The Hot Natured show at Perth venue The Court had been long anticipated. Due to restrictions of the open-air venue, proceedings at The Court kicked off early at 7pm with local support from Richard Lee, Garth Kates, Luke Pervical and Carlos, who coaxed in the growing crowd with some seductive house sounds.

The main act, DJ duo Hot Natured, didn’t appear on the raised stage until well after the scheduled kick off of 9pm. Anticipation had built, but I’m sure the experienced Jamie, of Crosstown Rebels fame, and Lee, a Chicago original, felt no pressure as they seamlessly rolled through a work out of low slung house for the next three or so hours.

The crowd probably peaked around midnight, grooving on the floor and across the packed stage – everyone seemed to be having a damn good time. Hot Natured mixed between turntables and CDJs aided by Traktor Scratch and Serato as punters became hypnotized by the disco-necessary hand claps, warbling bass lines, mechanical snares and filters and effects that repeatedly induced cheers and hands-in-the-air moments.

This night was a display of quality house with very thick walls. Bass lines rattled rib cages as the boys played songs like the very fresh Storm Queen release It Goes On, and the key driven bomb After All by Franck Roger and Mandel Turner. Anthems were mixed with fillers that appeared to use filtered and dubbed out samples of Where’s Your Head At?, Da Funk and Billie Jean, keeping the crowd whistling, creeping and cheering.

It’s hard to pick out a flaw in the gig – venue and crowd were both good, my only real criticism is of Lee himself. While Jamie never stopped bopping in the booth Lee had a pretty vacant look on his face for the majority of the time that could be interpreted as “get me outta here”. Every now and then a mix would squeeze some emotion from Mr. Foss, followed by a fist pump and an out of sync clap. The selection of tunes, however, was near perfect.