- An air of excitement swept through the lush surrounds of Werribee Park on New Year's Day, as revellers arrived in droves, eagerly anticipating the latest instalment of Let Them Eat Cake. The throbbing beat of a crisp Funktion-One soundsystem emanated from beyond a line of trees, drawing closer as attendees ventured through the landscaped gardens. The first punter to catch my attention was wearing trout slippers, while others frolicked in well-thought-out costumes, revealing the many points of contact between self-expression and dance music. It was reminiscent of a warped fairy tale.
I headed in the direction of the distant thud and arrived at The Bastille, which was immediately recognisable as the festival's main techno stage. The crowd was comprised of a surprising majority of fresh partygoers with a small sprinkling of fragile attendees, many of whom wore signs of having indulged in one too many drinks the night before.
The Bastille came to life from 2 PM as Âme's Frank Wiedemann assumed control. It was as if a magnet had been deployed, so quickly did large groups of punters, previously sitting down, assemble into a dense dancing mass. Wiedemann's set peaked with his unreleased remix of Dan Croll's "From Nowhere," an anthem that captured the afternoon's festive mood. At the house and disco-heavy Guillotine stage, Palms Trax was midway through his epic four-hour performance. DJing atop a giant disco ball, he surprised with more progressive, housey selections. The driving piano lines and catchy rhythms continued when domestic star Mall Grab took over at 5 PM.
As I ventured past the Palace Of Versailles stage, which was home to a number of live acts, I caught a glimpse of UK grime and comedy sensation Big Shaq. His hype man attempted to lift a restless crowd, but unfortunately, the comedian under-delivered, causing many punters to leave halfway through the 2017 smash, "Mans Not Hot." I spent the majority of the day at The Bastille, where Apparat, who was DJing, built a melodic, bassy set that rumbled the 32-inch subs. The audience enjoyed harder tracks like Special Request's "Brainstorm," but also a number of Moderat anthems that surged across the open grounds.
The Bastille erupted in pure ecstasy at 6:30 PM as Stephan Bodzin—or "Godzin" as I overhead one raver call him—opened with a remix of Pan-Pot's "Sleepless" to a chorus of applause. As he twisted knobs on his personalised MIDI controller, the sun began to cast a shadow on the historic Werribee Mansion. He worked the crowd into a dreamy state with a succession of long breakdowns followed by sharp, rising peaks.
Having spent the afternoon moving between stages, I decided to stick fat with Jasper James and Jackmaster, who took control of the decks as some of the crowd filtered across to Palace Of Versailles for Jon Hopkins. The Glaswegian pair delivered an erratic yet thundering set that traversed progressive house, tech house and disco. Originally, I thought this might have been better suited to one of the smaller stages, but I was impressed with the way they filled the space with tracks such as Smooth Touch’s "House Of Love."
Let Them Eat Cake's greatest strength was its ability to represent a concept and an unexplainable feeling of elation at different moments. Harbouring no delusions of grandeur, its honest approach to providing an intimate experience for dance music lovers was a pleasure to behold.
Photo credit /
Duncographic
