Interview vs Push pres. Elements: Water @ Boat Cruise, Melbourne (09/02/08)
Last year the Interview crew presented the first of four events based on the elements earth, fire, wind and water. After ‘Earth’ in June, it was time to get wet and wild with ‘Water’ this February. Joining forces with the people behind Push we were invited to set sail on the Victoria Star for a four hour voyage over the open seas. Well maybe not really open seas, but you get the point. Yarr!
The sun was shining as we waited to board for the fantastic journey ahead, and we could see there was a mix of people waiting to embark. Just after midday we hoisted anchor and were off. The lineup was split over two decks with a number of locals on board, along with two international guests; Chwen from Mexico, who played at the ‘Earth’ party and Beauty And The Beat from Germany, fresh from the Rainbow Serpent festival.
Danni B and Sass from Tickled Pink got things going on the bottom deck with some prog style… err… techno? Or something. I’m used to seeing Danni playing on the house tip, so it was different, but a nice change. The tunes weren’t too glitchy or “minimal”, which is the kind of tech I can’t stand, so things were off to a good start. Danni told me it was her first ever time using CDJs, however she seemed to handle herself fine, with well-timed use of effects and no mixing headaches that I could detect.
Upstairs, Nevin was playing some more driving upbeat tunes that had the dancefloor rocking. When I say rocking, I mean literally rocking, as we were swaying left and right with the beats and waves. It was at that point I remembered I was on a boat, and this kind of thing usually happens. I don’t know how I forgot I was on a boat in the first place, since we had just gotten going, but anyway… The crowd was enjoying it, after all you know people are having a good time when they’re walking around with a beer in one hand and bottle of wine in the other. Yarr!
Back downstairs I had time to join in a friendly game of kick with a beach ball somebody brought along. Everything was going fine until some evil cow grabbed the ball, deflated it and threw it to the floor under some chairs. Unfortunately no gangplank was available for her to walk, so we had to remember the good times and move on. After Danni B and Sass it was time for Kasey Taylor. I had never seen him DJ before, but I love a lot of his tunes so I was pretty excited. He started up right where the girls finished off, and unfortunately didn’t really seem to go anywhere for me. I was hoping for some deep driving prog, but to no avail. The crowd was enjoying it, as were the crowd upstairs. The Real Tony Montana was playing some more commercial, Freemasons-esque house. Although I didn’t mind the tunes I wasn’t really in the mood for that sound.
There isn’t a lot of room to run around on a boat like that, but I still managed to bump into a few people and luckily avoided asking “what time did you guys get here?” I thought there might have been a few more dressed up characters, but apart from a couple of hats there didn’t seem to be many scurvy dogs on board. The booze was flowing and everybody had found their sea legs (ie – there didn’t seem to be any vomit). I was hoping it might have been more catered as there were a few snacks available at the start, but I felt like I needed more than a donut to go with my beer after a little while. If you knew the right people you might have scored some bread, which was supposed to go with some dips, but a certain Interview party organiser forgot to get them… so that was that. Being the hardy sailor I am I decided food was for weak landlubbers and forged on regardless.
Blinky was on next in the downstairs arena and instantly kicked things up a notch. When he started, though, the sound didn’t seem to be up to scratch, and I’m not sure if it was something to do with his setup or the soundsystem. He rocked out anyway and played some banging stuff, including a track sampling the show ‘Summer Heights High’, which I thought was hilarious. Upstairs it was time for the husband and wife team of Beauty And The Beat. I really had no idea what these guys would play so I was interested to hear, but I just couldn’t get into their sound. The whole electro-infused-house kinda thing got on my nerves.
After Blinky we had Jamie Stevens of Infusion fame. Once again, I didn’t really know what to expect from Jamie playing in solo-mode, and I still couldn’t get into it. At this point it seemed to me that three of the four acts in this room had played very similar sets and I was looking for something more. I tried with a mate to will him to play the SQ’d mix of ‘Girls Can Be Cruel’ but our Jedi powers were not up to scratch. The final set upstairs was Chwen and Ben Evans. Instead of a vs set they played for 30 minutes each, with Ben finishing off. Now I had something I could sink my teeth into! They both played some banging tunes with the psy-trance vibe going off. I really enjoyed the stuff they played and the people were going off too.
Then the clock struck 4pm and the boat returned, so it was time for the party to end. With the power turned off and the security telling us we had to leave we didn’t really have much of a choice, being on a boat and all. The cruise was good with fine weather and nice scenery along the way. Highlights included some striptease style dancing by excited fire crews and passing the docked Sea Shepherd protest ship, Steve Irwin. I thought maybe some of the more hippy clubbers would have jumped off and swam over to join them, but it was not to be. As with all Interview parties I’ve been too I had a fantastic time. Even when I didn’t enjoy the tunes everyone was happy and partying away, so there was always a great vibe. Going night clubbing during the day on a boat was a fun idea, and I look forward to the next element. Yarr har!
