Billing itself as a ‘boutique’ festival, Low:Fi managed to bring the sounds of the burgeoning underground music scenes of hip-hop, drum n bass and dubstep together for a block party style event that stood in stark contrast to the overly commercialised festivals that have overtaken the electronic dance music scene in the last few years. Knowledge Music, the promotions team behind the event have a very well deserved reputation for bringing respected up and coming and established artists to Australia and specifically Perth; thus Low:Fi, with its impressive line-up and unique location promised and succeeded in creating an exciting and refreshing addition to the Perth festival calendar. Utilising three venues in Northbridge (the Deen, the Shed and the street between the two, Aberdeen street) meant Low:Fi seemed a logistical nightmare. Yet despite the obvious festival issues surrounding queues, line-up times etc. the day went off smoothly, with little to zero major problems. Indeed the biggest issue in my opinion seemed to be the threat the heat and sun posed to the punters.

The first two hours of the afternoon saw some of Perth’s most talented DJs plus a couple of internationals getting the slowly increasing crowd warmed up and pumped for the ensuing evening antics. Rregula’s set in the Deen back room was a particular highlight; very tight mixing and a varied track selection, reflecting the skill that has led Rregula to international recognition over the last few years.

By 4:00pm the crowd numbers really started to pick up as the first of the headlining acts began their respective sets/performances. Inside the main room of the Deen for Calyx & TeeBee, two of drum n bass’ most popular artists/DJ’s, in particular got very crowded and hot; quickly making it almost unbearable to withstand. Yet many persevered and were treated to a performance that went above and beyond the usual DJ experience. Calyx & TeeBee manning two decks and a mixer each demonstrated to a very engaging crowd the level of their mixing ability; dropping track after track from their ‘Anatomy’ LP as well as some classic tunes from their respective wealth of experience in the drum n bass scene. While the dnb fiends were roasting in the Deen the punters on the street were being treated to some quality track choices from the likes of MJ Cole, bringing some early UK Garage vibes and wobbly house to a crowd definitely unfamiliar with such styles of music though nonetheless impressed.

Following on from Calyx & TeeBee was one half of Cambridge drum n bass duo Commix. Commix took things very deep during his set, swapping the constant build-ups and drops associated with the neurofunk dnb sound for more extended mixes and a track listing that while varied largely failed to register with most of the crowd. Some early mixing in the form of Logistics ‘Jungle Music’ into Commix own ‘Belleview’ got the crowd jumping about, and some of Commix other tracks including ‘Satellite type 2’ and ‘Be True’ invoked a massive sing and dance along from the crowd that invoked hazy memories of Commix last appearance on New Year’s Eve two years ago.

The crowd levels inside the Deen started to drop significantly towards the end of Commix set, largely due to security refusing re-entry into the main room of the Deen from the back room without lining out the front of the venue in the street; furthermore apparently the bouncers weren’t allowing punters in at the front (including from what I heard those with VIP, media and even an artists lanyard) resulting in a half empty room during the last half of Commix’ set. Yet despite these issues and an extended 25 minutes for Commix as QBert found his way to the stage, the crowd numbers soon were bolstered as scratch sensation QBert and MC Supernatural took over. QBert, perched upon two road cases so as to reach his decks was as to be expected an absolute madman upon the turntables, the crowd really got into his groove at points, yet sound and technical issues and a rather lacklustre performance from MC supernatural dampened the atmosphere somewhat during his set.

Thankfully over in the dubstep area in the back room of the Deen welcome respite came in the form of Canadian producer/DJ Excision. Excision has been absolutely tearing it up of late, as his set on Sunday and four weeks earlier at Shape nightclub can attest to. The crowd were loving the very heavy vibes and sounds being thrown about; a dubstep vibe that seems to border on heavy metal head banging riffs at points, and again despite some occasional sound issues Excision’s set went off without a hitch; indeed his own production collaboration with Datsiks, ‘Swagga’ sent the crowd into a 2-step stomping moshpit that was a pleasure to be a part of.

A quick foray outside allowed witness to a rather hectic scene as TC and Jakes brought the sounds of drum n bass cheese to the masses on the street stage. TC has a deserved reputation for being a very mainstream dnb artist, yet one can still appreciate his position as an ambassador of the sound. His mixing was spot on, even if the tracklisting left a little to be desired; a half hour foray into the depths of dubstep left some in the crowd confused but showcased how close these two genres have become over the last few years. Honestly I was glad to make my way back to the dubstep room as overall despite some skills behind the decks TC is in dire need of a record collection upgrade and his set was expectedly disappointing.

Welcome relief overcame me as one of the pioneers of dubstep and a true legend of the scene, Loefah took to the decks on the dubstep stage, setting up to DJ with serato timecodes and his laptop. Loefah kept the first half of his set strictly for the heads, dropping some really early dubstep tracks with some new rollers that kept everyone skanking along nicely. Some highlights for me included hearing Red Eye by Coki and Rufage by Loefah getting dropped amongst the mayhem. As Loefah had been on the bill to be performing with fellow dubstep legend and co-DMZ label-head Coki, there was some confusion as to this situation when Coki didn’t show till over an hour into Loefah’s set. Yet he did eventually arrive bringing with him some MC accompaniment as Loefah took it a bit more mainstream with the likes of tunes from Chase & Status and The Bug. Ten minutes before nights close saw Coki step up to the decks to have just a quick mix, and what a result! Using that time to drop ‘Night’, a track ranking as one of the biggest dubstep tunes ever released; appropriately the room exploded into a sea of flailing arms and bouncing at getting to witness such tuneage in little old Perth!

Unfortunately I only managed to catch bits and pieces of the headlining acts show; yet from what I saw and heard from friends Nas was on top of his game, showing why he is widely regarded as one of the kings of East Coast rap. His accompanying band was very tight, and Nas delivered his lyrics with all the flow and showmanship one could expect. Some highlights were seeing an extended mix of NY State of Mind as well as other choice cuts from Nas’ debut album Illmatic getting played to a crowd that were loving every minute of it. More disappointment seemed to overwhelm me at having to miss out on Shockone, Kito and Rekab provide the closing DJ sets for the last few hours at the upstairs Deen room; yet I’m confident enough to say that all three would have smashed the dance floor to pieces; in my mind these three artists/DJ’s are truly representing the face of Perth edm both nationally and internationally at the moment.

Overall I felt the day was hugely successful; albeit, to many punters, issues regarding queues and not being able to get into venues to see a certain artist were a significant problem. Furthermore there were many complaints at the venue and later posted online regarding the attitudes and heavy-handedness of the site security and bouncers. Obviously it must suck to work while everyone else is partying, however that shouldn’t give an employee an excuse or chance to be an asshole to patrons who have paid to attend an event. Yet these security staff issues can hardly be a reflection of Knowledge Music or others involved; and these gripes aside I’m certain that a vast majority of the attendees left very satisfied. And why wouldn’t they? With a line-up such as Low:Fi boasted, coupled with a well constructed artist/stage ratio there was little to dampen the positive vibe of the day.