The Likes of You feat. Supermayer, Paolo Mojo & Abe Duque @ Royal Hotel, Melbourne (24/04/08)
2008 has already been a great year for dance parties. Countless DJs and artists have graced our shores, but there have not been many that have created such a vibe as Supermayer. A collaboration of two Kompakt artists, Michael Mayer and Superpitcher, on their own they’ve produced fantastic music but together, well it’s just something special. When you also add Paolo Mojo and Abe Duque, and you are in for a wild ride!
We arrived just after 12am and were welcomed by the sounds of Gavin Keitel and Mike Callandar. I am big fans of both of these guys and to see them play a versus set was great. Having warmed up for countless internationals on their own, they really know how to put on a show without detracting from what’s to come. It was so smooth and they complemented each other well. It was also good to see Superpitcher and Michael Mayer mingling in the crowd during the set, and having a boogie too.
Not long after 1am Supermayer took to the decks. They started nice and housey and with 6 hours to play with, everyone on the dancefloor took their positions. Just on that note, the crowd tonight was on their best behavior and was there to really enjoy the DJs on offer. The venue, Royal Melbourne Hotel was looking great for tonight and was a great sized space for this sort of party. The first hour or so was filled with light melodies and sounds, as well as big basslines. Every few tracks both would take to the EQ and produce a massive buildup, that would send the crowd wild and make you put your hands in the air. They were real party DJs along the lines of Sven Vath. And much like Vath, they also were dancing themselves while the other was DJing.
One particular track I can ID was Martin Landsky 1000 Miles. And one thing I noticed was that Mayer was lighter on the bass and more laid back, whereas Superpitcher was heavier on the bass. It was a combination that complemented each other well. With such a wealth of talent on tonight, I tore myself away and went upstairs to catch Abe Duque. The first thing I noticed was the sound and the amount of bass: unfortunately it was just too much and a bit unpleasant. While I was enjoying was Duque was playing, some of his own material that was very funky, I couldn’t take the sound and moved back downstairs.
Back to Supermayer, and it was interesting to hear them build the set up before then dropping it down again. You can imagine the amount of music they have at their disposal, and they were just able to play great tune after great tune. Often they would play a number of tracks quite quickly and then play into a longer song, that would be a gorgeous tune and really went down well. As mentioned, they’re party DJs and every hour that went by reinforced this. They just know what it takes to get people dancing. And a real easy way to get people dancing is to play Two Of Us. To hear Supermayer play their own dancefloor-destroying tune was something special!
The other international to make the trip tonight was Paolo Mojo. Having missed him the last couple of times he has been to Australia I was very keen to catch him. I am a big fan of his mixes and production, including one of his more recent, Paris. And as good as Supermayer were, Paolo Mojo was just on another level. The long mixing and programming of his set was nothing short of amazing. He really knows how to structure and set and just to stop you in your tracks and think, “WOW”!
Track highlights were Der Dritte Raum’s Hale Bopp and Robert Owen’s I’ll Be Your Friend. Again, it was the time he took to mix them in and they way it was structured that just blew me away. He doesn’t mix, he sows and he weaves. If you were to actually listen to the tracks normally, they’d sound little like the way he plays them. Phenomenal.
I gave my thanks to Mojo and went back downstairs to see Supermayer some more. The music had gotten deeper and harder, but not many people had left the dancefloor. They just kept going! And I couldn’t believe how quickly this night had gone; I had such a fun time and heard some great music. It’s going to be hard to top this one in 2008!
wordup says...
Are you serious? I guess when you go to a party for free it is always easy to write a good review. I thought supermayer were completely flat and boring.
drdan says...
word, supermayer disappointed for me. mojo absolutely pwned it all night tho. fark yeah!