Shape
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Shape has been a fixture on the Perth club scene since 2007, establishing itself quickly in its lonesome location in East Perth by hosting a range of regular nights and touring artists, from house, techno and electro, to drum ‘n’ bass and dubstep – the club has evolved with the changes in the club scene.
But all good tales come to an end, and Shape announced it would be closing its doors for the last time this weekend. Another sad loss to the Perth music scene that’s been hit hard with several integral venues closing down. Though the building itself won’t be totally lost, with plans to reopen sometime in the future following major renovations, what sort of club exactly it will be is yet to be seen.
So to send the club out in style, a very special night was organised by the original Shape crew, featuring a host of local legends that have played there over the years, and UK bass and house badman Julio Bashmore, who was brought in to headline.
It was a sold out affair and there was a veritable buzz in the line outside as conversations could be heard reminiscing about the old days and many fun nights had at Shape.
Inside things were getting busy, the bottom floor hosting a ‘throwback’ selection of old school Shape veterans with Mic Zing starting the night, before a rare set from Super Supreme Team who picked things up with a super fun and funky set before handing over to Hickey, who along with Bad Weather had the difficult task of competing with Bashmore upstairs.
The main room upstairs was rammed with people all night, with the Shape sound system pumping out the heavy beats hard, one last time. Willy Slade and Jack Doepel started the night before Ben Taaffe and Nik Ridik took over to take us up to midnight with some chunky, heavy hitting house.
As always the outdoor, tropical garden area downstairs provided a respite for smokers and jokers engaged in random conversations. It’s a shame to think we wont be able to hang out in that funny little spot again.
By the time Julio Bashmore made his appearance just after 12 things were getting well and truly hectic on the dance floor. The crowd had been literally drinking the bar dry all night – being the last night, there was no tap beer and the remaining stocks of beer and spirits were rapidly depleted.
Bashmore didn’t take long to settle in and within a few tracks had lifted the vibe with some solid, chugging, deep house beats. It was the perfect party soundtrack as he rolled out a heavy set of UK bass infused house, dropping some of his own productions in the mix.
Towards the end he mixed in some Zed Bias and his huge track Au Seve, the massive bassline line inciting screams from the crowd who went mental. His other signature track Battle For Middle You made a late appearance as well, causing mass chaos and the sound system to temporarily cut out.
Bashmore was enjoying himself so much he played a little overtime, really smashing it out for his last few tracks on a harder techno tip, rattling the bass bins and setting the dance floor alight one last time, before handing over to the Shape Allstars – Horizons head honcho Saran got up for a spin, alongside Future Frog and JP Beecroft who kicked things on into the wee hours after instigating a lock-in, squeezing every last drop of party from the club. Farewell Shape, we had some good times.
ALFRED GORMAN
