Blender vs Tick Tock pres. Jack Beats & Young and Restless @ Shape, Perth (01/11/08)
Shape celebrated Halloween on Saturday with a party that featured Jack Beats of the UK in the Round 2 Battle of Blender vs Tick Tock, while Young & Restless playing upstairs for the final instalment of Horror Shop at Shape.
The club looked the part, with both floors fully kitted out in macabre fashion to match the ghoulish evening. Cobwebs were draped across the walls and hung from the ceilings, giant spiders were placed about, and an enormous glowing skull spitting smoke added to the effect. The hordes came dressed up as zombies and other deathly looking folk. Though possibly not part of the Halloween decorations at Shape, there were a few strange (and I have to say, older) members in the audience tonight, and they lurked in the shadows, leaned against the walls and created a rather eerie environment.
Attempting to position oneself on the dancefloor at Shape proves to be a difficult task. Once you entere the confines of the Tick Tock dungeon it’s no longer a cool November evening in Perth, instead it becomes a damp, steaming, swamp like cauldron that’s better suited to breeding crocodiles. The muggy conditions, however, had no affect on – what seemed like – hundreds of men, who were all jumping about, banging their chests and generally having a bro old time.
Walking through the sweaty crowd a white pointy hat appeared. Underneath the hat was a man. He was dressed all in white with matching face paint accentuated with blood red lips. There is something about clowns that I find truly horrifying, why someone would think a grown man hiding his identity and emotions with paint whilst spending time with their children is acceptable behaviour, let alone entertainment, is beyond my comprehension. That said, it definitely played up the creepy Halloween vibe! One of the more popular areas is the outdoors, with people lining up to get out and feed their addiction (or possibly to escape the intense heat radiating from the dancefloor). Once outside the nicotine in the air appeared to create a relaxed atmosphere vastly different to the indoor frenzied dance battle.
It seems fitting that the final Horror Shop at Shape would be on Halloween. Young & Restless played to a more spread out crowd, compared to what was going on downstairs, but that did not diminish the energy they into the show, with front woman Karina Utomo launching herself on top of the crowd during Police! Police!, managing to hang from the lights of the club. Once Young & Restless had ended the upstairs area soon became a ghost town, while downstairs Jack Beats had the room packed. People were dancing all crazy, like it was the start of the evening.
As it was the end for Horror Shop it will be interesting to see what happens with the top floor of Shape. Will Tick Tock move back up and claim the area that has the better sound and lights (and an actual dancefloor), or will live bands continue to feature playing into the early hours of the morning?
