It seems only a short time since Elite Force, the creative mind behind a new wave of innovative tech-orientated breaks, last visited PE to display why exactly it is that a good party is not always to found in tried and tested formulas.
With a breakbeat scene that is often heavily orientated towards the “party-breaks” end of the spectrum, and with punters more familiar with funky styled and go-jump beats, the prospect of a tech orientated evening was promising.
Starting the evening at the Northbridge festival, where Micah and Pauly Fatlace brock out a crowded James Street, we headed to Ambar to catch the tail end of Lok, who had the honours of warming up the club as the first punters began to arrive. Bypassing a small line, a contrast to the lengthy one of later hours, the stairway descent greeted us with smooth basslines and the occasional stabbed out 80s retro stabs, putting those already present in a relaxed mood – Lok laid out a choice selection of funked, old style hip-hop and electro tracks as punters swayed around the edges.
As Micah stepped up to the stage, having just arrived via the festival, there was noticeable movement at the stairwell. What had been a small trickle of people had turned into a torrent, as the dance floor began to fill up. Laying down some introductory tech, Wish stood up besides him – and stayed there for the next two hours, as both began to throw tracks against each other in an unexpected two hour display of back to back goodness, with crowd pleasers and the every so often quirky surprise, such as a Gorillaz mix dropped halfway through the set. At the end of it all, Micah and Wish finished off with an absolute banging track – Knockout, produced under Eric Prydz alter ego, Cirez D.
When the Elite Force Shack-meister stepped up to the stage, the floor was full. With very little to no fanfare to mark his entrance, he immediately dropped a glitched out and bass driven Freq Nasty tune. As the first track wound down, and he dropped the volume, the gathered mass of teetering fans erupted into cheers – only the first of many screaming repletions throughout the night – the ‘Force then proceeded to literally bash out tune after tune, his hands smashing the air and yelling at the crowd to drive themselves onwards. Towering over his humble minions, he powered and built up the dancing throng to massive highs, only to tease them relentlessly with slippery builds and breakdowns in true jedi-mind-fuck style before releasing them back into the fold. With no way of knowing where he was turning to next, he embarked on a journey of remarkable and varied tunes. Dark 4/4 electro-snares filled gaps, scatterings of everything from classic Stanton Warriors to Chemical Brother remixes were throw in, and a good showing of eclectic self produced works of absolute art were displayed. There was not a moment that he did not hold the crowd in the palm of his hand, and at the end of his set, legs still twitching and stinging from exertion, cheers and applause raced over the venue.
Hot on his heels, as punters stood waiting for more, Flex took over from the headliner with grace, and skillfully held the crowd with a straight up tech-funk breaks clash, and kept the true aficionados going until the lights came on, and the sun had risen.
Stumbling outside into the first truly beautiful spring day of the year, we were left with the impression that this gig was everything a real feast of music could possibly have been. Excellent tunes, superb delivery, and a smiling, enthusiastic crowd are only some of the many facets that made this event memorable. Something must really be in the wind for the Perth breaks scene, for just when you think it cant get any better, along comes another event that just blows your mind – this event exceeded expectations, and is another feather in the cap for both Elite Force and the entire Ambar crew.
