Review: Crazy P at Freo.Social
Crazy P at Freo.Social
w/ Milo Eastwood + locals
Sunday, March 23, 2026
London disco house legends Crazy P (formerly Crazy Penis—the name inspired by a flatmate’s record called Loco Pinga) have been a consistent presence in the dance music scene since emerging around the turn of the millennium with their breakthrough 2002 sophomore album The Wicked Is Music, featuring the classic Willy Wonka-sampling hit There’s a Better Place, and they’ve been touring and releasing quality music consistently since.
Originally formed as a duo in 1995 at Nottingham University by DJs/producers/multi-instrumentalists Chris Todd and Jim Baron, who shared a love of house, disco and soul music. But it was when they expanded to a full live band with a drummer and bass player and brought in vocalist, dancer, vibe-bringer and frontwoman extraordinaire Danielle Moore that they really went to the next level, establishing a firm fanbase in Australia, where they have been much loved for many years. They would also sometimes tour as Crazy P Sound System with a couple of them DJing and Danielle performing live vocals. She was beloved by fans, and her powerful voice, enthusiasm and charisma were always the element that lifted them above the ordinary.
Tragically, Danielle passed away in 2024, soon after recording their ninth studio album Any Signs Of Love. This was the first Crazy P tour since then, somewhat of a tribute, and featured Chris Todd (aka Hot Toddy) DJing solo. A highly experienced DJ with great knowledge and style, he tore through a wicked set worthy of honouring Danielle and had the packed Freo.Social pumping with a great selection of tunes. However, there was a surprising lack of Crazy P tracks played featuring Danielle, which the crowd was anticipating as an opportunity to pay tribute to her voice, music and genius one last time. But perhaps it was still all a bit too raw and emotional for Chris, and it didn’t feel right to play those songs of hers without her there smiling, singing and dancing next to him. Nonetheless, there were some poignant moments, and he delivered a superbly sequenced mix of stomping beats, disco nuggets and heavy house grooves.
It was a big night though, with plenty of talent and tunes on display. Earlier in the evening, starting at 6pm, were a couple locals to keep an eye on—Augie Was Here and Skin Contact (aka Jackson Gwynne). The Freo favs, known for their discerning disco, feel-good selections and infectious vibes, dished up a fine set of tunes back-to-back to start the night on the right note.
The venue was set up in the ‘in the round’ style with the DJ booth in the middle of the dancefloor, allowing people to get around it. Taking things up a notch next were the Dancing In Space dons themselves, Charlie Bucket and James A, who delivered the goods as always. Fresh from celebrating the local label’s 10th birthday in the same venue a few weeks ago, the boys were the perfect duo to warm up the space and get things moving proper, as the room started to fill out. They know just what we like and smashed out a brilliant support set of soulful house and deep disco heaters mixed with finesse.
By the time they dropped their last big tune and handed over the controls to Melbourne’s Milo Eastwood, the vibe in the room was electric, he took the reins and ran with it. As host of PBS FM’s Breakfast show, Milo is a tastemaker with a broad palette who demonstrated the depth of his crates and discerning mixing skills, playing a great set of tunes. He took a little while to find his groove, but once he was locked in, he synched with the crowd, taking us through a range of sounds and flavours of disco and house, old and new.
There were classics like Frankie Knuckles’ Workout (feat. Roberta Gilliam), 2000s funky with StoneBridge’s Put ‘Em High feat. Therese (JJ Radio mix), 90s jackin’ Chicago house with Kim English’s Unspeakable Joy, updated with the Maurice Joshua mix.
Eastwood himself was charismatic and entertaining as he grooved behind the decks in sunglasses and an open shirt, getting on the mic occasionally to hype the room up with the odd “C’mon Freo!”.
After starting with some fun, slightly cheesy, hands-in-the-air, classic vocal house—in the second half of his set, he took things in a deeper, harder direction, with the awesome tribal house sounds of Bontan’s Despacio and some techier, electro sounds from old-school legend Egyptian Lover with Everything She Wants.
He wound things out near the end of his set with Calling Out, a big vocal tune from Glitterbox resident and Defected Records darling Sophie Lloyd, featuring Dames Brown. A soulful, funky, upbeat, piano-led party starter released through Classic Records.
It was a really great support set from Milo that had the packed crowd around him grooving away and would have gained him some new fans. The room was well and truly primed as Crazy P’s Chris Todd, aka Hot Toddy, entered the booth. He wasted no time getting stuck straight into some solid, rolling beats in a strong start with the keys and slap bass, disco groove of Soft Rocks’ Talking Jungle (Justin Vandervolgen remix).
He kept things chugging away in that sweet spot around 120 bpm with a bit more of a varied, energetic, dynamic set. While primarily comprised of driving, soulful, disco house tunes that made you dance (much like Crazy P’s output), Toddy moved through a range of styles, diverging into some harder sounds for a bit that lifted the energy in the room to the next level.
There was some tweakin’ 303 acid house, and the more lush sounds of Beautiful Music from Mexican producer Sakro had the crowd bumpin’ on that swinging garage groove before moving into the more recent sounds of 2025’s wonky funk jam Dance 4 U (Phantom Tango) by The Revenge.
There was a real emotional moment as he dropped Crazy P’s awesome 2017 track One True Light from the Truelight EP, with Danielle’s voice filtering into the mix for the first time, in her signature looped vocal style: “In love, who knows the fate. You may have the key.” As he broke it down and the beat cut out to reveal her sparse voice alone, cheers, hollers and applause rang out around the room, with the crowd taking the moment to show their love and respect for the legend that was, and always will be, Danielle Moore.
There was another similar moment a bit later on when he dropped his own Hot Toddy remix of Crazy P’s Changes, as he charged into the last half hour of his set. The deep sounds of Foorest’s Music Is The Place To Be had the packed crowd surrounding the booth throwing their bodies around to the heavy bass groove.
He took things right back to 1989, with the breezy Balearic sounds of Coldcut’s classic People Hold On (feat. Lisa Stansfield) from the Ninja Tune founders’ pioneering debut album What’s That Noise? before finishing on the big, fat, stomping tune You & Me by London’s Sartorial (aka Alex Sartori—head of Tropical Disco Records alongside Moodena), the track’s triumphant trumpet providing a suitably jubilant fanfare for the climax of the night, ending on a high.
For a moment it seemed like he might play one more tune, as the crowd were screaming for it and he seemed to be queuing it up, but sadly his efforts were thwarted by the clock and the strict curfew. Who knows what he may have played—another Crazy P classic such as Eruption or Heartbreaker would have brought the house down. Maybe next time… but it was still a damn fine, solid two-hour set that had everyone dancing the whole time. Danielle would have been proud. Her disco spirit, kind soul and presence were truly felt in the room. We will always have her music and fond memories. Rest in beats <3
ALFRED GORMAN
Photos by De Williams
