Stereosonic live preview

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JackT

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Fri 27th Aug, 2010 in Features

The Stereosonic 2010 bill has proven a big hit with the inthemix community, and for good reason. While Australia eagerly anticipates the arrival of Tiesto, Ricardo Villalobos, Carl Cox and the rest, they’re busy leaving clubs and festivals reeling across the Northern Hemisphere. In the spirit of living vicariously, we thought we’d see where some of the line-up’s DJ drawcards are at, and take a punt at what they’ll be packing down here…

TIESTO

Given his string of arena shows back in summer sold out with no trouble, Tiesto headlining a festival is a big deal. “They were Tiesto shows, but this will be a whole new experience,” was the word from the Dutchman. Pyrotechnics and dazzling production are a given, but what of the music?

Tiesto in festival mode has never been just for the trance heads, particularly post Kaleidoscope. “My sets are much more eclectic and I can pound out the stuff I’m into; if that is an Afrojack track or a Sebastian Ingrosso track,” he told us.

The other thing that will ensure Tiesto is a bombastic festival closer is his army of fans, who won’t be going quietly into the night. For a taste of that eclecticism he’s preaching, check out Tiesto in full swing at his big day out in London.

RICARDO VILLALOBOS

Ricardo Villalobos seems such an unlikely ‘superstar DJ’, but a superstar DJ he undoubtedly is. The level of adoration for the man around Europe leaves little room for downtime in his calendar – let alone a 24-hour long haul down under – so his appearance at Stereosonic is worth rejoicing over.

Dissected by academics at the same time he’s splashed across Ibiza billboards, there’s a myth to the man that even he seems often bemused by. However, despite the party Trojan reputation, he’s a purist when it comes to DJing. Villalobos is obsessed with sound and devoted to vinyl.

Like Richie Hawtin, though, he’s also adaptable, and at a festival he shouldn’t be underestimated. It’s harder to pick what he’ll play than anyone else on this list, but expect it to be heady and a little bit unhinged.

SEBASTIAN INGROSSO

Swedish House Mafioso, Kylie ring-in, Pacha Ibiza resident, reality TV star – Sebastian Ingrosso is a man in demand. Let’s be honest, though: it doesn’t look like unpleasant work.

When he’s not gallivanting around the globe (which isn’t very often), Ingrosso keeps up an impressive work-rate in studio. His productions alongside Axwell and Steve Angello set their sights squarely on moving massive festival crowds, with recent banger One (Your Name) recruiting Pharrell Williams to lend his vocals to the surging build-ups and drops. In short, it’s a track that goes to 11.

The same is true of Ingrosso’s DJ sets as well. You can’t help but notice a trance-y edge to the main room bangers in his arsenal. “Trance and melodies are coming back and they’re also combining,” the man confirms. “I think people are tired of big breakdowns that come back to nothing. Plus vocals are definitely coming back. But not cheesy vocals, they have to be real.”

If proof was needed that Ingrosso and his Swedish House Mafia pals are entertainers first and foremost, the rather epic ‘after-movie’ from Tomorrowland in Belgium should provide it. Very memorable line from Ingrosso at the three minute mark, too…

BENNY BENASSI

Last seen here in 2006, Benny Benassi is one of those producers who just keeps on keeping on. He’s still releasing high-charting singles, but like Fedde Le Grand, his DJ sets aren’t always in line with the feel of his more commercial productions. He gave a sense of that on his Toolroom Knights compilation last year and holds down a coveted residency at Pacha in New York.

We imagine when faced with an up-for-it crowd in the sunshine, Benassi won’t be dabbling on the dark side. His defining single Satisfaction was recently given a once-over by fellow Stereosonic stars Afrojack, and it’s fair to say it’ll get a reaction something like the one in the Ultra Music Festival video below.

CALVIN HARRIS

After his excitable full band shows on the Big Day Out tour back in January, Stereosonic will see Calvin Harris in DJ mode. Which, it should be noted, doesn’t make him any less excitable. So, what to expect when the Scottish star fires up his laptop?

The recent Mixmag cover-mount CD he did to promote the L.E.D Festival in London gives some clue. The mix whips through tracks and remixes by Axwell, Afrojack, Voodoo Chilli (the bassbin-troubling link-up between Herve and Trevor Loveys) and Eric Prydz – got the general idea? It’ll be brash and party-ready, with of course some on-the-fly versions of I’m Not Alone, The Girls et al. Music to dance to, basically.

CARL COX

Is there any other international DJ as indispensible to Australian festivals as Carl Cox? The effervescent techno don continues to be met by cheers every time his name appears on a line-up, and it’s not hard to see why. In 2010, he’s still a master of the big rooms, and does it all with a DJ wallet that avoids the cheesy excesses of some of his fellow Ibiza fixtures.

This season, Cox is looming large on the White Isle with his new Tuesday night at Space, The Revolution Continues. Joined by seasoned hands like Loco Dice, Dubfire and Danny Tenaglia, he’s intending to make Ibiza clubbing more about the dancefloor, and less about pandering to ‘VIPs’. Or in his own words: “We wanted to prove that dance music was still a cause worth fighting for.”

As the video from Hyperspace below reminds us, he loves banging it out to a hyped-up crowd. His weapons of choice continue to come from the likes of Marco Bailey, Umek and Joey Beltram (with the occasional curveball you might not expect), and cavernous rooms are his natural habitat. Bring it on, we say.

JEFF MILLS

It has been six long years since techno futurist Jeff Mills last paid us a visit. It was a tour that bore all the man’s hallmarks: dexterous mixing across CDJs and vinyl, integrated visuals, 909 workouts, and of course the ecstatic peak of The Bells.

In the time since, he has settled in as a regular at We Love Space in Ibiza, while making select appearances at venues with sound-systems worthy of his powers like Sub Club in Glasgow and London’s Fabric. His festival appearances have been even rarer, which makes the Stereosonic booking quite a coup.

The DJ welcomed in 2010 at Japan’s famed Womb, where he debuted the Sleeper Wakes show. It involves Mills commanding a sci-fi stage set-up, kneeling down in full view to mix on equipment that’s set into the floor. The concept was extended to Berlin’s Tresor in April, with Mills stretching his techno masterwork over seven hours. As the man himself describes in the Tugobot interview below, “People are wanting to be taken away. It’s my job to prescribe the scenario for this.”

And you’d probably only hear this line out of Jeff Mills: “It doesn’t always have to be the top ten tracks on Beatport or the flavour of the day; it can just be about a vision that you have about the year 2050 in New York.”

At Stereosonic, though, we’ll be getting Mills in well-oiled festival mode. His short-form sets can be just as sensorially intense, beginning with atmospheric soundscapes and building swiftly to towering techno. The video of Mills in peaktime mode working the Roland TR 909 should take you close to the thumping floor at Stereosonic.