If you haven’t heard of the ex-pat Australian d’n’b producers known as Pendulum, you’ve probably been hiding under a rock. Releasing their debut longplayer (a whopping 80 minutes of it) earlier this year, Pendulum have made a successful transition out of DJ bags and into home stereos. After hearing their name more and more of late, I decided it was time to grab a copy of ‘Hold Your Colour’ and go check out El Hornet (one of the members) at Playtime’s ‘Bonus Jam’ on Saturday night.

Having stepped in from the Levitators’s CD launch at the Crown & Sceptre, my appetite for breakbeats was growing. Both of Earth’s floors were open for the gig, though the doorcharge made the show a little bit prohibitive to those punters who swung in favour of the ‘Chicks from Venus’ lineup upstairs. CFV is a simple concept: get Adelaide’s best female DJs together and keep the dancefloor moving. Josh, one of Adelaide’s most established and reliable DJs was spinning some tasteful uplifting vocal trance, and a few diehard fans were in the mood. The majority of the crowd was downstairs however, waiting patiently for their beloved Pendulum prodigy to take the stage.

The dance floor was still gathering during MPK’s set, which pushed through tasteful liquid and vocal dnb into more techie, harder tracks. It was a considered set, and while the dancefloor wasn’t going mental, it was good to see this veteran of dnb plan his set to shift subtley into Pendulum territory. John Doe covered for MPK during a brief interlude, before MPK shoved his last platters back into his satchel. The crowd had been waiting til 2am for the next act, and great things were expected of him.

Mostly return punters, the crowd recognized their ‘man of the year’ applauding his rise to the stage, before he’d even dropped a track. In similar fashion to the ‘Hold Your Colour’ album intro, El Hornet’s first move was to play a bit of spoken word to build some anticipation, before dropping the first album classic. From out of nowhere, the crowd filled the dancefloor, and dropped into gear immediately. The same can’t really be said for El Hornet however, who threw his dancefloor off a few times with sudden cuts to half-time grooves and some rather nasty tracks that were very techie. Not quite what I’d expected, considering Pendulum’s own productions lace their varied beats with melody and harmony, and undeniable musicality.

Nevertheless, his technique was flawless and the Pendulum hits all went down a treat, although he held back on the known favourites and used them sparingly. The Pendulum remix of ‘Voodoo People’ by the Prodigy went off with guitars a blazing, and was one of the last tracks I heard before leaving Earth, and little war weary after some dance floor action. The set was hard and fast by now and I could keep up no longer.

The thing that struck me about this night, (apart from how popular d’n’b is in Adelaide, even with quietly publicized shows like this) is just how discerning d’n’b listeners can be. The majority of the crowd were at Earth expressly to hear Pendulum, and when the tracks El Hornet played strayed too far from the Pendulum sound, it took it’s toll on the dancefloor. A few extras spiced up the evening, particularly the UK’s MC Ribbz, who extended his stay after Enchanted last weekend. At Enchanted he hyped up the Techno and main stages, and his dancing and friendly character were welcome on the stage. MCing the previous night for Paul Glazby (also UK) at Tonic, Ribbz’ had one hell of a party in this town of ours! The Earth dancers’ stamina was impressive too, and it’s good to see both male and female dancers adding to the spectacle. While rave toys in punters hand were few, a flashing mouthguard worn by one gnasher was worth a comment!

El Hornet’s set had kicked into gear and steadied by the time I left, but the long wait and slow start had sapped my energy and thinned out the crowd. It seemed like El Hornet used the early part of his set to test the waters and throw a few curveballs, but the crowd wanted Pendulum, not obscurity. All three members return on the 23rd for two shows on the same night, and in light of their mainsteam TripleJ success, that will be much more of a crowd pleasing affair. While this nights musical excusrion lead us off the garden path a few times, I’m certain that the Pendulum trio will meet the challenge next time and satisfy what promises to be a double sell-out crowd.


Click here for photos from the gig…