Dexter kicked off his XX World Tour with a pre-launch and listening party, in the courtyard of The Kiss FM during 100% Phat’s MJ show on Thursday night. This was a great way of giving the people a taste of what’s to come for a celebration of what the man himself calls his “first twenty years in the biz.” [sic]

From the courtyard you can see Dexter himself, personified on the wall of the adjacent building, with other big names who have dropped by, including Spinderella, Scratch, Redman and others. Dexter has well and truly earned his place on that wall, even without his four Australian DMC and 2000 DMC World Championship placings through years of dedication to the sound. Spinning since the age of 12, Dexter has clocked up twenty years behind the deks with projects like The Avalanches, Grrilla Step and Curse The Machines as well as his remixing project of artists like The Chemical Brothers and Beastie Boys.

On this night, he played his favourite bits and pieces from his collection, treating his old skool fans by dropping in some reggae, dub-step and classics. You could not even tell that one track had finished before you realized that it was halfway through the next one already – quote impressive on vinyl in this digital age. A display of breakdancing from some talented dancers was no mean feat in the Clubhouse space.

Having already heard Dexter play recently, I felt extra spoiled to get a double dose of this man. Not only did he re-live defining moments of the past, he still had plenty of tricks up his sleeve ready to challenge the sound of the future.

Kiss FM definitely gave Dexter a damn good launch party with a few beers and AGWA shots in there to make the night sing. We should feel lucky that this is a celebration of his first twenty years as an artist and, as 100% Phat was keen to point out, “not a goodbye tour”.