Good Vibrations After Party @ Chinese Laundry, Sydney (17/02/07)

Another year and another Good Vibrations Festival; they seem to get better with age, and this year’s was no different. A surprise performance by Snoop and his weed-smoking posse really made my day worthwhile, as did some stellar performances by Jurassic 5, the Beasties Boys and London Elektricity (to name but a few). But as 10pm rolled around it was clear that Centennial Park was no longer the place to be… It was decided that Laundry would be our venue for on of the official Good Vibrations After Party. About an hour later, and after a marathon walking effort, we finally made our way into the club and headed straight for the bar.

“Twenty glasses of water, beer and a Jager Bomb” was the first thing to come out of my mouth. The first sip of that water seemed to wash away the taste of dirt that had been swirling around my mouth most of the day, and it was just grand to have an ice cold Carlton and not another can of Heineken! I took a brief walk around the club to check that everything was in order – and, of course, it was. As usual, the club was decked out nicely, and each area had some very fine music on display. I’ll tell no lie here, I was there solely to see DJ Yoda in the Sand Bar, so very little else managed to penetrate my exhausted and somewhat confused little brain. The sun stroke probably didn’t help either! After walk around I sat down with another drink outside and chatted about the day that had passed.

By 12.30 one of my crew was feeling decidedly unfortunate, so it was decided that I should take her to get some air down by the water. Air turned to the back seat of a taxi and a sickly ride home. I mention this as I was proving my friendship, I was missing out on my man Steve Lind who was on warm-up duties for Yoda! If you haven’t hear him play before, you’re missing out. He has an awesome style that fits perfectly with the grooves to be offered by those such as Yoda, Z-Trip and co. After my jaunt it was back to the club to hear Yoda crank out the party tunes. I wished I had had the energy not just to get up and dance, but to go over and watch the man in action. I had never seen him play, and my brief wander over to the DJ area was eye-opening. The sheer speed and skill in his hands was amazing, the sounds he managed to put together were truly awesome. And whilst it probably wasn’t the best Yoda set I’ve ever come across, it was certainly something I’m glad I got to see.

From 1.30 onwards I thought I should have a listen to what Desyn Masiello had on offer, and as expected the Cave was going absolutely nuts for his selection of deep, tech inspired progressive sounds. From my position at the back of the Cave it was a wonderful sight to see the room rammed and going crazy to some very awesome music indeed. For those who were in the mood, Laundry was once again the place to be. In the Laundry, DJ Dan was pumping out some of the heaviest electro basslines I’d ever heard. If the Laundry was bass-testing their speakers, Dan was sure doing a good job at trying to blow them. The crowd in the Laundry seemed very happy with their selection of DJ as well. I don’t actually think you could have made a bad decision at this Good Vibes After Party. Whatever room you decided to call home was guaranteed to provide world class, top notch music with attitude. I like those odds!

What a day I’d had. Some of the world’s best musicians right on my doorstep at Good Vibrations, and then a great after party to help it all go down. The only thing that would have made it better would have been a surprise performance by Snoop in my lounge room, greenery and entourage in tow. But then, that was never really gonna happen was it?