Drop 5th Birthday feat. Guy J @ The Empire, Brisbane (08/08/08)
Even though it’s the opening night of the Beijing Olympics, it would have been daft to sit at home glued to a TV screen when the real fireworks would be coming from the sound system of The Empire’s Moon Bar. Yes indeed, it’s the fifth birthday for the Brisbane underground dance music scene’s favourite night of debauchery, Drop.
The checkered history of the event involves many hazy memories of nights featuring the most forward thinking house and techno music the world has to offer. With Israeli wunderkind Guy J the guest DJ this particular night, the birthday would be no exception. To ensure all goes to plan – and it must – who better to entrust on supports than the helmsmen of Drop themselves, Scott Walker and Damian ‘Magoo’ Wheeler. Proving why they remain quite firmly in the upper echelons of the Brisbane DJ pantheon, Scott and Damian kindly remind us of what ‘impact’ means.
The techno abated somewhat after Einmusik & Stimming’s relentless ‘Magdalena’, it was all part of a clever ruse to release the pressure valve ensuring Guy J gets the run he deserves – and run he does, right over expectation and reserve. Armed with the increasingly essential Ableton Live and some basic MIDI gear, Guy J ripped his own tracks and the many progressive classics he references to pieces. It was a flurry of filters, delays and loop edits.
Minimalist and even rave-ish at times – Guy J made it one hell of a birthday celebration for the Drop party faithful. If only he handed out copies of his epic retouch of ‘Hale Bopp’, the memory could be stone rather than stone-d!
