Having not been out for a fair while, I was keen to hear DJ Krush again, but also see what effect the new anti-smoking laws would have on the numbers at a gig of this magnitude.

Any fears I had of the numbers being down due to people having to poison themselves outside were soon put to rest, there was a very healthy number of people already present. After being greeted by the door dude with awesome tats, I grabbed a beer and shone in the talent that is DJ D’Opus. Easily one of the most underestimated DJs in Canberra, he was playing a mix of hip hop, funk and even some reggae.
Although no one was dancing (it was early after all), everyone was smiling and jiving to the groove.

Being aware of DJ Krush specifying use of his own Vestax mixer, it was no surprise to see a separate pair of turntables and CDJ-1000 on the right hand of the stage. I can hardly say I was astonished to see how quickly the dancefloor filled when the little Japanese man with the strongest hip hop reputation to come out of the landing of the rising sun appeared. I personally was really pleased to see the diverse crowd that had come out of the woodwork to see this wizard in such an intimate surrounding. They certainly got what they paid for.

As the tour was to be based around ‘Stepping Stones’ (a self remixed “Best of” album), it was of little surprise to initially hear tunes from his revered ambient soundscape album ‘Jaku’, spreading a thick layer of eager anticipation across the swelling crowd. The upside with seeing a musician of such skill as this man, is while the tracks from the album are heard in their original form, once he gets started on the sampler and onboard effects of the mixer, it takes you to a musical paradise.

Building and Slaying with precision, tracks such as Kemuri, Meiso (from the album of the same name) to Vision of Art had the crowd begging for more. Intense construction of his set with peaks bringing the dopest beats to life and troughs allowing us more of his amazing minimalist tracks was absolutely flawless. In true style, after finishing what felt like far too brief a set, he emerged for an encore. Slamming the sampler with an insane remix of Organ Donor by DJ Shadow totally topped off the night, leaving me more satisfied than a cigarette after err, I’m sure you understand.

I was dumbfounded at how different I found this gig to his last at Academy, which was indeed a good thing. I always forget how different and personal Canberra crowds are, and with no pushing or general wanker behaviour, it made this gig sensational.

Gig of the year so far? Quite possibly.