- Renaissance this year will go down as one of the best shows that they have put on for years. They took a big gamble when they decided that this relatively unknown 23 year old to Australian fans would tour instead of the likes of Dave Seaman and Timo Maas who have previously plied their trade for the well respected brand name. Now they face the problem of pleasing fans that are going to continuously plead for Renaissance to bring James Zabiela out year after year.
On arrival, I was quite keen to check out the venue. It was an interesting layout to say the least – long and narrow. I found it quite concerning when I felt the ground rumble beneath me but I put it at the back of my mind and prayed that it would hold the shit loads of people that turned up to see the young lad from Southampton ply his trade. The sound I felt was pretty good towards the front, and perhaps not as good towards the rear, but what can you do. It was a bit hot too, but that was probably due to the amount of people in there.
Then James came on, and all the little uncomfortable issues seem to float away. What can be said of that 5 hour set that hasn’t been said already. It was a great journey (had to use that term) of breaks, house, tech, progressive and any other genre I can throw in. While many were impressed with his technical abilities, that wasn’t the thing that attracted me the most from his set (even though his technical feats really did add another element to the set). The way the set flowed really impressed me. Not once during the 5 hours did I get a little bored, which is very bloody impressive in itself. It’s not often a DJ can keep you totally focused on the music like James did. After pumping myself up by listening to his ‘Sound in Motion’ mix on numerous occasions before the gig – it was amazing to hear some of the tunes on the album on a nice sound system. Whether it was the horrifically evil baselines of James’ very own remix of Dave Brennan’s “Drink Deep”, or the weird and twisted nature of Ant’s “Process Cyan”, it all seemed to gel together and made a lot of sense. “Acid Attack” by The Silence definitely worked the magic on the dance floors as did the baseline of Dave Robertson’s mix of PJ Davy’s “Freezing Point”. And what about THOSE baselines – you sense that under the innocent smiles there is a dark and twisted side to James that he is not letting anyone in on. I guess the records did the talking. He couldn’t have ended his set any better either. After doing his live mashup of Wavy Gravy and Enjoy The Silence, you would think that James couldn’t finish any better, but he again surprised us all by unleashing a really hot remix of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus”. Brilliant.
I promised myself I would check out Robbie Loewe throw down some classic Renaissance tunes but you can blame James for not letting me leave the main room for the whole night. I have heard, however, that Robbie impressed on the night as he does oh so often these days.
What else can be said really? It was a brilliant set from start to finish, and something tells me that James will be back on our shores in the not too distant future. If anything, his upcoming cd that I mentioned is due out on Hooj Records on the 2nd of July, and I can honestly say that if you loved his sets round Australia, then you will love this cd to death. Be sure to get this album as it will hopefully satisfy you until the smiling assassin returns to our shores.