Electric Gardens presents Eric Prydz and Basement Jaxx (DJ set)
Red Hill Auditorium
Saturday, February 4, 2017
The wait was over as Perth fans finally got their dose of dance music royalty Eric Prydz last Saturday, presented by the east coast Electric Gardens Festival. The crowd was different from the usual early 20-somethings and was replaced by a more mature cult following, with the undying need to relive their former house days. The Red Hill Auditorium provided some absolute killer scenery, as a pristine day in Perth delivered a sunset that peered through our distant city skyline and praised the house and tech sounds coming from our first act of the night, Guy Mantzur – pulling us into a chilled progressive house kaleidoscope.
Basement Jaxx spun it up a notch and proved why they are so sought after in their own right doing a DJ set. With a heavy drum beat and a serious jungle feel opening the set, it drove the energy levels upwards and into a world music vibe, helped along with that groove track La Luna by Jude and Frank. The amphitheatre started filling out as people were drawn in by such classics like Red Alert and Good Luck as day turned into night. They ended with a passionate message in support of the indigenous community, along the lines: “every creed, every colour, every race must come together – change invasion day and look into your hearts,” to show their support to change the date for Australia Day. Followed by a perfectly cued Where’s Your Head At?. Madness ensued.
But it was the long awaited and promised arrival from the Swedish super-producer Eric Prydz that had people beaming; some may regretfully remember the gloomy news on the day of his 2014 Future Music Festival appearance when he cancelled due to illness, which followed yet another cancellation ahead of Summadayze 2009 because of his long-known phobia of flying. The man is notorious for being illusive, so you can imagine the uproar as he walked on stage and begun his 3-hour monster set from 9pm, which was exclusive to Perth, possibly due to that crater he left back in 2014. Good bloke.
Prydz spanned his massive repertoire and covered his many monikers. Beginning with sounds reminiscent of his tech/house project Cirez D through to his toned down Pryda cuts – covering progressive, melodic masterpieces such as Reeperbahn which was a particular highlight. Things picked up for the final hour and he really packed in the anthems like the accelerating Opus from his most recent album through to his sing-along offerings Every Day and Allein, which were echoed throughout the crowd… and the shuttle buses long after.
From the words of an impatiently frustrated tweet somewhere in the middle of Australia on his tour bus “…No way I’m doing this trip again” – thanks mate, we’re glad you did.
Words and Photos by
MIA CAMPBELL-FOULKES and AUSTIN McCREA
