When Summer Party was first announced, most of the conversation about it centred on whether or not the line up was a joke (“Is it for real? Are you sure?”). After much assurance that they were, in fact, for real, and with the addition of a more notable musical act in Bloc Party’s DJ set (“No seriously dude, Vanilla Ice?”), the event started to look like it would be a fun day in the sun with mates, beers and tunes. Which it was.
A strong promotional effort ensured a good crowd on the day. Heading in around 3pm, I noticed much less fluoro than has been seen at recent events. Did I dare to hope against hope – could this hideous trend finally be dying the horrible death it deserves? Whatever, it was time for a drink. Settling in to watch the fashion parade, I couldn’t help but wonder how the models, particularly the female variety, felt marching to a mash up of Da Funk and 2 Live Crew’s Heads Down, Ass Up (the lyrics to the latter go: “Heads down, ass up, that’s the way we like to f***”). Then I remembered that models don’t have feelings, and the thought didn’t trouble me again.
The sound track for the parade was provided by Andy Murphy and Nick Foley, two of Onelove’s regulars. Sticking to what Onelove does best, they punched out a fairly tough electro set. It was perhaps a bit early in the day for such a full-on sound, but it worked well enough and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Next up was Van She, who took to the stage at around 4:00. The crowd absolutely swamped the stage as soon as they appeared. After a long build up to their first song, they played a chilled out set that was perfect for the weather and time of day.
At 4:45 local fella Master Celebrator came on, and kicked things back up a notch after Van She’s downtempo (but very enjoyable!) set. Despite opening with the vile Destination Calabria, it was a great set. He kept it pretty commercial, and the punters knew most of the songs, but it was tough, bouncy and fun. Regurgitator and Cut Copy got great reactions from the crowd (talking of Song Formerly Known As and Hearts on Fire respectively). Just quietly, I think Master Celebrator could be one to keep an eye on. His sets at both Summer Party and the after party at Electric Circus were excellent, and he can read a crowd and a room very, very well.
When Master Celebrator had had his way with the crowd, Tommy Trash took over. As if there wasn’t enough 90s cheesiness about the day, Trash found it necessary to drop House of Pain’s Jump Around. Because we all really need to hear that track again. Well, apparently we did. The crowd, evidently less cynical than myself, went nuts, and jumped, well… around. Aside from that, I really couldn’t fault Trash; his was the set of the day for me. Tough, dirty and house-y, and with the light fading it was the perfect music to carry us into the night. Covering favourites like Scenario Rock’s Skitzo Dancer and Faithless’ Insomnia, the young and pleasantly boozed crowd continued to grow around the stage. They were having a ball, but looked a little unsure of what to do when Trash blindsided us all with Pryda’s Genesis (I knew what to do – I wanted to run on stage and shower him with rose petals and scream “THANK YOU!!!!”… but managed to restrain myself to an enthusiastic “Woooooo!”).
It was around this time that Vanilla Ice was meant to be coming on, and rumours were starting to spread that he wasn’t going to make it. Although he simply missed his flight, at the time there were whispers of everything from him being held up in customs to never coming in the first place. But ITM’s very own #1 DJ Ajax was more than capable of filling his shoes. He kept the party mood going with The Presets’ Are You the One and what I swear to God was a mix of Enya’s Orinoco Flow. I shit you not. It sounded great though, and I’d love to get a hold of the track!
With Vanilla Ice still nowhere to be seen, Kele from Bloc Party was up next. I am loath to criticise someone as talented as this guy; Bloc Party are one of the most interesting and exciting acts in music today, and their live sets are apparently something to behold. But Kele… I heart you so, but it might be a good idea to ask one of your DJ buddies to teach you how to mix. Or at least beat-match. He was great on stage – having a blast, and really getting the crowd into it, perhaps too much (encouraging the group dancing on the catwalk to push security off the stage may have been a bit too far – but hell it was funny). ‘Dropping’ (cross fading?) tracks like Blur’s Song 2, Chemical Brothers’ Hey Boy, Hey Girl and Basement Jaxx’s Where’s Your Head At, it was definitely a party set. I don’t think there was a track in there that wasn’t huge in its day. Even RnB and the 80s came out to play, with Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Baby I Got Your Money, Cyndi Lauper’s Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and A-Ha’s Take On Me getting the crowd bouncing. Naturally, Bloc Party’s Banquet got the biggest reaction of the set, and Kele sang along, which made for something pretty special.
By this stage I was ready for some musical integrity, but unfortunately for me, Vanilla Ice had arrived and it was time for him to do… That thing he does. By the time he got onstage at 9:45, he only had fifteen minutes to perform. Given that Ice, Ice Baby goes for about five minutes, this seemed quite reasonable to me. The song got the reaction it was always going to – the crowd jumped all over the place and sang every single word. In a way it was nice to see everyone not taking themselves too seriously and just having a laugh. In another way it was nice to see the song finish.
Vanilla Ice, accompanied onstage by a bevy of South Australian females, also freestyled the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Theme (“Go ninja, go ninja, go!”). Having never been an eight year old boy I had no idea what was going on, but was duly filled in later. There was also a cover of Cypress Hill’s Hits from the Bong and not much time for anything else! As Vanilla Ice wound up, we called it a night and went in search of something greasy to eat on the way home.
Summer Party was a great day – beautiful weather, some great tunes and plenty of laughs. Despite the attentions of some local media focusing on the sportspersons and ‘A-Listers’ in attendance, the crowd on the whole was a happy bunch of people who made the most of a fun day. The only question that remains now is who they’re going to get out for Summer Party 2009. With MC Hammer on full time clergy duties, may I be the first to suggest East 17? Those puffy hats are calling…
clevo69 says...
Nice review..... couldn't agree with you anymore! Tommie Trash was Sick! Bring on East 17!!!