- Heading off to my first ever Earthcore, I had no idea what to expect; I just knew I was in for an unforgettable adventure. The lineup this year was astounding including internationals such as Juno Reactor, S.I. Futures, James Monroe, Trance Generators, Schwarze Puppen, Andreas Krämer, Reefer Decree, Gwill Morris, James Holden and many more. Add to this the excitement of seeing Melbourne’s DJs in a different environment, and the history Earthcore carries as Victoria’s premiere outdoor party, and the scene was set for an exciting time!
Setting off for the new venue in an extinct volcano in the countryside west of Ballarat, we had Speedy J on the stereo and a friend’s car in our revision mirror. Half the fun of Earthcore for this first timer was just escaping the city limits for a weekend. The instructions to get to the venue from the Earthcore website were nice and clear and we made it to the property gate after a long drive of nearly three hours. The anticipation of getting there took a slight dint as we waited in the long procession of cars as tickets were checked, but once that was done we followed the road along the ridge to see below us a giant crater with tents erected all around the edge and cars parked amongst them. In the middle of the crater was a jumble of giant circus tents, lights and people. We had made it and just before sunset!!
We set up our tents, sorted our gear, and headed down into the base of the crater to explore all the stages and get our bearings. First stop was the main stage, surprisingly open and with a great sound system. Nirav had a small crowd of people rockin’ to his sounds. We gave two thumbs up for the cranking yet clear sound system at the main stage and the other ones. Next it was around to the Pharmacy tent, a huge covered tent that was to be crammed with dancing people all night, and then the Hydra Trance floor, which was similarly rocking through until the early morning next day. We also stumbled on the chill tent in the very middle of the crater, a lovely space with visuals on screens, soft lighting and hay bales to sit on, and the occasional performance.
I spent most of my Earthcore moving between the Fractured/Sunny stage and the main stage, so I’ll just sum up the acts I saw there. Ransom was playing in the Fractured/Sunny caravan when I got to that stage, drawn there by the sounds of Ils “Musique” traveling on the night air. Ransom in typical style was mixing it up across the whole spectrum of breaks tonight, including a new tune by Brewster B! EK followed on playing a live set, fresh from his UK and US tours, and with plenty of new material. I wasn’t too sure about the guy MCing over EK’s set though. I can’t say I liked his form. Brewster B, however, was in amazing form. Every time I see him he astounds me by pushing the edge that bit more, this time by dropping a new tune with the phattest of basslines and a weirdarse Middle Eastern vocal. The punters loved it!
At 11:30 pm it was time to run around to the main stage for one of the acts I had come to Earthcore specifically to see, Infusion, and they never disappoint. This was the first time I had since them since Dave Seaman’s Global Underground CD launch, and their tour overseas. Tighter than ever and playing with all their energy, Infusion drew a huge crowd of fans and won over a lot of new ones. Manny’s vocals moved the crowd and had the fans singing along and dancing up a storm. Their live show was a definite Earthcore highlight!
S.I. Futures followed on from Infusion. He was one I had been waiting to see but for this fan his live set just didn’t do it. The sounds were quite minimal after Infusion, and while interesting with samples, loops, beeps and squelches as he worked with furious concentration over his laptop and other equipment I couldn’t stay around all set. Breaks basslines had me smiling, small changes had me listening, but in the end it just didn’t move me so it was off for another lap of all the stages and a nap.
In the early hours of the morning I managed to catch a few songs of Disko Pussy’s set on the main stage, Phil Kieran’s “Vitalian House” making mye dance my way down the crater to the stage. I also heard some of the uniqueness of Schwarze Puppen, with their mixup of styles, including a breakdown with some classical! Sunrise and the cool morning greeted me with the progressive house tunes of Gavin Keitel and then the deep tribal house grooves of Gab Oliver floating on the air. The Sunny devoted were dancing away spaced out across the dirt dance floor. On the main stage James Monro was playing a superb trance set for the early morning. Aaron Smiles followed on from James, and then it was the turn of James Holden to deliver the closing set for the main stage.
James Holden was the other headliner I had come to Earthcore especially to see. Opening his set with the slow and moody Radiohead track “Everything in its right place” (wink mix) the set consisted of gorgeous new and old tracks with that melodic sound and light touch of production that is characteristically Holden. Opting for long playing of tracks and not much eqing or effects, the emphasis of the set was purely on track selection which perfectly fit the morning as the sun rose, temperature climbed as we danced harder, and the dust blew around on the wind. Holden’s stormer of a track “Horizons” went down a treat, as did the techy track he dropped to break up the set which moved between house and trance. Making lots of eye contact with the crowd and happily responding to waves and shouts, Holden was a quiet yet happy dj, thoroughly enjoying the tracks he played. He chose to finish on a simple and emotive progressive breakbeat track that made you stop and listen as it played, sucking you into its delicate sounds. With that it was time for this kid to head home with a smile from ear to ear, induced not only by James Holden’s faith restoring progressive house set, but by a memorable time partying with friends and likeminded souls at the huge event that was Earthcore. See you there next year!!