As Mikah Freeman so nicely put it, The Aston Shuffle playing at Academy was like a “homecoming”. It was only four years ago that these local lads busted onto the Canberra dance music scene. Since then the guys have been busy building up a solid reputation for themselves, playing mash ups and remixes of indie and electro and anything in between. Their discography boasts singles including the hits For Everyone and I Wanna See You; in addition to featuring on several Ministry of Sound compilations.

The Destroy Tour is yet another addition to The Aston Shuffle’s showcase of stardom. This time ‘round Mikah and Vance’s latest project involved teaming up with Italian electro heavyweights, The Bloody Beetroots to produce an album of “reckless electro”. To help launch their new release was a night of madness at Canberra’s super-club, Academy.

On arrival to the venue around 11.00pm, I noticed the swarm of busy punters who were already dancing, drinking and setting the party wheels in motion. VJ Jim Medcraft was working the visuals on the big screen as red and white streamers tiered from the high ceiling. There were plenty of young ‘freshies’ who filled the dance floor, drenching the airwaves with a strong scent of perfume, and a few of us ‘oldies’ (original fans of The Aston Shuffle) who were ready for night of electro mayhem.

The support set saw local Pang! DJ Cheese grace the decks with his cheeky grin and swag of cleverly composed set full of electro-house tunes. He certainly hyped the crowd up with mixes of Miike Snow’s Animal and Mark Ronson’s Bang, Bang, Bang. There was even a taste of Vanilla Ice...Cheese playing the ‘cheese’ at its absolute best!

As 1.00am approached the club was teeming with keen partiers who swarmed around the decks as The Aston Shuffle stepped into the spotlight. As Mikah had mentioned before the show, they had “something special planned for the start”. I was not disappointed as the line “Turn off the smoke machine, I wanna see you” played whilst smoke filled the stage. (Nice touch!) The set was off to a great start as the crowd responded enthusiastically.

What I always have admired about The Aston Shuffle is that they are friendly, animated guys who are modest about what they do. As they open the show, they greet the crowd, then aim to build up energy and excitement throughout the set by encouraging the punters to dance, sing and put their hands up in the air. They ooze full fun!

On this night especially, they were off to a racing start with Vance and Mikah alternating turns on the decks, producing a meaty, raw, yet polished sound. The set was moving at a good pace and they used lots of great samples, which kept me on my toes – guessing what would be next. I liked how the guys put their own crunchy spin on each track, giving it their own personalised flavour. A standout tune was the mix of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Heads Will Roll. I freaking love that song! The crowd was definitely most pumped at this point as many danced on top of the tables and VJ booth. Unfortunately, as the set unfolded it began to replicate a ‘Ministry’ sound. in that the tunes were beginning to be hit-after-hit. This was different to what I thought would be included or expected – given the content of the Destroy album. Tunes like Yolando Be Cool & D-Cup’s We Don’t Speak No Americana, Bag Raiders’ Shooting Star and Ou Est Le Swimming Pool’s _Dance The Way I Fee_l turned the set into more of a plug for Sessions 7 rather than the Destroy tour. Not that these were ‘bad’ song choices – I guess I was left questioning their purpose. As The Aston Shuffle moved into the second hour their set started to change direction, transforming into more of a grimy electro sound, similar to what is true of the Destroy album. They also included a few classics like Benny Bennassi’s Satisfaction and Basements Jaxx’s Where’s Your Head At?

Although I enjoyed the contrast of the different approaches amongst the set, perhaps there could have been another way to mesh all the ideas together to create more continuity. Furthermore, I was disappointed that there was barely any focus on The Bloody Beetroots’ mixes apart from Mitsubitchi. Even though I did enjoy the night, I wasn’t left in amazement. I guess I would have liked to have heard more of their original work, especially in anticipation of their own album expected to be released later this year.