January 5, 2023
THE FINAL BREAKFEST @ Belvoir Amphitheatre
The Final Breakfest @ Belvoir Amphitheatre
Monday, December 26, 2022
w/ Stanton Warriors, Krafty Kuts and many more
For 20 years, every Boxing Day, crowds have been flocking to Perth’s most magnificent outdoor venue, Belvoir Amphitheatre, for an event that has become synonymous with the place – Breakfest. For many old school Perth breaks and D’n’B fans, it has been our holiday home among the gum trees, an annual Christmas tradition to dance off the ham, the Swan Valley pilgrimage, a beloved day on the summer calendar and a right of passage. For many years it also won Best Festival at the Perth Dance Music Awards, and with its lasting legacy it has earned its self-professed #bestdayever tagline.
Before it was announced to be the last Breakfest, it was already set to be an exciting one, with many regulars pumped for the return of their favourite festival, after being thwarted by COVID related cancellations the last two years. Last year was particularly tragic, with the already scaled-back event cancelled just days before it was to go ahead. So many were excited to see the beats return to the bowl at Belvoir! And 2022’s line-up was looking like a classic with some returning UK legends and Breakfest favourites – Krafty Kuts and Stanton Warriors. Then when it was announced that this was to be the last one, word quickly spread to all the breaks heads young and old – this was it! The Final Call! And crews started to make their big plans…
We’ll get to the review of the day soon, but first a little history… Breakfest started in 2001 when breaks was peaking as a genre, around the world, and particularly in Perth, with acts like the Plump DJs and the Finger Lickin’ Records label in their prime. The people behind Boomtick, who have put on Breakfest every year, had just opened a little underground club, down an alley way in the east end of the city, called Ambar, and Perth couldn’t get enough of the sound – putting us on the map as a desired destination for many international purveyors of the broken beat. With the popularity of Ambar, and the rise of festivals, Breakfest was a logical step – though still a big one at the time. No one would have imagined the little festival would go on to be the longest running in WA after an amazing 20 years.
Belvoir has become a legendary location and the amphitheatre itself has evolved, and been improved and expanded along with the festival over the last 20 years – an outer fence removed, more steps added, new retaining walls on the steps and a better dancefloor, and of course, ever more impressive sound and lighting production! It’s a magical venue nestled in our natural bushland, and the DJs that come enjoy playing there as much crowd love watching them, with many top tier artists returning year after year. Some of the stellar acts and legends to grace the Breakfest stages include the Plump DJs, Stanton Warriors, LTJ Bukem, Freestylers, DJ Yoda, Soul Of Man, Tayo, Freq Nasty, Lee Coombs, Qbert, Z-Trip, Scratch Perverts, Aphrodite and of course the legendary Krafty Kuts – who played the first one, and now headlined the last.
It truly is the end of an era. Other clubs, festivals and trends have come and gone – the years of the mega-festival came and went in the 00’s, riding on the success and explosion of electronic music into the mainstream, after its rise from the underground in the 90s. With the popularity of DJs, clubbing culture, dance music parties and festivals at an all time high – more DJs and live acts from all around the world were coming to Australia, and even little old Perth. It was a more innocent time back then, and the rough and basic DIY local festivals of the early 2000s were a whole different beast to the polished mega-operations run by global conglomerates we have these days. After the Big Day Out put Australia on the map as an exciting and feasible touring destination, what followed was a plethora of huge, amazing and diverse festivals that made the Perth summer a wonderland of big events. From Vibes On A Summer’s Day/Good Vibrations and the many epic events put on by Delirium and Jeremy Junk (RIP) like Science Fiction and the series of Summer Festivals, to huge UK superclub brands like Ministry of Sound, Godskitchen and Gatecrasher, into the peak of Future Music, Parklife, Stereosonic and Summadayze – before they became too big, too much, too many, and too much about the money, and the whole thing imploded. But Breakfest was always there on Boxing Day, never changing, waiting to welcome you like an old friend, an old warm blanket or baggy hoodie, like a old skool classic dusty old record you’d slide out of it’s tattered cover, put on the turntable and give a spin – and it always sounded just as great and brought back those same memories, often shared with the same people.
The reason Breakfest maintained it’s longevity is it stuck to its original formula and ethos. It kept it relatively small and focussed on the music, and very much focussed on the breaks. Since the 90s, Perth has had a strong breaks and drum ‘n’ bass scene, as well as hip-hop, with a strong live element and this was the original core of the Breakfest. Over the years, the sound of the broken beat has evolved a bit, from straight up breaks and D’n’B into the mutant sounds of dubstep, drumstep and other bass music variants, which has come to play a larger part at Breakfest in recent years. For the purists some of the sounds have become a bit modern, glitchy, dark and hardcore, but this evolution has kept Breakfest relevant. But it's steered clear of the house and techno sounds that have become more popular in recent times, but also more commercial. Breakfest has always felt a bit more niche and underground, and retained some of that original spirit. And the awesome crowd of familiar faces is what always made it so special, with absolute top vibes guaranteed. There were regulars and alumni – certified Breakfest legends would return again and again, like old friends, and they would enjoy playing this special event as much as the crowd would enjoy welcoming them back. It became something like a family. Lasting friendships, memories and even marriages came from its legacy that will never be matched in Perth dance music festival lore.
Everyone has their Breakfest stories going back to the early years, with their crews. While some crews have depleted over the years, with the old ravers retiring and settling down, new generations have come through and discovered one of Perth’s best loved events. This year was a roll call for all crew, new and old, to assemble their posses and pre-drinks. This here reviewer and breaks lover has been to most Breakfests and reviewed half of them. It’s always a blast and never gets old. And it’s going to be very sadly missed on the calendar. It was a real Boxing Day tradition. One fond memory was during the first three Breakfests, which coincided with the release of a new Lord of the Rings movie from 2001-2003. Three Boxing Days in a row, some friends and I would start the day in style with a champagne breakfast, then go watch an early screening of the LOTR movie and then head out to Belvoir! Good times 🙂 But this year, it was time to say goodbye…
As the usual medley of buses, cars, vans, taxis, ubers and limos descended on the dusty field outside the amphitheatre, there was an extra air of gravity to the day. It was never a posey festival – the Breakfest crowd come to prepared to dance, and they’ve dealt with 45 degree days before, but this ended up being a very pleasant temperature in the high 20s, which was a welcome surprise for all the regulars who remember the many 40+ days we sweltered out there. As soon as you walked in, there seemed to be a special energy about this year.
Starting things early in the big bowl was Perth girl done good, Sistym, a Breakfest veteran as a punter and now DJ who has risen through the ranks in recent years, and now resides in Melbourne, touring internationally and releasing her own productions. It was her first time playing solo in the bowl and she was loving it, giving the early crowd something to get down to, with some rolling drum ‘n’ bass, heavy dubstep and big bass vibes. Following was another rising star, the UK’s A Little Sound – otherwise known as Abigail Kate. The diminutive DJ/vocalist has a big sound, dropping drum ‘n’ bass tunes as she sings over them live. She made her mark doing vocals over some UKF productions, and even branches out into MCing at times. She’s an all-singing, all-dancing performer, getting out from behind the decks, down to the front of stage and the crowd were loving her energy, as she mixed in a few originals, having just released her debut EP.
Aussie breaks legend Kid Kenobi had his turn in the bowl, lifting the levels and getting some bodies moving on the dancefloor, while up top at the Hiline stage was a monumental set, that no Breakfest vet wanted to miss – Perth's premier breaks duo, the legendary Black and Blunt aka Micah and Philly – Ambar and Breakfest legends through and through, as DJs and also being responsible working behind the scenes with Boomtick. It was a tour de force set of classic breaks moments from history – and what better track to finish on than the Plump DJs classic Scram.
Stepping up to take over from the boys, was another Breakfest fav and alumni – UK OG breaks, D’n’B and garage legend Deekline. The big man laid out the rolling, liquid D'n'B to an excited arvo crowd, dropping Ed Solo's fresh new cut Devotion to big response, and mixing in all sorts of familiar sounds and samples like Prodigy’s Out Of Space with some dub rasta vibes, while showing off his actual skills on the decks, cutting and scratching it up. DJ Hype's classic remix of The Fugees Ready Or Not got a spin. There was even a bit of a Coolio tribute with a remix of Gangsta’s Paradise. Deek was milking as much out of the soundsystem as he could, and while the Hiline stage struggled to match the bowl, the bass was starting to hit harder at that point in the arvo. He really raised the level near the end of his set with the huge goddard. remix of Cat Burns – Go, a massive D'n'B roller featuring the hook “Pack up your shit and go.”
Dirtyphonics were getting seriously heavy and dirty in the bowl with some big nasty bass and metal-edged sounds. The Parisian duo have a big sound that had the amphitheatre rocking. Up at the Hiline stage V O E took over with their own brand of heavy sounds, more on the D'n'B tip. The Adelaide duo have been making noise of late and dropped their own massive tune Take What You Want, with the energetic frontwoman Caroline bouncing round the stage and singing the hook, while Tom mixed things up behind the decks. Another local legend, Samantics, was dishing out the goods in the DNBoiler Room tent. She had the crowd bouncing and smiling with some heavy old skool jungle sounds.
French producer Habstrakt took over in the bowl with a great, dynamic and versatile set, showing his range and skills, starting on the heavy dubstep tip, moving through some jackin' electro beats that even got everyone's favourite mascot, Stumpy, dancing onstage, before finishing with more bouncy, danceable, rolling breaks around 8pm, and handing the reigns over to Dom from Stanton Warriors. Whilst a production duo, Dom is the touring DJ of the outfit, and no stranger to Breakfest. He knows what it’s all about and has been here before, so we couldn’t have been in safer hands for this time of the evening as darkness descended.
There's always that moment at Breakfest when the sun goes down behind the trees, behind the main stage, the lights go up and the visual production explodes into life, the bass starts hitting that deep heavy rumble, the vibe starts to get a little hectic and people start to really GET DOWN. That magic point in the evening was during the Stanton Warriors set, and credit to Dom for his skill and experience to drop just right tunes. An all-star breaks expedition and an absolutely stellar set that really brought the atmosphere up to epic levels. There were some huge mixes of Stantons classics like Get Up and their massive remix of Azzido Da Bass' Dooms Night, as well as some of their more recent cuts from 2019's Rise, like Up2U (feat. Sian Evans) and Underneath. He also dropped a wicked remix of Childish Gambino's This Is America. Dom's control of the mix and clear, crisp breaks sound with big beats and heavy bass is so distinctive. It was a tight, solid, hour set that was just not long enough.
Gentleman's Club are a UK production trio and rising stars on the bass scene. As a live act they’re all sorts of fun and mayhem with a three-way back2back2back – as they took turns working the decks, getting on the mic, jumping around, hyping the crowd and stalking the stage. At times they could be a bit repetitive with their build and drop style and their insistent demands of energy from the crowd, but loads of people seemed to be having fun in the big bowl, none more so than the gentlemen themselves. At one point they even engaged in the rather disgusting act of ‘doing a shoey.’ In contrast there was also a beautiful moment where the amphitheatre was lit up with phone torches. The boys could get a bit hyper masculine and aggressive at times shouting and swearing, and circle pits at Breakfest is new, but the times are a changin' and they did drop some big tunes, including Pendulum's Tarantula and the massive Dye Migration by T>I. They thanked the crowd for bringing the love, and said what a great time they had, but could have perhaps acknowledged the momentous occasion. A banging set full of energy, but after the sheer class of Dom's set, their sound and antics seemed a bit juvenile.
London’s Modestep was meanwhile rocking the upper stage with some wicked heavy D'n'B beats, jumping on the mic himself to scream “Let me hear you scream!” He introduced his 'final' track as being one he made with his “favourite producer” Dr Ushuu – a new track called Diamonds with a surging, buzzing bassline. As the last act on the Hiline stage, he had to drop “just one more” winding back the clock 11 years for a spin of his huge old skool banger Sunlight.
In the amphitheatre Krafty Kuts stepped up behind the decks to a huge welcome. There is no one that could be better suited to provide the ultimate finale. A Breakfest regular since the beginning, the crowd was excited as they knew what to expect. The man is a master in the mix, a skilled decknician who always puts together a meticulously crafted mashup, and he'd prepared an extra special one for us tonight to finish things off in fitting fashion. He’d played the first Breakfest, and now was playing the final set at the last. Krafty is close friends with the Boomtick crew, and played the festival more than anyone, and you could tell this show meant as much to him as did to all of us.
He pulled out all the stops, throwing as many classics in the Krafty blender as he could, including some of his own classics like Gimme The Breaks (feat. Kurtis Blow), mixed up with Daft Punk's Around The World. There was a mega mashup of Voodoo People, the Pendulum remix of course, into Sub Focus X-Ray (Metrik remix). Josh Wink's classic acid workout Higher State Of Consciousness even got a spin, complete with an epic laser show. There was a touching moment where he got on the mic to introduce a remix of Faithless' Insomnia in tribute to Maxi Jazz who had sadly passed away a few days earlier. Even some fresh new Krafty cuts made the mix, such as his collab with Guau, Bad Bwoy, and his huge remix of DJ Fresh's Gold Dust. Nothing stayed long in the blender though as he kept the pace moving and the party rolling as the audience were delighted by the massive light show and giant balloons bouncing round the crowd.
As we approached 11pm, the big finale got a bit emotional, as the Breakfest MC got on the mic and thanked everyone for their support for the last 20 years, then brought Liam Mazzucchelli (the man behind Breakfest and Boomtick and a DJ himself) to the stage for him to play the last track – fittingly Fatboy Slim's Praise You. He then brought his wife and partner Marika, and the rest of the Breakfest family up before the appreciative crowd. There were hugs, tears, cheers and dancing all round. What a way to go out. To all the Breakfest crew from over the years who created this amazing festival for us over 20 years ago – Liam, Marika, Micah, Stumpy and the rest – congratulations for an amazing run, and thank you for some of the best days ever!
ALFRED GORMAN
Photos by 3deadpixels and JKD Photography
