Review: Habitat’s Final Garden Party at The Camfield

Habitat’s Final Garden Party at The Camfield
Sunday, March 3, 2024

Sunday was a big day on the Perth dance music calendar as local legends and party promoters Habitat threw their final Garden Party, 12 years after they staged their first. It was one last big bash to enjoy and celebrate all the amazing DJs and live acts from around the world that we’ve seen in Perth thanks to Habitat, and all the good times we’ve had at their events. As Habitat co-owner Flex chatted about in last week's interview about the history of Habitat, a real community has blossomed from these Garden Parties—and they came together for this special final event.

It was a suitably grand affair to mark the occasion, as they took over the expansive grounds and buildings of the biggest pub in Australia, The Camfield, on the banks of the Swan River, next to Optus Stadium. After some worrying-looking weather over the weekend, we were blessed as the clouds cleared in the afternoon to bring blue skies and a perfect warm, balmy evening, proving that God really is a DJ!

It was a huge event, set across three stages. The main Habitat Garden Party stage was outside in the picturesque courtyard, surrounded by lush trees and palms, with the giant, imposing figure of Optus Stadium looming in the background. The Habitat House Party stage was inside the main bar, and the Late Night Techno Party room was in a smaller, separate building out the back. Despite around 1,000 people attending, it never seemed too crowded or hard to get around. An impressive setup, each stage was decked out with custom production to the high standard we’ve come to expect from Habitat.

As well as some French house music royalty and a rising Irish techno star, there was a huge host of locals on the line-up. Supporting local talent has always been a big part of what Habitat’s about, and for this final soiree, they gathered a who’s who of the Perth house music scene, almost every DJ who’s ever played a Garden Party, featuring over 30 locals. To fit them all in, everyone went back-to-back across the three stages.

One such local legend, Greg Packer, has been around for a lot longer than 12 years, making his name in the early '90s rave scene playing hardcore and drum ‘n’ bass—a true Perth pioneer and our own global star. These days, he’s become a purveyor of quality disco, soul, and funk sounds under the alias of Dr. Packer, known for crafting clever remixes and edits of classics that are in high demand worldwide. He brought some tight mixing and funky, fresh sounds to complement the beautiful weather in the courtyard. A cool remix of Jamiroquai’s Virtual Insanity set the scene as the place started to fill up. 

The techno room out the back had a great setup, with a distinctly different vibe as soon as you stepped in. The DJ booth was set up on a platform in the middle of the room and surrounded by vertical strips of LED lights for a Boiler Room-type scenario, allowing people to stand anywhere in the full 360 degrees around the DJs. This room was a den of delight all night for those who like it on the harder side—a darker, smokier, clubbier room with some proper techno being smashed out.

Early on, Jaydream and Law Corden went back to back, getting things pumping with some motoric tech-funk. Grrr and Aaron M followed, amping up the atmosphere with some solid, harder, faster sounds that saw them surrounded by a delighted, dancing crowd.

The Camfield really is an amazing, immense venue, with easy access to the bars and bathrooms and even plenty of seated table space for those who wanted to perch up inside for a decent feed from the massive kitchen. The Habitat House Party stage inside was a nice respite. Another great set-up: the stage featured a giant, cool, retro TV set framing the DJ booth, and the station was set to the finest Perth house DJs, going back-to-back all afternoon and evening.

The main stage was framed with Habitat’s familiar Garden Party banners of jungle plants and wildlife, and their furry animal mascots were seen wandering around the crowd, dancing, embracing, and taking photos on their final outing.

The Dancing In Space boys were up next on the Habitat Garden Party courtyard stage—the esteemed duo of Charlie Bucket and James A digging deep into their impressive, eclectic collections to bring us a fun and funky mix of disco house grooves, getting things warmed up very nicely for the main event. Dropping some smooth, hazy, sunshiney sounds, such as Dam Swindle’s That’s Right, it was the perfect support selection from the two Perth dons of the decks.

The legendary French duo of Alan Braxe & DJ Falcon stepped up to the controls just after 6pm, taking over from the Dancing in Space boys and dropping some tough electro disco sounds with Shakedown’s At Night (Galactic Boogie).

Braxe and Falcon are cousins, but despite both having long, esteemed careers, they’ve never actually collaborated till now—touring together in support of their new EP, Step By Step. In the late '90s, they were part of the new wave of dance music coming out of Paris, dubbed ‘French Touch’, spearheaded by Daft Punk, with its trademark cut-up, looping samples, filter effects, and fat bass. They both released music on Roulé, Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk’s label, and both collaborated with Bangalter. Braxe’s collab with Stardust produced one of the seminal tunes of the era, Music Sounds Better With You.

But tonight they proved they’re legends in their own right, summoning the spirit of those heady late '90s and early 2000s days with a blinding set, mixed with flair, that was harder than you might expect. French house could sometimes verge on cheesy, but it has a certain je ne sais quoi—an unmistakable charm and energy—with its upbeat, fun and funky party music. The duo played a superb, banging set that went down a treat as the sun set and the light show lit up.

The boys couldn’t help dropping in a couple nods to the robot ones, dropping Technologic and later the scorching electro workout, Rock ‘n’ Roll, from Daft Punk’s legendary debut, Homework. And of course, they included some tracks from their own catalogue, with the very lush, sweeping, washed-out sounds of In Love With You by The Paradise—another one of Alan Braxe’s side projects with Romauld. And for the end, they saved their recent collab as Braxe + Falcon, Creative Source—a track that sounds like a lost classic straight from that golden era.

Another local legend, Mot3k, has carved himself out a reputation for delivering quality, solid, and reliable techno sets across a range of events, and he stepped up again with a hard and heavy set, dominating the dark techno room before handing over to the Irish sensation Mark Blair, who absolutely blew the roof off with an absolutely barnstorming set of pounding beats.

As a rising star with a lot of hype about him in recent years, Blair proved he’s the goods, impressing the assembled masses with a non-stop aural assault. Flying through some scorching 303 acid sounds with Suspekt’s One Master Blade, he took things even harder later on with fast-pounding gabba beats, even dropping the mental Mr. Machine remix of The Prodigy’s Voodoo People to a crowd who were loving every minute. Timmy Drake and George Rogers had the unenviable task of following Blair, but they did well to keep the energy in the techno room pumping.

Flex also had a difficult task of taking over from the Frenchies on the main stage, but as the veteran has done many times, he took it in stride, taking over the reins with a deft touch that comes from years of experience and knowing the Habitat crowd well.

He entered smoothly with the melodic sounds of Caribou’s graceful Can’t Do Without You before dropping the hammer with Moderat’s huge track Bad Kingdom and its beastly bass drop. Then he moved into some smoother, deeper house tunes like Eli & Fur’s lush Night Blooming Jasmine (Rodriguez Jr. remix). You can tell Flex spent some time and effort planning this set; it would have been a special one for him, and he did himself proud with his final Garden Party set.

Two of Perth's finest veteran house DJs, Mind Electric and Saul Bliss, who’ve toured far and wide, finished up the night in the Habitat House Party room to a small but dedicated crowd, with a world-class set you’d expect from them.

Melbourne legend Boogs took things home on the mainstage with his unique style and technical skills, which have seen him become an enigma of the Australian dance scene. Taking over with the timeless house groove of Midland’s Final Credits, he wove his magic, spinning an eccentric selection of wonky, funky grooves. Known for his epic Sunday morning sets at Revolver, it was great end-of-night stuff for getting loose.

Those keen to kick on and make the most of the long weekend had a choice of not one but two afterparties, with Mark Blair playing a set at The Vault, and back at base camp, Geisha, Boogs kept the party going.

It was a massive night all up, with a huge range of DJs and sounds on offer, serving as a fond farewell and a fitting finale for a huge chapter in Perth dance music history. Big love and respect out to Flex, Warwick and Kimi for all their hard work, and all the other people behind the scenes who've made these parties so amazing year after year. Thanks for all the good times, Habitat!

ALFRED GORMAN