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The Friday night chilled out atmosphere that was created at The Gov, gradually transformed into a nightclub with live beats to wake everybody up! DJs Batch and G-Swift set the mood with some smooth house and trance tracks keeping the non-stop beats flowing for the whole night.
Main support act The Levitators delivered a high-energy set that blended their funk, hip-hop, electronic, Latin and techno sounds. There were obvious audio problems for the most part of their set and the MC admitting that they “had no soundcheck” showed their lack of professionalism and also a lack of respect for the audience. The MC Sam Morrison kept the energy high dancing to the music but the cabaret table setup at The Gov created a large divide and prevented the audience from getting on the dance floor when it was clear they wanted to dance. The highlight of their hour-long set was the battle between Nick Ogden on the bongos and Andy McKechnie on the drums, which showcased their talents as well as the fun and personality of the band members. This was my first time seeing The Levitators and I was impressed by their exciting blends of different music genres however they do need to do a sound check.
The Bird had no such trouble getting the audience up on the dancefloor with drummer Ben Walsh demanding the crowd come infrom outside and get up off their chairs so the atmosphere would grow. In the first track, The Bird started with the original duo of Ben Walsh on drums and Simon Durrington on keyboards, and the chilled out Friday night drinks venue was instantly transformed into a live nightclub. The current tour is promoting the new remix album which Simon produced entitled Re-inventions, which was fitting because unfortunately regular bass player Barry Hill could not make the gig due to injury and was replaced by Luke Dubba from Melbourne Hip-Hop outfit Hermitude who remixed one of the tracks for the album.
When Bobby Singh on Tabla was introduced into the mix it brought a unique element of culture and depth to the live drum and bass sounds exploding in the venue. The highlight of the almost two hour long set was Ben and Bobby’s battle, which showcased their love for performing and appreciation of each other’s talents as well as the love of making each other laugh! Halfway through the set Ben announced that he had broken his snare drum, and Andy from The Levitators stepped in with his drum to save the day. Keyboardist Simon who has been playing with The Bird since its conception pointed out that “on our first show its a bit of a tradition that Ben gets too excited and breaks a snare”, to laughs from the whole band.
I am very new to this underground electronic drum and bass scene, but the main thing that The Bird successfully brings to the stage is an overwhelming joy in producing live music. The focus on the music was also shown when Ben asked for the lights to come down as low as possible so “you stop watching and start dancing!”
The atmosphere was electric with every single person up and dancing in the intimate crowd of around 150 people. The Birds enjoyment for the gig was infectious with Ben Walsh commenting that they are “going to keep playing till we get kicked out of here” to the delight of the sweaty happy crowd.
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