- For a large scale event run by Future Entertainment, one of Australia’s most respected promoters, Godskitchen unfortunately ended up being pretty average. Micky Slim didn’t even make it into the country due to visa issues, Alex Gaudino didn’t play in Sydney for some reason (rumours are abound as to why, but I’m writing a review, not a gossip column so it’s not my place to say), two rooms didn’t even get opened, the sound in the main room was well below Home’s usual standard, and some of the internationals failed to perform. But, that being said, it’s not that it was all that bad, it just wasn’t good enough to justify the hype.
Opening the main room in unusual fashion, Jumping Jack played a technically tight, but somewhat inappropriate warm up set. Despite mixing extremely well, his set just built up far too quickly and he ended up playing way too hard for someone in charge of the opening set. Cranking uplifting trance at 10.30 p.m. just seems inappropriate, particularly when a brand such as Godskitchen has always prided itself on the “journey”: starting off in deep, warm, progressive territory and building to harder sounds as the night moves on.
The Thrillseekers did what any good international would do and followed on from Jumping Jack’s lead. Lots of slamming uplifting trance peppered with occasional techy bassline-driven bangers was the order of the day, with classics such as Perpetual Dreamer’s 'The Sound Of Goodbye', Chicane’s 'Saltwater' and the Ferry Corsten remix of his own track 'Synaesthesia' getting a huge response from the crowd. Although in terms of mixing and phasing he wasn’t overly proficient, The Thrillseekers still did a fantastic job of amping up the crowd and played one of the most well received sets of the night.
In the meantime Matttt and Tomassss were on warmup duties in the Ikon room. While one could question the appropriateness of the style of music they were playing for a “warm up” set, one can’t question their ability to get a crowd on the dancefloor, nor their skills behind the decks. Dark, rolling, twisted percussive tech grooves and splashes of electro house characterized their set, with the major highlight being Dubfire’s massive headfucker 'Ribcage'.
Kurd Maverick took over from Matttt and Tomassss and immediately changed the vibe of the room’s music, but thankfully didn’t lose the now substantial crowd. Preferring to take more of a funky, bouncy edge, Maverick took the crowd on a journey through the new school sounds of New York, opening with a fantastic remix of 'Crispy Bacon' by Laurent Garnier. Technically, Maverick was on fire, mixing absolutely perfectly, and probably displayed the best skills of any DJ on the night, barring maybe Richard Durand. Unfortunately, his set just felt like it didn’t go anywhere. There was no real progression to the sounds he was playing: one track after another had the same stabby, bouncy bassline and soulful vocals, and after about an hour, it really felt like he’d had the same track on a loop for the last sixty minutes.
Meanwhile, M.I.K.E. was in charge of the decks in the mainroom, and was playing a sterling set which unfortunately just wasn’t being appreciated by the crowd. Starting off with dark, throbbing melodic techno, he segued into crunchy progressive and tech trance, dropping bombs such as Deadmau5’s monstrous 'Not Exactly' and his own track 'Into The Danger'. But when it became quite clear the crowd just weren’t open minded enough to appreciate something that wasn’t banging uplifting trance, M.I.K.E. changed tack and played what they wanted to hear. In some ways it was a disappointment, as those who have been following him in recent years know that he’s easily at the forefront of the tech/progressive trance scene and it was a shame he didn’t stick to his guns, but you can’t blame him for adapting his set to the crowd and doing what a DJ is meant to do. I suppose when you’ve had a warm up DJ play an inappropriate set of banging tunes which the first international then took as a starting point for their set, it was always going to be hard to imagine M.I.K.E.’s sound really going down all that well. Perhaps Future should have really thought a little harder about who they put on at what time.
Upstairs in the Ikon Room, Bodyrox were playing what can only be described as cheese mixed very badly. Flavour of the month electro house pretty much dominated their set, and yes, THAT track got played ('Yeah Yeah' if you’re not sure which track I mean). Little more needs to be said, really.
Rank 1 followed on from M.I.K.E. and continued with the heavy uplifting vibes, dropping lots of anthems including his own tracks 'Airwave' and 'A Life Less Ordinary' as well as Cosmic Gate’s remix of 'Fly Away' by Vincent De Moor. It wasn’t anything groundbreaking, but it was appropriate and suitable for the timeslot, and his mixing couldn’t be faulted.
Heading upstairs to see Alex Gaudino, an excellent house DJ who despite commercial success with his track 'Destination Calabria' tends to play quite underground sounds as a DJ, I was greeted with Bodyrox again. After hearing Gaudino wouldn’t be playing, it was back downstairs to the mainroom for Richard Durand.
Durand played an excellent set, and of all the trance DJs on the night, was probably my personal favourite. Bucking the trend of the evening’s proceedings and embracing the true Godskitchen ethos, Durand blended melodic sounds with tough, driving techy vibes, all held together by a common theme of groove and subtlety. Tracks such as Tiësto’s 'Flight 643' and 'Lethal Industry' were definite highlights, as was watching this extremely technically proficient DJ get well and truly busy behind the decks. Mixing, cutting, sampling and generally doing things that needed to be seen to be believed like an absolute madman, Durand put just about every other headliner to shame with his skills. In short, he was an excellent way to end the night and have punters leave the party in a good mood.
Overall, then it wasn’t that this was a bad night. It was, in reality, probably no better or worse than an average night out. It’s just unfortunate it was hyped up so much that what was actually an ordinary night felt like a sub-par one. It was pretty disappointing to hear basically nothing but uplifting trance in the main room all night until the final set, especially given Godskitchen’s ethos of pushing the boundaries within the genre. I’d be reluctant to return to another Godskitchen in Sydney after this one, but I think everyone deserves a second chance.