We Love Ministry of Sound @ Metro City, The Bakery, Capitol, Perth (01/06/08)

The We Love Ministry of Sound event, or what I now like to call the ‘Sex and the City Tour’ (I’ll get to this later) rocked up to Perth for the Foundation Day long weekend. The event was spread over three main arenas: Metro City, Capitol/Amplifier and The Bakery (I’ll just make a quick apology to the acts at latter, as this reviewer didn’t catch any of them as unfortunately the venue was closed early than originally advertised). The lineup had a vast mix of music styles from Electro, breaks, house and hip hip, and there was surely something to suit most tastebuds.

Now I pose the question… has Sex and the City taken over the ‘dance/rave’ scene? As all females and all males with partners should know, Sex and the City is taking over all conversations of late and it seems that ladies are now out to dress to impress even when heading out to dance events. There was of course the mandatory female with fluffy gators at their shins and boys with their baggy reflector raver pants, but they were far outnumbered to the throngs of females wearing their best ‘Review dress’ with their favourite pair of Manolo Blahnik-esque towering heels and, males wearing their favourite tight fitting V-neck shirt or Elwood top. Was this a fashion show or a ‘dance’ event? How do these girls dance in those heels? How short is too short? How big can someone tease one’s hair? These were all the questions that needed some great discussion.

With most indoor events held over multiple venues, capacity and lines are historically always a problem and this event was no different. Arriving at Metro first to pick up the tickets, I felt sorry for the people in the main line, as those already strapped with arm bands, the people still waiting with their tickets and those still needing to pick them up had to line up together in a couple of massive lines. There seemed to be many, many people on the guest list as it still took around 20 minutes to get into the venue through the ‘VIP’ line. The first real sign of trouble started when asking for set times, as I got the response, “There are no lineup time sheets left, and don’t worry they’ve changed the line-up times anyway”. Don’t worry! I now had to wander between venues hoping that I would either recognise the act, a tune, a style or ask someone else who was on the various stages! This was going to make for some fun times.

Walking into Metro’s I found the place was packed to the rafters and The Potbelleez were on stage (they made it easy for me to pick; I love an act that wears their name on their shirts), this four piece act of two DJs and two singers had the crowd dancing nice and early. Best known for that massive tune called Don’t Hold Back with that very recognisable guitar rift, The Potbelleez were playing what they like to call ‘Junkyard’ house.’ With a nice blend of dirty, filthy, booty shakin’ electro house fuelled tunes and impressive accapellas from the two lead vocalists. As their set was drawing to an end, the crowd was waiting for that one tune and they were not disappointed. The finale was their massive hit Don’t Hold Back, and once the tune dropped they had the crowd going crazy and who can blame them, with a great guitar rift and an easy to sing along chorus it was a great hands in the air experience. This is when I noticed that the MOS armbands were fluoro, and it made for a great look under the purple lights. This was The Potbelleez chance to shine in their 15 minutes worth of fame, and the song literally almost went for 15 minutes; they sure knew how to milk a crowd.

Although my setlist printed from home said Bonde Do Role were meant to be up next, it seemed to be Goodwill who jumped on the wheels of steel. The number one house DJ from NSW was on the decks, and the vibe at this moment went a little harder and darker, playing some techy numbers. There seemed to be a running theme for the night and Daft Punk was heard on many an occasion, with one girl next to me screaming out that the song playing was her favourite song Around the World. Goodwill then took a trip down memory lane for the older people, as on estimation most of the people in Metro for MOS would not have even been born when this track was released – Pump up the Jam by Technotronic. It was now time to head over to Capital and check out the Resin Dogs. This is when I heard some great comments from the masses still waiting in the line. “I did not pay $60 to wait in a line all night long.” I decided against taking the bus between venues, but needless to say these buses were cranking the music with punters dancing in the aisles.

The Capital had no line and plenty of room to dance, and the unmistakable sounds of the Resin Dogs were coming from the stage. The group produce a mash-up of sounds, modern hip hop is fused with funk, breakbeat, dub and some elements of dancehall. Having worked alongside the likes of Nextmen and Pharcyde, this great Australian group is a class act. Playing tracks of their highly anticipated third album More with great tunes like Definition, the crowd was really enjoying the fun and energy filled set. It was then time to check out what was happening in the back room, Amplifier, and this is when an accurate line-up list would have been helpful. I’m assuming it was Dabruck & Klein, playing a good set of house and electro dropping a tune from the themed group of the evening Harder Faster Stronger. This is when another amusing part of the night occurred: while I was in the toilet, two guys were having a conversation discuss if they should now head to the Mustang Bar. I guess the thought of seeing Scribe, Mix Master Mike and Hybrid were not enough to please these punters.

The last of the night was spent with two final trips to quickly see Cassius at Metro, but disappointedly discovered they were a no-show, going on rumours they were another one of those DJs to go down in history as managing to MISS A FLIGHT! Must happen all the time! To me Metro just did not have the same atmosphere as the Capital and Amplifier. After spending time watching the power of the Resin Dogs and the intimacy of the Amplifier venue, I quickly left Metro City again to catch Mix Master Mike and the one act I really wanted to see, Hybrid. And Hybrid did not disappoint, whilst not quite as huge as their live show as the ‘Hybrid Sound System’ at last years Summerdayze when they ventured to Oz with their full band, this time we just got one of the original DJ duo. Whether playing their more atmospheric and mellow tracks, or instead wowing the crowd with their big sounds and trademark grand progressive breaks, Hybrid had the crowd on a journey and was well worth the effort that it took for this older raver to stay out way passed bedtime.

All in all it was a night filled with highs and lows and plenty of exercise after two trips backwards and forwards across the city. Pretty much what you can expect from any multi-venued, multi-music styled event really; no big wow factor, just a pretty decent night out.