- It's very rare that the words "all night set" appear on a party poster in Sydney. DJs are lucky to get three hours, maybe four if they're an exceptional international. But locals are seldom given the chance to take dancers on that journey, from the build up, through the peaks and troughs all the way to the come down. Enter Picnic, the promoter who saw an opportunity for Australian DJs to show off their extensive tastes to dancers. Over the past year their One Night Stand series has seen the likes of Simon Caldwell, Tornado Wallace and Tamas Jones (Hey Convict) playing at secret warehouse venues across the city, to people who were more than up for the party.
On a recent wintry night it was the Canyons turn, a second coming for the Sydney boys after a mind-blowing One Night Stand in October of last year. Since then the duo of Leo Thompson and Ryan Grieve released their debut album Keep Your Dreams on Modular and had largely kept away from the decks, trying their hand at performing as a live band. But the boys were back, and ready to keep dancers on the floor to the wee hours.
The guys opened the night with lots of psychedelic and experimental tunes, which fit in well with the night's Woodstock theme. Partiers donned tie-dye, sported flowers in their hair and the peace signs were aplenty. Around two hours in they took things up a notch and got the dance floor started with tropical tunes like "Chinese Revenge" by Koto. From about three hours in the guys genre-hopped for the rest of the night, playing anything from housier tunes like Blake Baxter's "Our Luv "and Rub N Tug's mix of "Too Much Love" by LCD Soundsystem to tribal numbers like "Point Zero" by Voyage. It wouldn't have been a Canyons night without plenty of disco, like Odyssey's "Use it Up" and "Wear It Out," and dance floor classics like Black Box's "Everybody Everybody" and Todd Terje's re-edit of "Simple Things" by Shit Robot.
These tunes were highlights of the night, but there was a lack of consistency between them. One minute you would be partying with your hands in the air, and the next it felt a bit flat. Canyons have created amazing dance floor moments over the years with their unique party records—and done well at One Night Stand—but this return didn't quite hit the same heights.