“That was absolutely mental!” is exactly what my +1 and I exclaimed after we were blown away by Pendulum at the Tivoli on Wednesday night. It may not come as a surprise to many dance music aficionados that drum & bass is bloody fast. So fast, in fact, you’d think you are getting a workout just listening to it. I’ll elaborate on that in a minute.

Yes, people – our homegrown stalwarts of dance music, Pendulum have come home to show us how to throw a proper drum & bass party. Going from stride to stride, Pendulum have taken the world – especially the Queen’s country – by storm with their proprietary interpretation of drum & bass.

For those of you new to the Tivoli, it is considered to be one of Brisbane’s special venues. The place really has a sense of grandeur about it with an intimate setting that many concerts lack these days. From the austere chandelier settings, to the peculiar yet inviting wall decorations, all these build up the venue’s character. Even the newest of punters (like us) would feel right at home with the warm facade and the joy of exploring a very inviting (and cavernous) upper and lower floor-plan.

A well thought-out acoustic set-up would make even the most mundane sounds feel warm and natural all the while giving us bass-heads that big sound we crave. It was 8:30 pm when my +1 and I arrived, and the main act was yet to hit the stage. The crowd’s eagerly growing anticipation was sated albeit temporarily by support DJ Shockone.

Punters were definitely feeling this set, which consisted of drum & bass classics, as well as a very interesting remix of Bloody Beetroots’ seminal Warp 1.9. Towards the end of his set, we could feel the surge in the crowd’s energy. After all, he had just dropped a very cool remix of Florence & The Machine’s award-winning Rabbit Heart.

The very intense, very passionate crowd could not hold itself together in anticipation of the mayhem that was to ensue with Swire and co’s cue to stage. In-between moments consisted of the simple yet effective chant, “Pen-du-lum, Pen-du-lum” and some interesting crowd occurrences. The highlight of our crowd-watching was being in the middle of a random crowd maul by a 300-pound man. Once we recovered, we knew that the night was going to get just a tad more rowdy – we were ready for the onslaught.

When they finally came on, Pendulum stayed true to their drum & bass roots with lead man Rob Swire excelling in keeping the crowd in a frenzy with his manic UK-style MC style. They led the night with their onslaught of classics including Granite from In Silico and their rendition of Prodigy’s phenomenal Voodoo People. It was obvious, however, that the people were eager to ‘bounce’ to tracks from their most recent album, Immersion. As Rob said early on in their act, “We’ll give you back as much as you give us”. Indeed, the excited Brisbane crowd gave Pendulum its all – and more.

As the night progressed, the crowd’s energy levels burst to new levels. It was a glorious pit of sweat, shouting and jumping – all the ingredients we needed to move our bodies like there’s no tomorrow. All this – I am certain – got us burning those pesky beer and chocolate calories we accrued at the start of the night. Perhaps we have an enjoyable alternative to crash diets at our hands…