What does 40+ degree heat, dusty dirty Albert Park, high speed expensive cars and great quality dance music all have in common? Usually not much, but at the Melbourne F1 Grand Prix, all these forces combine to create one awesome event – Sidetracked! For two days during the most exciting parts of the Grand Prix, Future Entertainment staged a private musical oasis with trackside vision, a huge screen reporting on the race and some high quality DJs across two stages. With international names like Carl Cox, Norman Jay and Tom Middleton on the bill along with an assortment of high-quality locals, this was one exciting way to enjoy the Grand Prix and have a party as well.
I ventured down on the Sunday, unfortunately missing the one DJ I was most to see, Carl Cox, but I must admit I was pleasantly satisfied with Sunday’s efforts. After traipsing through Albert Park to find Sidetracked, I was relieved to discover that it really was like a mini corporate area, with minimal to no lines for toilets, drinks or food, palm trees and all your needs met. You could really relax and unwind, taking in the race and the ear-piercing sounds of the F1 cars hooning around the track. The heat was verging on unbearable, but fans hosing water and green leafy trees provided much relief to the hot and bothered crowd. I was thankful I grabbed an official stubbie holder at the entrance to the Grand Prix as my drinks stayed cooler for much much longer… Hey, I like my beer cold!
Stage 1 featured a more house and beats focused sound, with local DJ Paul Main on the decks when I arrived, keeping it chilled and laidback. Once UK’s Tom Middleton jumped onto the stage however, the atmosphere definitely picked up as he really embraced the event and the challenges of playing with an international F1 race going on right next to him. Making comments like “They sound like a bunch of whinging old ladies! Where’s the bass?!”, he lightened the mood and got people grinning. He even dropped tracks out at times when the cars went past, working hard to keep a flow regardless. And it worked!
His eclectic set of covers, revamps and remixes of classic and now tracks suited the daytime vibe as he moved through sounds like funky rap with Soul II Soul’s classic Back to Life, reggae with Ain’t No Sunshine, and dancehall/reggae beats with a mash up of The Verve’s Bitter Sweet Symphony. By now it was so freaking hot too, so everyone was enjoying loads of water, beer and Smirnoff, and chilling out watching the race with anticipation. It was obvious by looking around that most of the people were seriously here for the race and that the music was a lovely added extra. Tom kept it going along smoothly, dropping in a reggae version of The Police classic Roxanne, moving into the Sade oldie Smooth Operator – a remixed version of course! Before upping the antics, he slipped in Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough, but can you guess it – a different version again – this time with a woman singing it. Nice! As the heat started to cool ever so slightly, Tom dropped in breaks, yes loads of breaks and funk and kept throwing the jokes our way. Just before he finished up, he played Take Me Over from a local act that I’ve recently become quite into after seeing them live at both Good Vibration and at the Prince last year, none other than Katalyst. Such a lovely soulful track and a nice touch to an interesting set.
As the legendary Norman Jay hit the stage, both the race and the crowd were heating up! Keeping with a chilled out vibe, the man who needs no introduction eased the crowd into his sound via relaxed 80s infused tracks and numbers like samples from David Bowie’s Golden Years, making me sing “Aaaaangel!” It was the first time I’d seen Norman, but I’d heard a lot of positive reviews about him – I wasn’t expecting his set to initially feature little to no mixing… However, as I reflect now, it did suit the kind of music he was playing to begin with and as he picked up the pace a bit, so did the mixing. Moving into modern times, his set evolved with _Flawless_and Precious Love mashups and by now the race was over, so there was a definitely a taste of “Lets party” in the air! Thankfully it was cooling right down now, perfect for dancing and enjoying what was left of Sunday afternoon.
I pottered over to the other stage for a moment, however it wasn’t really my style, with 70s classics and commercial electro house sounds banging out. The trendy young crowd was loving it though, and were keen to dance it up in the dirt and heat. Now back to Norman Jay… More my mood and vibe at this point in time. Norman was still keeping it upbeat and modern, with house of now with Axwell’s I Found You which its fab vocal that got the crowd singing… OK, well it got me singing. Heheh. Not forgetting where he began, he jumped back into 70s sounds with “Dancing with you, is all I want to do…” before jumping into a heavy breaks and drum n’ bass session that blew into a great finale!
Instead of catching The Cat Empire finish up Stage 1, we wandered over to the Stage 2 to catch Frenchman-in-Amsterdam Sebastian Leger, as our finale for the day. By now there were cries of “what race?” as it felt like a mini Summadayze outdoor festival, a great little dance party. Yeah! Sebastian rocked it with an electro house set that set the crowd on fire, and everyone really let loose! Fark who has to work tomorrow? It was a really great way to end the event, with everyone looking brown, red or dirty, but all smiling! My only criticism would be the clash of music between the stages – it was a bit much at times.
Well, that’s Sidetracked. What an afternoon. You had one of the world’s hottest Grand Prix events, you had drinks-aplenty, a beautiful sunny day and quality music chosen perfectly for the setting. It’s got me keen as mustard to go again next year!
