synthesizer soared to the heavens. He
didn't overdo it though, and produced a strong feel-good vibe, due
in part to plenty interaction with the crowd. Many accuse Tall Paul
of being something of a cheese-machine, and while this is not totally
without justification, I think he maintained the atmosphere fairly
skillfully through most of the set. Maybe I'm just getting soft.
Anyway he seemed to have things rollicking along nicely, so about
2:45 AM I stumbled my way through the masses to the Skybar to check
out Kid Kenobi.
Having recently sampled the delights of the new Clubber's Guide
to Breaks mixed by the Sydney breakbeat superstar, Kid Kenobi was
one of the two DJs I was most looking forward to seeing. The Skybar
left a fair bit to be desired in atmosphere however, as the heavy
illumination and toothless sound system didn't really do the man's
ability justice. The vibe was very laid back and breaks are all
about energy so it wasn't exactly a marriage made in heaven. I really
think Kid deserved to play on the main stage, maybe at 12, and then
hand over to Dynamix or Tall Paul to warm up for Ferry. Anyway the
funky sounds did provide a nice setting to have a chat with a few
friends and down a couple of Red Bulls.
As the minutes to 4:00 AM ticked away, all coulda, woulda, shoulda
thoughts faded, as pulsating excitement reverberated around the
cavernous main arena in anticipation of Ferry Corsten. A rousing
roar thundered around Metros as the best trance DJ in the world
(barring a certain German fellow) took to the turntables. Corsten
lived up to his rep blending the melodic echoes of Euro-trance,
with the edgier, dirtier tone that has been evident in his music
lately. He kept the crowd on a high, natural or otherwise, for the
entire two hours, culminating with the spinning of his latest big
single Punk. At this point Ferry obviously became envious of the
crowd's madcap state, as he decided to forego all that pointless
knob-twiddling entirely, and jump around in front of the DJ booth
maniacally pumping his fists along with the tune. The crowd loved
it, and chanted heartily for an encore once the track faded out.
Ferry would have been all too happy to oblige, but the nasty Metros
staff decided to cut the power.
In a display that proves this superstar DJ aint no snob, Mr Corsten
stuck around to shake hands with many of the ravers near the stage
and apologise for not being able to continue. The decency of the
guy was almost as impressive as his sublime mixing. Some moronic
individual decided to throw a glow stick at him at one point, but
you can't help inbreeding I guess.
The general word around the campfire seems to be that Fabio held
up the DnB side of things splendidly, while Voitek, Umek and Valentino
ripped it up very well for the tek-heads at Old Berlin. All in all
the event rated solidly among the epic Delirium parties of recent
years, and was a fantastic kickoff to what will be a heady Summer
of raving.
Richie Brown
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