Everybody’s favourite day of the year hit Perth for the sixth time yesterday as an all star studded line up of breaks/hiphop and retro artists entertained Perth crowds at the one and only Breakfest. It was a day of tributes as not even 24 hours prior, funk and soul music legend James Brown had passed away, and it was only fitting that a number of tributes throughout the day would be given from a number of the artists. Being one of those events that has such high expectation from all and sundry, Boomtick has progressed with something new and something better with each breakfast from year to year and it was a great surprise on my arrival, many of these new additions became apparent on entry. One of the main gripes from previous years was the lines to the toilets. Enter: ITM VIP toilets. This was my first experience and the much talked about VIP lavatory extravaganza and I immediately went over to test drive the facilities that were on offer. Aside from the standard cubicles and what not that populate a standard toilet. There was deodorant and other luxuries that you would not normally find in a standard festival dunny set up. Big thumbs up for ITM for coming up with the concept and also for Boomtick for having them there. There are many other surprises in stall at the ITM VIP toilets but I guess if you want to try them out for yourself, you have to become an ITM VIP member by clicking on the link above.

After my pleasurable “max house” experience I wandered over to the “Breakaway” stage or the “Habitat Electro” stage as it was bannered on the front of the Dj booth to check the first half of Marty McFly’s funk filled set. The hardcore McFly fans were out in force to support the lad in the stifling heat of the day, thankfully a shaded mesh was set up for some relief from the hot hot sun. Last year was the first time a second stage was introduced and didn’t really go down too well with not many people attending some parts of the day, partly due to some of the line up times clashing with some major acts in the main arena but thankfully this year the second stage was pretty much rammed as soon as people arrived supporting not only their locals but each of the headlining acts during the day. I then took a brief interlude to the main arena to check out Pawel and Dan the Man who were warming up the crowd with some fine hip hop selections. Back at the second stage Prizzy upped the ante with a fine selection of breakbeat classics as well as a tinge of electro house. The crowd started to fill up nicely towards the end of his set as Ben Mac and Flex took over and continued the pace. In the main arena, Fingerlick’n supremo’s Slyde got the party started with a fine mash up of some plumps tunes before dropping their own “Vibrate to This” which is somewhat of an anthem in this fine city. Micah and Tone had warm up duties for Missill and got the nicely assembled crowd up there well amped with Deibeats “Time to Rock” as well as some Hook n Sling/Sarah McCleod goodness. Missill is some what of an unknown quantity here in Perth but did a stellar job in keeping the crowd well and truly amped with a fine mash up of styles using the software package Serato Scratch.

In the main arena Z-Trip took the packed amphitheatre on a journey back in time with some retro classics from ACDC in Back in Black and TNT. Z-Trip did the first James Brown tribute from the day finishing with his classic “I Feel Good” after a moment of silence from the crowd, which to their credit gave every respect where it was due. Z-Trip got plenty of love from the Perth crowd and played a fantastic set for the time of day. Basskleph was rocking out big time up on the top stage starting with the Evil 9 remix of Towards the Sun by Future Funk Squad before giving the crowd a taste of what is to come on his new label including some of his own cheeky bootlegs. His live act was something to witness but his use of Serato Scratch is again breath taking as he uses the software to its full potential.
Loose Cannons are becoming somewhat of a cult act following some insane gigs from the last couple of years. Real showmen in everything they do, they kicked off with a mash up of ACDC’s thunder struck before rocking out some of their own classics including “Superstars” which is another Perth breaks anthem. Freq Nasty was running late for his set when the quick thinking Cannon got the crowd yelling “where are you Freq Nasty”. To be brutally honest, he should have probably stayed off for a bit longer as the first half of his set was such an anti climax as he proceeded to mix some half time dub-step stuff which made some portions of the crowd leave in droves. Started with a bang with Autobots “Burn” but then took it half time for a good 10 – 20 minutes. To his credit, he did bring the party vibe back with some jamming tunes such as “When I was a Yout” the classic “Amped” and his own infamous “Welcome to the Terrodome” Rage Against the Machine booty. Overall though it was the uninspiring start to his set that gave me the thumbs down not only from myself but from many others sitting around me. On the top stage , Nyquist Freq’s kept the large crowd partying hard till the end of the night with some Deekline and Wizard “Outta Space” and tune of the day for that stage, Deibeats “Time to Rock”.

The main act of the day in the amphitheatre Freestylers Live got the party well and truly rocking, and this was the first time I had seen the live band perform and I was well impressed. Starting with their classic “Slammer” the crowd was lapping up every moment as MC Sirreal got things Dirty, Nasty and Downright disgusting with some fantastic MC’ing, never overdo’ing it and not being the “centre of attention” as some MC’s seem to think these days. Playing a fair bit of new material from their recently released album “Adventures in Freestyle” as well as some old favourites such as “Get a Life” with a truly amazing female vocalist, this live act is well worth seeing. 9/10 for this one. The performance wouldn’t have been complete without playing their two Pendulum collaborations “Fasten Your Seatbelt” and “Painkiller”.

A fantastic day all up with the programming of the set times perfectly set. Both stages were filled to the brim for majority of the day with eager party peeps giving respect to all acts. Special mention must go to the lighting and visual fx this year. A massive screen filled the back of the main arena which had some amazing visuals and text showing each act. Freq nasty’s video was playing in the background during his set. Lighting was fantastic with the trees providing a perfect backdrop with mood lighting adding to the atomosphere. Definitely one of the best breakfests I have been to with the little bits of attention to detail from feedback from previous years being looked at. Lighting , set progression throughout the day, good mix of different styles of breaksj plus a well up for it crowd gave the day a fantastic feel in true Perth style. Oh did I mention the TIM VIP toilets were there too?