Stocks present Fabriq Spring/Summer Fashion Show

Saturday 7th of September 2002

National Science & Technology Centre (Questacon)



It was an ever so cold and blustery Saturday night in our nation’s capital, and people were being drawn towards Questacon, the National Science & Technology Centre… But why do I hear you ask? Because of Fabriq, a Stock Jeans fashion show featuring the likes of DJ Godfather (Detroit, USA), Biz-E (Syd), special guest host and MC, Sleek the Elite (Pizza on SBS). This was the first party to ever be held at Questacon, and with a line up as good as was on offer, looked like being a phenomenal event.



We arrived at around 10:15pm, directed by the huge floodlights lighting up the sky around the venue. Heading up to the entry, we noticed many people smoking outside in the cold, due to Questacon (a government owned building) being a non-smoking venue. Once inside, I was amazed at how the place had been transformed in to what felt like a very large city nightclub; a large open room with plenty of space, lighting attached by steel tresses hanging from the roof, two bars, visuals projected onto walls, and dancing platforms for the hired dancers. It had been set up in the main foyer, as opposed to at the bottom of the spiral ramps, which seemed to work really well. I was mighty impressed initially, but thought I’d wait for the night to progress before passing any judgement.



One of the first things I noticed was the make up of the crowd. A sea of leather jackets, denim, tight tees, short skirts… and alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol. The general population were out in full-force. I then noticed the dancers on their platforms, and found myself not wanting to watch them or their uninspiring dancing for an extended period of time. I managed to recognise a few ITMers around the place, the most noticeable being the group actually DANCING to the music, as opposed to standing around looking at the catwalk, waiting for something to happen. I’d unfortunately missed Milkbar Nick, but I’d managed to arrive just after the beginning of Mexi and Wepon’s versus set, and they didn’t disappoint. Mixing and cutting between various breaks and hip-hop, they played an excellent set that seemed to be suited towards the crowd slightly; nothing too outrageous, and nothing too ear penetrating. I attempted to have a bit of a dance at one stage, before accidentally bumping into someone in the crowd, and receiving a glare that should have turned me to stone.



Around 11pm, Ben Henderson took control of the decks, and continued along the hip-hop road nicely, which seemed to suit the crowd at the time. We decided to go for a bit of a wander outside, met up with some friends, and headed back in to find the lights dimmed and bassy tech-house filling the building.



A quarter of an hour later, the music quietened, and Sleek the Elite stormed out onto the catwalk, attempting to liven up the evening with his crass humour and piss-poor rapping. A few minutes later, the fashion show began. I was pleasantly surprised to find that instead of a show with models simply walking up and down the catwalk, it comprised of the models dancing around to Ben’s mixing. At one stage, Ben flawlessly mixed Tom Middleton’s huge track, Cosmos – Take Me With You, and New Order’s classic Blue Monday, definitely a highlight of the night.



Just before midnight, the fashion show finished, much to the delight of the crowd who burst out in applause.



A few minutes of not much passed by, and then at 12pm Ben Henderson resumed his set, starting back up with some very funky techno, not often heard in the likes of Canberra. His set continued this way, the track selection excellent, however, Ben’s mixing seemed to be very average at times. By this stage, the crowd had dispersed slightly, and lo and behold, some people began to dance. 1am arrived, and I waited for DJ Godfather to start his two hour set as had been billed earlier in the day; however, Ben continued to play, churning out some fine Detroit tech. A few minutes later, Ben completely changes genres without attempting to beat match at all, and began to mix some breaks which really didn’t seem to suit the moment. Just before 1:30, he plays Gaetano Parisio’s Advanced Series 1, a great electro breaks track which springs me back to life, before going back into some plodding breaks track. At times his mixing was faultless, but the majority of the time, it was very average.



All of a sudden, Ben’s plodding breaks track starts to be scratched over, is quickly pitched it up, and the yell, “If this don’t make your booty move…” comes over the speakers. The Godfather had begun.



To explain how good DJ Godfather was is incredibly difficult. Within the first five or so minutes of DJ Godfather’s set, I’d heard such great vocal lines as “ass, titties, ass and titties…”, “tight pussy, big fat dick…”, and “so make your thighs like butter, easy to spread…” It was exactly what I expected, and it was exceptional. He was tricking it up throughout, with phat scratching and uber-quick mixing. It was incredibly disappointing to not be able to see him work his moves because of the location of the DJ booth, but just before 2am, a video camera was set up, and we were able to witness some amazing turntablism. Godfather continued to amaze me, quick mixing and never leaving a record on the plates for much more than a minute or two, scratching brand new records into the mix in a matter of seconds, and beat juggling between two copies of the same record, making for some memorable “assassassassassass” moments.



At 2:40am he finished, only playing an hour and ten minute long set. This was disappointing, as he was initially billed as playing a two hour set. I’d heard on a JJJ interview earlier in the week that he never played sets longer than an hour and a half. Then on top of that, to only play that short a set was a huge let down.



I noticed a DJ Rush record being placed on the turntables just before the end of DJ Godfather’s set, and I then realised that Biz-E was about to begin his stint. He hurtled straight into some slamming tech, before supplying us with some more techno courtesy of Recycled Loops… but where was the electro-clash? Tonight’s set was supposed to be Biz-E’s debut electro-clash set (think Felix Da Housecat, Tiga & Zyntherius, and Fischerspooner). He kept along the techno road for the next 20 mins or so, but by that stage, the days work, little sleep, and the disappointment of no electro-clash became all too much, and we decided to call it a night.



On the whole, the night seemed to be lacking a certain something. The crowd wasn’t always friendly; there were little annoyances, like the complete lack of seating anywhere inside. It didn’t seem intimate enough which really would have suited the night. Things that were seemingly promised that just didn’t occur. The night would have been a great night if it weren’t for these; instead, it was just good.