Review: Carl Cox & Eric Powell’s Mobile Disco at Ice Cream Factory

Carl Cox & Eric Powell’s Mobile Disco at Ice Cream Factory
Saturday, February 28, 2026

The mobile disco rolled into town on Saturday night, with the dynamic duo of Carl Cox and Eric Powell taking over the Ice Cream Factory outdoor arena for one massive party that was the perfect way to celebrate the long weekend and the last day of summer!

It was the first big show presented by Plus Plus Plus—the new brand from Warwick Clancy, formerly of Habitat Events and the renowned Habitat Garden Parties, and the long-time owner-operator of Geisha Bar, plus more recently Lucy’s Love Shack and Murray Mews. It will be interesting to see what else they have in store, but what a way to kick things off. They have certainly set the benchmark.

Carl Cox needs no introduction. A larger-than-life personality and true icon of the scene, the big man has been smashing it out behind the decks for the better part of 40 years and shows no signs of slowing down. An absolute dynamo DJ, producer, label owner and even motorsport team owner, his energy is boundless and enthusiasm contagious. An OG rave legend who’s still one of the most recognised names in dance music, he’s also one of the most respected DJs for his encyclopaedic knowledge across many genres, his passion and supreme mixing skills that have evolved over the years since his days as a pioneer using three vinyl decks.

While he has his roots in the rave scene and harder-edged club techno and house (featured with his Pure party brand), he also likes to slow it down a little bit sometimes and get funky for his touring Mobile Disco show with his old mate Eric Powell (veteran DJ and Manchester legend in his own right, who, like Carl, has a home in Melbourne). It’s a throwback to Carl’s teenage years, before he became a stalwart of the UK and global club scene, when he started as a mobile DJ for hire, with a penchant for disco. They have toured Australia, NZ, Bali and beyond with these events, which see them play back-to-back and separately all night, focusing on the more fun and soulful side of disco and house, featuring classics and pop remixes.

Able to take their time, they really know how to construct a set and build the vibe, starting slow as the sun was still setting, working it up gradually over the course of four hours, till by the end of the night, they were dropping house bangers that had the huge crowd pumping. It was the ultimate party soundtrack mixed by two masters.

This was enhanced by the awesome venue—the Ice Cream Factory outdoor stage is really quite impressive. The huge stage featured a big screen, a massive lighting rig and a mighty sound system. The big courtyard dance floor is surrounded on three sides by a two-level wraparound balcony constructed with scaffolding, which features a bar and VIP section. This gave many viewing options, and it was fun to move around throughout the night, though front and centre was the place to be and was packed with movers and shakers all night.

Eric Powell started things off early with a steady mix of smooth disco grooves, as the crowd continued to pour in. Carl Cox appeared on stage just before 7pm, inciting mass applause. He danced around a bit, waving to the crowd, before setting himself up next to Eric, the two of them bopping about. Their trademark, animated, cartoon likeness was displayed on the big screen, dancing behind the decks and smiling, just like the two do in real life.

The volume and intensity stepped up immediately as soon as Cox got on the decks. He grabbed the mic and greeted the crowd, proclaiming, “Tonight is all about the music!” as he dropped Nicole Agostinelli’s funky groove Heart & Soul and let rip with his trademark catchphrase, “Oh yes! Oh yes!”

There was a cool remix of Madonna’s Vogue and the timeless groove of Jamiroquai’s Cosmic Girl. In honour of the legendary David Byrne, who recently toured Australia, he dropped a bass-heavy remix of Talking Heads’ classic Once In A Lifetime. And another 80s legend was given a nod with a remix of Suzanne Vega’s classic Tom’s Diner.

Carl and Eric continued to take turns and have a little back-to-back crossover action throughout the evening, keeping the mix rolling along smoothly with a solid beat and all sorts of familiar sounds and winding in and out. The crowd were loving it, and the good-time party vibes continued to flow with the Robin S classic Show Me Love and Estelle’s 2008 hit American Boy.

Big Carl really knows how to work the mixer, making it look like a toy as he’s constantly tweaking away, cutting and fading and slamming in the bass. He’s always fully immersed in the music, moving to the beat. It’s always impressive the way he seamlessly blends tunes. After several classic remixes, he dropped in the fresh and funky Rock This Party by FlashDancers. A banging new house track he’s been playing for a while but was just officially released a couple weeks ago.

While most didn’t want to leave the main stage courtyard area, the sprawling venue had many areas to explore—tucked away off to the left side of the stage and up some stairs was the Patio (the rear entrance to the Coconut Grove club) that featured a local line-up playing throughout the night. It was a whole other section with an outdoor courtyard bar, palm trees and an indoor dancefloor where the DJ was. Unfortunately not many people seemed to notice it or weren’t compelled to explore it. Despite some great tunes and the best efforts of local legends Jaydream and Saul Bliss, it was pretty quiet in the Patio, but it provided a nice little option and respite away from the main stage madness.

It’s a hard draw against the one and only Carl Cox and the massive crowd in the main arena. Powell took the reins again, taking us up to 10pm with some more smooth and soulful sounds and classic disco, including Jackson 5’s Can You Feel It, 5th Dimension’s Let The Sunshine and the huge bassline disco jam, Jackie’s Groove by Shane D. The visuals were impressive,as the stage exploded with the massive lighting rig in full effect and columns of flames shooting upwards. The sound was superb all night too. The recently raised noise limit in the Northbridge area is no doubt helping, allowing revellers in our nightlife district to enjoy music at a proper volume (thanks, State Government!).

Carl came back out for the last hour, raising the level again with his intense mixing. It was into proper house music territory now, and there were absolute scenes when he dropped one of his trademark tracks—his own remix of Ninetoes’ Finder, with the crowd singing along to the melody of the steel drum sample, taken from The Path’s 1979 track Concept Neuf.

From there on in, he took it home in style with some barnstorming tracks, including the scorching 303 acid house sounds of Daft Punk’s Da Funk and a massive, bass-heavy breaks remix of Eminem’s Without Me. The last half hour got into some tougher house territory, as Powell joined Cox again behind the decks. They could have easily played for another hour; the crowd were still fully into it and in the palm of their hand. But they slowly wound down the last track just before 11pm, decreasing the BPMs till it came to a halt. Huge cheers rang out into the night sky.

A truly great night from two legends of the game who know how to put together a fun party set that was endlessly danceable without being too cheesy. The venue was perfectly suited to the vibe, and the crowd were well up for it, with smiles and good times all round. The dynamic duo’s disco dance proved to be a real winner!

ALFRED GORMAN

Photos by Matthew Gelding