The evolution in music technology can lead to some DJ’s over- complicating the relatively straightforward process of their art. This, united with an ego can draw expectations of conceit about the DJ and their set. So I was eager to see Laidback Luke in full flight to determine if the prefix to his name was more than just a neat tongue twister.

Queues out the front of The Family were surprisingly modest but definitely not reflective of the crowd inside where Chris Wilson was in the booth spinning a selection of tunes familiar to his repertoire, cleverly fulfilling his warm up role without over-exciting the seasoned crowd.

Shortly after 12.30 I returned from the bar to my post to find Laidback Luke unpacking his gear. Amazingly, a laptop (almost a standard accessory for the modern travelling DJ) was not among it so he swiftly mixed in his opener- his remix of TV Rock’s Been A Long Time. It was appropriate given that it feels much longer than a year since Brisbane last saw the Dutch/Philipino adopted member of the Swedish House Mafia.

Using his mouth as a third hand to assist in holding the CD’s Luke, armed with his hypnotic cheeky grin, took little time in capturing the crowd. His jovial personality and ability to engage and interact with fans won him countless more. Briefly into the set, and without playing the track in its entirety the opening bars of his track with Steve Angello Be was bouncing. This was the first of several uses for these opening bars. They were spun repeatedly (but certainly not excessively) to arrest the crowd from their distractions while mixing in tracks such as Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction and Kevin Rudolf’s Let It Rock. On their own, those tracks would have received little response, but when built on top of his anthems, were rescued back into floor fillers.

Midway through the set the imitating sound of water dripping in the sewer belonging to the opening loop of Rocking With The Best had the crowd in rapturous cheers. Sidney Samson’s Riverside was spun subsequently which was a sure-fire move given the track has been atop the ARIA club charts for weeks. Again, the hook of this chart-topper was used to drop in other club hits from year’s prior. It highlighted what Luke had been doing all set – showing that a DJ does not have to spend hours crawling for new hits and tweak them live on Ableton. Just use what you’ve got and be creative with the hardware in front of you.

Sing along tracks such as The Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ By The Way then took hold of the set and although I rolled my eyes in a cliche-like manner, the crowd belted out every word. And, after the first line, so did I. Much to my delight, he then moved on with his latest piano-house track with the Swedish House Mafia Leave The World Behind. Naturally, Luke sung every word and those in the crowd that knew it, did too. While keeping the set moving at a formidable pace, Cream by Fredrico Franchi was dropped. Yours truly was ecstatic at the move as the track is a long time favourite and has even given birth to it’s own self-titled dance at my parties. Luke’s remix of David Guetta’s track with Kelly Roland When Love Takes Over was followed shortly by similar work for Guetta with Delirious. Finally to seize the set and complete it he revisited Rocking With The Best for one final and long cheer before handing over the reins to fidget house pom Hijack.

Armed with a small CD wallet, a mischievous smile and just a Collins glass of vodka/OJ Laidback Luke showed that it doesn’t take all the bells and whistles to play a spotless set. By layering his own hits with old favourites he blended together a fast moving set, which was an ‘ears-on’ tutorial on how to blow a crowd away. And, like his name suggests Luke put his CD wallet in his backpack, threw it on his back and posed for photos before leaving on what looked as though it could have even been his skateboard; very Laidback indeed.