Lasergun presents Southern Outpost @ Seven, Melbourne (01/11/02)
After hearing both Patrick HAF and Phil Chan of Southern Outpost in Sydney a few months ago and being totally blown away by the way they played and the whole Deepspace gig – when the news was out that they would be playing at Lasergun; to say that I was a little excited was an understatement. Southern Outpost being an all-Australian electro outfit that has had quiet an impact on me, especially since I am a huge fan of electro and Detroit techno, they are the only “local” crew pushing the sound that I am totally passionate about. Saying all this, you may think that this review is a little bias, but this can’t be helped and the ITM Melbourne forums are testament to just how good these two guys were. I knew I was in for a night of deep dark electro, bouncey booty basslines and some techno classics, fused together at an unbelievable pace and consistency and that is exactly what the punters at Seven got.
I arrived at Seven to catch the very end of Gsan – from what I heard, it was a relaxed hip hop laid back kinda vibe, background music for the punters to arrive to. There were a few punters on the floor bustin’ moves, but the majority were at the bar or sitting around having a social chitchat on the couches.
Nic Toupee and Dave Pham were up next for a versus set to warm up the intimate crowd and get them onto the dancefloor. Alternating between an 80’s synth pop sound and the more pure electro beats of UR, AUX 88 and Drexciya. Dave even managed to drop in a little Greenkeepers for a bit of bump and swing on the dancefloor. Toupee played the first delight for the few avid Detroit techno trainspotters with a favourite UR release; Chaos’ Afrogermanic.
Patrick HAF took to the decks first, from the minute he started the pace picked up and the bass got bouncing, for those punters who weren’t in attendance at Dj Godfather, this may have been the first time that they had heard booty tech and electro being played a rapid speed. Patrick’s mixing is quite amazing, frenetic crossing over of tracks, and scratching in perfect time. From the crass vocals of DJ Assault’s Hoes Get Naked to the old techno sounds of Plastikman’s Gak. Patrick took the punters through some serious hi tech funk, a perfect soundscape of old and new sounds; from their own Southern Outpost tracks to UR to Aux 88, to the sounds of Drexciya, and going back to the roots with Kraftwerk’s Tour De France, there was even a small breakdown of what sounded like a deep house tune or rnb vocal. Punters and fellow djs were in awe and everyone was having a ball on the dancefloor, lots of cheers, lots of booty shakin, huge smiles of enjoyment and approval all around.
Phil Chan took over from Patrick, this guy is great to watch, cueing up samples and unreleased material on the CDJ. (Was that a re edit of rnb/rap artist Khia’s My neck, my back?) While Phil was busy on the turntables, Patrick was layering beats over the top of his mix with the MPC. Phil continued on the journey through Detroit techno and electro, The Martian’s Stardancer and Randomn Noise Generation’s Instrument of Change were definitely the highlights of Phil’s part of the set for me, you had the old with the new – Mad Mike’s Inspiration, Jay Denham’s Pride and Technasia’s Force. Musical bliss:P and what better way to end an awesome array of talent and taste; Patrick stepped up and places Devo’s Whip it on the turntables. That really took me back to the days where I would watch my older cousin’s get ready with “cool makeup & clothes” to go out on the town.
We never ever get to hear these tracks played out these days; it takes two people from interstate to take us back to where techno came from, a tribute to where it all started. This night was either a trip down memory lane for some punters or a lesson to others in what was there before, techno and electro in it’s purest of forms. I for one was a just a bit to young to be listening to it “back in the days” and am truly grateful for people like Patrick and Phil who don’t let us forget the roots, pushing a sound in a place that is so far away from it’s inception. Much respect goes out to Patrick and Phil, and the Lasergun crew for a wicked night out in Melbourne.
