On the 8th day, God said let there be festival season. And let the first jewel in this season’s crown be Listen Out.
With only three stages (one of which hosted local acts only), punters were not franticly racing from one to the other, the clashes between artists were manageable, and despite the close proximity of the stages, there was no unwelcome sound interference.
Zeke, lecturer and co-founder of Perth DJ and producer school Lab Six, delivered his amazing scratch routine. His assured, but rapid fire movements made it look impossibly easy. Using a maschine controller via traktor, and manipulating his scratch ‘melodies’ with built-in FX and loop functions, he also drew upon trap, hip-hop and EDM. He clearly enjoyed his own set, grinning from ear to ear, and the crowd responded in kind.
Considering Rufus are a three-piece band, one could be forgiven for thinking that they would be out of place at an event dominated by DJs. However, their beats were right at home.
However, during their set it became apparent that there was an appalling imbalance between vocals and music. This was a chronic problem that plagued the event. Whenever musicians attempted to interact with the crowd (God forbid they should try and sing!), they were met with confused looks, because they where inaudible.
This meant we were robbed of Rufus’ delicious melodies, and instead immersed ourselves in the brooding whirlpool of their soundscape.
Admittedly exhausted by touring, the trio looked disinterested, and were low energy.
There are certain universal truths: Johnny Drama does not get photographed from the left side. Elle McPherson is ‘the body.’ It should not rain at music festivals. Yet one of these natural laws was violated.
The threat posed by the ominous clouds that had been looming overhead all morning became a reality, and the heavens opened. Initially, the crowd went wild, but as the totally exposed venue became a slip ‘n’ slide mud pit, and as the miserable, icy-cold weather set in, moods soured.
Although the inclement weather was unseasonal, the event organisers did not provide any form of shelter at the venue. Punters were left absolutely exposed, without even a dry resting area, to wallow in filth.
Touch Sensitive, managing both the decks and an electric guitar, ended the pattern of listless performers. His hit single ‘Pizza Guy’ drew such a response from the crowd, he must surely be encouraged to continue to produce original work.
Aluna Francis of AlunaGeorge was captivating, outshining Azealia Banks as THE female artist to see. Her delightfully unusual attire, sensuous, gyrating moves, flawless performance and swagger had men hyper-ventilating.
For those unfamiliar with her voice, the English songstress is closer to Ellie Goulding than Laura Marling. However, at times her saccharine vocals can be irksome, particularly on songs like ‘We Are Chosen’.
George Reid made no attempt to share the spotlight, preferring hover in the background and provide a solid backing.
Azealia Banks, accompanied by DJ Cosmo and dancers, hit the stage still smarting from the insulting, distasteful drama at the Sydney leg of the event, where reports suggest punters threw trash at her and drove her off stage. It is easy to forget that the out-spoken, polarisingly controversial star is only 22 years old.
She drew from her Fantasea mixtape and 1991 EP, but was lacklustre, and with Just Blaze beginning on the 909 stage, lost the attention of many punters.
Just Blaze (a.k.a Justin Smith) was unquestionably the highlight of the event.
Best known for his production work, particularly his collaborations with Jay Z, Kanye, Kendrick and Drake, he drew upon many of the songs he’d produced to incite a frenetic energy.
He overused special effect sounds, particularly the reggae air horn, and had the habit of transitioning to another song at the moment when people were enjoying the current one most.
In a case of poor judgment, he played all of TNGHT’s hits, when they were the act directly following him. This fuelled fears TNGHT had pulled out of the festival.
As night proper fell, TNGHT, composed of Lunice and Hudson Mohawke, romped the 909 stage.
The excitement was palpable, particularly as there is the possibility that the collaboration between the vowel adverse duo could be short-lived, due to their ambitions to pursue other creative endeavours (for example, HudMo has spoken of his ongoing working relationship with Kanye West, and his desire to score films).
After a five-minute build, which had the wild-eyed crowd slavering, they launched into their huge, loud, chaotic set, which drew heavily on their 2012 EP.
The fun DJs had to work harder than one would have expected to get a crowd freshly exhausted from Just Blaze moving. In the end, it was ‘Blood On The Leaves,’ the Kanye West track they co-produced for his Yeezus album (which also samples their tune ‘R U Ready’) that got people moving.
This was in keeping with the increasingly apparent truth that Kanye, and both rap and hip-hop in general, continue to be festival favourites. Capable of drawing huge responses from mainstream crowds, where the lyrics are common knowledge.
Unsurprisingly, the set’s centerpiece was ‘Higher Ground,’ whose opening looped handclaps and vocal samples induced a frenzy, which soon became anarchy as the chorus, featuring synthesised tuba sounds, began.
Lunice was the hype man, frequently moving out from behind the decks to incite the ground to even greater intensity, while HudMo kept things ticking along smoothly.
Just Blaze and TNGHT cultivated the aggressively enthusiastic, ‘frat-boy’ big-tent dance culture that James Blake has professed to be so frustrated with. His disdain for the levels of testosterone ‘reflected in the sounds’ and the vibe of dance music (especially dubstep), and its neglect of female tastes, was not, however, applicable to the event’s closing act.
Having already played an incredible 43 festivals in the UK and Europe alone this year, Disclosure’s trip to Perth was long overdue. Any fears that they might deliver a lacklustre performance because of such a hectic touring schedule was soon allayed, as the Lawrence brothers proved that, like Lucy Lui, they have only gotten better with age.
It is easy to forget that what is arguably 2013’s biggest dance album is their debut, as they drew upon a wealth of hits.
Unfortunately, unlike at the Sydney leg, there was no onstage collaboration between Francis, from AlunaGeorge, and Disclosure on their irresistible smash hit ‘White Noise’. It still made for an amazing experience to finally hear live.
The crowd responded well to their brand of exciting dance music, but were subdued as the relentless drizzle left people cold and dispirited.
They finished their set, and the event, with ‘Latch’ and so marked the end of the inaugural Listen Out festival.
