Review: Ministry of Sound – Testament 00s at Metro City
Ministry of Sound – Testament 00s at Metro City
Featuring Stanton Warriors, Digitalism, The Bloody Beetroots, Freq Nasty
Saturday, August 5, 2023
The first of two Ministry of Sound throwback gigs rolled into town on Saturday night. The legendary London club and label exploded onto the global dance music scene in the 90s – a mecca for clubbers, and the first megabrand to capitalise on dance music’s meteoric rise in popularity as it crossed over into the mainstream.
Ministry, or MoS as it was often abbreviated, released a slew of double mix CDs that dominated the scene – there was The Annual Series, The Clubbers Guide, Trance Nation, Dance Nation, Maximum Bass, The Chillout Sessions… Every year the latest in the series would be churned out, and they sold well for years. Every clubber would have a couple of them in the car CD stacker.
The large scale tours MoS put on were legendary, bringing the biggest and best DJs from around the world all the way to little old Perth. Massive multi-venue events with huge lineups that regularly sold out. It was the glory days of clubbing – from the mid 90s into the 2000s. It was an amazing time for those lucky enough to be around to witness it – when there was a real excitement around this new scene and music. It hadn’t been fully commercialised yet and peace, love, unity and respect (P.L.U.R.) wasn’t a cliché, and it was all about the music and dancing.
There’s a real nostalgia for those days, and the 90s sound has been coming back. So Ministry have resurrected it! They’ve done it before in Sydney, but this year saw a national tour featuring the DJs and the venues from that era. Split into two nights – this Friday will focus on the 90s and the house music explosion of that decade, but on Saturday night, we were transported back to the 2000s and the electro-breaks and bass sound that dominated that era.
A huge selection of talent took over the entire of Metro City. As well as the main stage featuring some of the biggest names of the noughties, a second smaller Rave Cave room was set up upstairs, featuring a selection of local legends, as well as Perth’s fav bass head, globetrotting producer and DJ Freq Nasty.
Early on the main room was already busy with eager punters filling the dance floor, as DJ Goodwill was getting busy. An Aussie legend, the long-time resident at Sydney’s famous Home nightclub was a Ministry of Sound regular back in the day.
He was followed by Sydney’s notorious party animal collective, the Bang Gang DJs – a posse that led the indie-dance electro-sleaze wave of the early 2000s in Australia, that saw the rise of legendary label Modular Records. The Bang Gang were the epitome of that hedonistic scene – usually a large and messy crew, swamping the decks, taking turns DJing, drinking and dancing. The group comprised of Dan Single (Dangerous Dan), Beni (Damage), Ajax, Jaime Doom, Gus Da Hoodrat and Double Nolan. Ajax sadly passed away in 2013, and currently the group are represented by Jaimie and Dan.
The boys belted out some classic electro-clash numbers as the crowd started to swell. Dan dropped the big tune he did with Nicky Van She, Around The World Again – their rocked up guitar riffing reworking of Daft Punk’s Around The World.
Upstairs in the Rave Cave Mono Lisa, Perth’s first lady of breaks, was laying down some tough beats and the crowd were loving it. It was great to see Lisa behind the decks again. Another Ambar legend Philly Blunt stepped up to join her for a few tracks, before taking over and delivering a phat and heavy set of breaks that was doing dance floor damage. The crowd sang in unison, arms raised, to We Are Your Friends – the huge Justice v Simian remix.
The Rave Cave tried to recreate that old skool small club vibe with a small space and low ceiling, with some Perth veteran DJs who were part of the amazing Perth scene in the 2000s. We became known internationally for our thriving breaks and drum ‘n’ bass scene. The Cave made up for what was lacking in size, with an awesome vibe all night. Set up right up at the top of the venue in the space near the doors to the outside area, with a tiny DJ booth in the corner that belted out the sound, creating an explosive dance floor for those huddled in front of the decks. Some classic blacklight and laser lights completed the retro mood, transporting us back in time.
Groove Terminator was slaying the main room, as he always did, with a choice selection of upfront house beats. GT is a consummate pro – recently seen helming the Ministry of Sound orchestral shows around the country. Making an entrance to Daft Punk’s scorching early tune Rollin’ & Scratchin’, he really levelled-up the party, helming the decks through to midnight, acting as master of ceremonies on the mic, working up the crowd, as the three big screens behind him exploded in colourful imagery and rainbow lightscapes, infused with graphics of the Ministry of Sound logo.
Familiar tunes flew by, the Mylo remix of No More Conversations by Freeform Five, and a huge break down of Walking On A Dream by Empire of the Sun – one of the biggest Australian acts of the 2000s, around the peak of the indie-dance wave. Mason’s massive tune Exceeder, later reworked by Princess Superstar as Perfect went down a treat. And the familiar synth line of Benny Benassi’s seminal electro-house tune Satisfaction sent the crowd into a frenzy.
The mostly older crowd attending made for a generally more relaxed and fun vibe. There were smiles everywhere, and some proper dancing going on. People were excited to be out and loving the blasts from the past! There was a notable lack of phones out too.
Back up in the Rave Cave Micah took over from his old partner in crime Philly (who he’s rocked many a party alongside). The Perth breaks legend dropped a blinder of a set with some big, rolling, bass-heavy breaks – mixing all-vinyl classic 2000s records – from the days when you needed a proper record collection to be a DJ!
Rennie Pilgrem’s Agatha Stomp remix of Zero’s Emit / Collect is still an absolute monster of a breaks tune. It was a massive track in the mid-2000s, a weapon unleashed to do dancefloor devastation. He played loads of big tunes – Timo Maas Shifter, Plump DJs The Gate, the skankin’ bass line beast that is Boom Blast (Deekline & Wizard Remix) by Freestylers, and the massive, underrated tune Hold You from Aussie legend Dopamine really got the room rockin’ when it dropped.
Digitalism had taken over the main stage, and the German duo’s brand of tweakin’ electro funk was a nice change. Exploding on the electro-clash scene in the mid-noughties, the boys had a very cool indie-electro meets rock ‘n’ roll sound – more in common with what was coming out of France (like Daft Punk, Justice and Phoenix) than what was coming out of their motherland. The group were in fact signed by the Paris based label Kitsuné. They even dropped the Punk’s Burnin’.
They look quite a pair behind the decks – the smaller Jens Moelle, and the bigger Ismail Tufekci. We unfortunately didn’t get their live show, which includes Moelle singing, but even with their DJ set, the Germans don't mess around. It was quite a technical set with both of them working in unison, hands on, the whole time. A different world from today's Boiler Room DJs who are more glorified models/dancers, they methodically built it up and up, and the production levelled up too, as they broke out the multi-scan lasers with plenty of smoke. They dropped some of their own tracks as well of course – the shimmering synths of Blitz, before finishing with their biggest tune, Pogo.
The Bloody Beetroots is Italian masked villain Bob Rifo. They used to be a duo that toured with a full band – but are now just a solo project. In stark contrast to the refined Germans, the Italian was as dramatic as it gets. Making a huge entrance, he donned his Venom-like mask, climbed the table, then jumped off it right at the drop! This was rockstar DJ antics, of the sort spruiked by Steve Aoki. It was a sonic onslaught, with huge blinding strobes of red and black.
He dropped Justice’s D.A.N.C.E. at a choice moment and cleverly worked in The Presets’ All My People – another certified legendary Australian 2000s electro anthem. Mixed in with some of his own material, including the manic buzz-saw sounds of Warp 1.9. It was a powerful climatic set that blew everyone away.
You kinda feel a legend like Freq Nasty deserved to play the main stage, but he was relegated to the Rave Cave – which he quickly owned, unleashing his trademark all out bass assault. The close proximity of the room made it a more intense experience and seemed to suit his vibe. It’s been a while since we've seen Freq – once a man with the biggest dreads in the biz, now with glasses, short hair and a beard, but still delivering nasty big breaks!
His sound was pioneering at the time, fusing all manner of beats and bass. Hard, but funky, with elements of dub and reggae. Freq Nasty was pioneering precursor to dubstep – a bridge between breaks and bass, and glitchy garage, ragga and jungle – setting the foundations for what was to come. He played a selection of his own productions, and also dropped some classics of the time, such as the massive Timo Maas remix of Azzido Da Bass’ Doom’s Night – a record that was huge on the circuit for years.
The Roller DJs were up next and kindly let the Freq play on longer. Eventually the local legends took over, to take things home in the rave cave with a some smooth, rolling drum ‘n’ bass. Dart and Devo been doing it for years – the boys behind Perth longest running drum ‘n’ bass night – they know how the crowd likes it, and they gave it to them.
It was up to Dom of the Stanton Warriors to finish things off in the main room. Sporting a 'MIA 808' shirt in the style of 'RUN DMC', he was all about dat bass. While Dom has been a regular visitor to Perth for years thanks to Breakfest, it’s been a while since he’s played a big club set. The sound levels seemed to be cranked to the max, and you could feel the bass flow through you.
An experienced party starter, Dom worked his magic to deliver a killer final set to end the night. Weaving in and out of tracks with ease, the beats hit hard. A wicked remix of Missy Elliott’s Work It, Skrillex, Fred Again & Flowdan’s heavy tune Rumble, Laidback’s White Horse. There was a creative mashup of The Beach Boys' Good Vibrations with Loleatta Holloway’s classic Love Sensation.
The Stanton's own classic choon Up2U blew things up, and he saved their best till last with the mighty Get Up, featuring the classic synth riff sampling John Carpenter's theme from Assault on Precinct 13. And just when you thought that was it – he snuck in a brilliant final touch, working in the late, great Tina Turner’s What’s Love Got To Do With It. A beautiful way to end the night on a high, there was a lot of love in the air, with the whole crowd singing along.
A really great night with a really great crowd and classic tunes that still hold up. If you closed your eyes for a bit there, you could almost believe you were back in those heady post-millennium days, when the future seemed full of limitless possibilities. Let’s do it all again this weekend – 90s stylee!
ALFRED GORMAN
Photos by Linda Dunjey
