- DJ Koze, Gerd Janson and Charlotte de Witte cut the ribbon at the new 5,000-capacity venue.
- Many had bid goodbye to large, standalone events in Melbourne. Curated lineups stacked with big-name guests were now restricted to boutique festivals. But last Thursday, the local promoter Novel revived the format, hosting a 5,000-capacity party with three international headliners and barely a spare parking spot. Across their many incarnations, Novel has consistently striven to reinvent the events wheel, and their new venue, B3, might be their crowning achievement.
The lineup included Gerd Janson, DJ Koze and Charlotte de Witte, three artists with strong and loyal followings, demonstrated by the comical array of custom merch and signage in the crowd. It was easy to work out which groups were for whom. A few leftfield tracks from Janson, who went first, seemed to unsettle portions of the audience, though he won them back with some euphoric cuts. DJ Koze stuck to a consistent shadowy groove, pausing only to punch beach balls back to the floor. As he worked in Andhim's remix of "Ngeke" by Armonica, parts of the room went wild. De Witte closed the night with a techno onslaught, with selections like Cherry Moon Trax's "Needle Destruction" leaving a serious impression.
A great deal of effort had gone into distributing sound in the space. There was little echo, and the light installations, by Josh Fish, were vivid. The ceilings were low, though with that came a snag: dancers on the outskirts had an obstructed view of the stage. There were a couple other minor issues, namely staff simply didn't seem properly equipped to inform or assist such a volume of punters. Otherwise, though, the usual teething problems—toilets, food and bar queues—were surprisingly manageable.
Though the programming could be criticised for lacking a binding musical thread, the thousands of sweaty and smiling faces at the end suggested it didn't matter too much. As the Novel team absorb the night's obvious success, many other Melbourne promoters might hold their breath. A new precedent for production and spectacle has just been set. For those who want it, there now exists an accessible alternative to the dirt and hurt of festivals.
Photo credit /
Duncographic