Wednesday is typically not my favourite night of the week to head out. The prospect of a Thursday hangover and two full days of grueling work usually make Wednesdays all about the couch. However, whenever January rolls around and the Beck’s Festival Bar is in town, it is a rock-solid guarantee that some mid-week musical treat will drag me from the comfort of my house and into the night. Down under to play the Big Day Out festival, UK breakbeat maestro Krafty Kuts was the mid-week drawcard as he descended on the Hyde Park Barracks to dish up three hours of rock-solid party madness.

Despite being a beautiful summer’s day, the weather gods were not looking kindly on our funky friend from the Motherland and a storm had whipped in and along with it, a nasty wind. The friendly door crew complained that they were not paid enough to suffer these conditions, and my carefully styled if somewhat unimpressive hair was being unceremoniously disheveled. However, the Becks was in abundance and a hefty crowd had already assembled and were politely bopping their heads to the warm-up tunes.

I had never heard of Percussion Junction, the warm-up act for Krafty who had only 30 minutes to make an impression. And make an impression they did. The raw energy of live percussion was dropped over a cheeky mix of breaks, dub, funk, hip hop and everything in between. Almost instantly, the marquee was shaking and hands were being thrust into the air. A bit of female MCing (never a bad idea), some bongo dueling, DJ trickery and all of a sudden, the crowd was bouncing. Percussion Junction, you won yourself a fan tonight!

Krafty stepped behind the decks at 10pm and despite the cliché, got the part started. For the next few hours, he demonstrated why he has enjoyed such enduring popularity in this country. There was nothing particularly earth shattering about his performance, no amazingly underground tunes, it was just damn fun! Plenty of pop was thrown in early on, including everyone’s favourite House of Pain remix, Jump Around and a smattering of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. It wasn’t long before some of Krafty’s original tunes started making an appearance; a long and cut-up throwdown of Bass Phenomenon got the crowd moving. We heard snippets of Metallica and even some shrieking acid in the form of a remix of Josh Wink’s eternal Higher State of Consciousness.

In fact there was a big focus on breaks remixes of massive tunes throughout the set (note the broken beat take on The Verve’s Bittersweet Symphony that he finally closed his performance with), but the most interesting thing about the show was how this was balanced out with a seemingly endless run of unknown bombs. As to be expected with Krafty, every shade of breakbeat was featured over the three hours, from the funky crowd pleasers to the tough-as-nails tech. The one constant throughout his set? The marquee was heaving!

Krafty does have consummate skill behind the decks. His mixing was tight and inventive and there was plenty of scratching thrown in, as well as a load of hip hop accapellas which were a reflection of how creative he is behind the decks. With a decent light show behind him, the fact that he looks like an accountant could not detract from his obvious coolness. With a bit of the obligatory DJ arm waving, the punters were happy. Two hours into his set and he showed no hesitation in laying down some of the tougher sounds, including the mental squelching of Deadmau5 vs Jelo, The Reward is Cheese. And then a little past midnight, he threw the melody back in our face with the mammoth melodic sounds of Plumps DJs’ System Addict followed quickly by his latest offering that is getting caned on radio at the moment, Dynamite Love. Plenty of people opted for some dancing space in the graveled section of the courtyard, although my nice white shoes now need a wash from a little overenthusiastic rug-cutting.

By this stage, the wind had died right down and everyone was lapping up the tunes. However, with a long day at work beckoning, it was time to say adieu. For a Wednesday night, the music was perfect – fun, cheeky and laced with energy. Thanks for coming back down under Mr Kuts and may your next journey not be too far away.