Serving up delicious lineups since 2013, Let Them Eat Cake has been the tastiest way to welcome in the new year for the last decade.
Inviting punters to dance their way into the new year, Werribee Mansion’s beloved New Years Day music festival Let Them Eat Cake have been running for ten consecutive years now. Dive down memory lane with our retrospective on a decade of superb headlining acts in the lead-up to their spectacular 2023 party …
2013 – Kerri Chandler and Flying Lotus
The Mayan Calendar was proven wrong – the world didn’t end in 2012. So, in order to welcome in 2013 with gusto, the then-nascent festival Let Them Eat Cake was born.
Fresh off the release of his iconic 2012 electronic-jazz album Until The Quiet Comes, Flying Lotus bought his evolved and dynamic live show to the party.
Joining him in a headlining slot was highly acclaimed deep house DJ and producer Kerri Chandler. Known for injecting soul into every track he produces and every set he plays, there’s no doubt that Chandler has shaped the direction of house music over his illustrious thirty year career.
With two powerful and iconic performers taking the headlining slot of the inaugural LTEC, it set the tone for a decade of iconic artists welcoming in the new year at Werribee Mansion.
2014 – Bicep
Matt McBriar and Andy Ferguson – who go by the moniker Bicep – took the headline slot for the second ever iteration of Let Them Eat Cake. Hailing from Belfast, Northern Ireland, the pair met playing rugby when they were eight years old. Formed in 2009, the duo have since exploded in popularity over the years, having released their own record label and playing huge sets at London’s elusive Printworks.
With their keen ears for left field disco and the best rave oldies, Bicep bought the best of forgotten disco, Italo disco and Chicago house to Werribee Mansion in 2014.
2015 – Axel Boman and Todd Terje
Låt dem äta tårta – the 2015 iteration of Let Them Eat Cake bought some of Scandinavia’s best talents to the Werribee Mansion. With the the mischievous and playful allure of Axel Boman paired with the eternally groovy Todd Terje taking over the party, it was an unmissable day.
After having built a reputation for himself within the Stockholm clubbing scene, Axel Boman shot into international success with his breakthrough EP Holy Love and is known for his raw, playful and incredibly soulful sets. King of Norwegian disco Todd Terje is a mainstay on the nu-disco scene, who serenaded audiences with his joyful groove.
Så roligt!
2016 – Âme and Ben UFO
The 2016 Let Them Eat Cake truly shook the grounds of the Werribee Mansion with its stellar lineup – with German house/techno duo Âme and revolutionary DJ Ben UFO taking the headlining spots that year.
Producing house and techno, Germany’s Âme have driven the future of dance music with their infectiously high energy live sets and club-conquering single ‘Rej’. Hailing from Leeds, the DJ and producer Ben UFO explores the old and the new, from dubstep and grime to house and garage and as a result is one of the world’s most prolific DJs.
Delightfully devilish, LTEC presented a New Years Day party to remember.
Keep up with the latest music news, releases and interviews here.
2017 – Dusky, TOKiMonsta and Maribou State
Another whopping lineup to kick off the new year, Let Them Eat Cake pulled out the big guns for their 2017 party.
The LA based TOKiMonsta bought her energetic and totally unique live show to the grounds of Werribee Mansion – consistency dynamic and versatile in her music production and performance. Hailing from London and English electronic music duo Maribou State kept the groove going with their peppy electronica.
UK duo Dusky wrapped up the days festivities playing to an eager crowd. The kaleidoscopic light show coming the from festival’s main Bastille stage was perched in front of the solitary Werribee Mansion – a silent towering presence, that watched quietly over the a sea of joyous carnage, as Dusky dropped a string of their notable classics.
2018 – Tourist and Mall Grab
A stacked lineup of techno and house heavyweights welcomed in the 2018 new year at Let Them Eat Cake – including Grammy award winning electronic musician Tourist as well as an iconic set from Mall Grab.
Having co-written Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’, William Edward Phillips aka. Tourist is a master of electronic music and songwriting, who bought his unmatched live show to ravenous crowds on the day.
A fresh faced Mall Grab soundtracked the afternoon at LTEC’s infamous Guillotine stage, nestled amongst the thick groves at the back of the festival grounds. An artist who would go on to become of the UK’s most exciting artists, founding Steel City Dance Discs record label, and who is now considered one of Australia’s proudest ex-pat’s, he performed his 2018 set perched inside a giant reflective disco ball, to a sea of punters grinning beneath the beating afternoon sun.
2019 – Peggy Gou, Mr. Carmack, Nightmares on Wax
The metamorphosis of Peggy Gou into a global superstar was no greater than in 2019. On the cusp of releasing her Moment EP which included beloved tracks ’Starry Night’ and ‘Han Pan’, as well having featured as a Mixmag cover star, by the time January 1st rolled around and Peggy played a golden-hour set at LTEC, it seemed every festival goer was in hot pursuit, inching closer to get a look at the world’s favourite new artist.
With introspective downtempo hip hop beatmaker Mr. Carmack, a live set from iconic English record producer Nightmares on Wax, Let Them Eat Cake’s seventh iteration pulled no punches. Also joining them were CC:DISCO!, Don’t Think, Eat The Beat DJs, Motor City Drum Ensemble and 2014’s headliners Bicep all making a reappearance on the lineup, it was one hell of a party.
2020 – Jon Hopkins, Harvey Sutherland, Wax’o Paradiso, Denis Sulta
Happening just a couple of months before (pardon my French) shit absolutely hit the fan, the 2020 iteration of Let Them Eat Cake was a truly memorable party – a well deserved last boogie before indefinite isolation.
Highlights of the day included Glaswegian party boy and crowd favourite Denis Sulta doing a shoey on the main stage, and playing his set backwards from behind the decks.
Iconic UK electronic icon Jon Hopkins headlined the party with an exclusive DJ set, joined by the likes of Harvey Sutherland, a consistent player in the Melbourne disco scene over the last five or so years. United by a love for Australian psychedelia, Wax’o Paradiso’s Edd Fisher and Simon TK bough their joyful act to Let Them Eat Cake, just in time for …
2021 – DJ Coronavirus
The headlining act for the 2021 Let Them Eat Cake was the world’s least favourite party guest, Mr COVID-19 himself. Forcing the world to hit pause on day parties for a while, LTEC had to postpone until 2022.
“Not doing the festival in 2021 was a real blow for our team,” the Festival Director, Daniel Teuma told us. “However, we focussed on staying positive by making practical use of this time. We want to ensure [2022’s festival] is our best one yet” …
2022 – Papa Smurf, Confidence Man, Northeast Party House
With rising case numbers threatening the last iteration of the festival, 2022 was a dreamy euphoric return for the LTEC community.
Papa Smurf was the perfect close for the festival – his unrelenting vinyl-only trance set the perfect opportunity for the festival punters to purge some energy they’d held onto throughout isolation. Standout tracks include Darude’s iconic 1999 track ’Sandstorm’.
A friend of mine once said that Confidence Man are like The Wiggles for 19 year olds on pingers and I’ve never forgotten it – because although extremely musically different, Confidence Man bring a similarly unadulterated, participatory fun to their live act.
With their hit singles ‘For You’ and ‘Magnify’, Melbourne’s own Northeast Party House have a worldwide reputation for delivering high energy, uncompromising live shows. Close Counters joined them on the lineup, bringing their electrifying blend of electronic, disco and jazz to Werribee Mansion to kick off 2022 in style.
2023 – ANNA, Bonobo, DJ Koze, Elkka and many, many, many more …
Hold onto your hats, ‘coz this new year’s celebration is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever before. With a huge array of local and international talent on the bill including the likes of Brazilian techno DJ ANNA, British DJ Bonobo (aka Simon Green), German DJ and music producer DJ Koze and the London-based Elkka, it’s truly going to be a party of epic proportions.
Also appearing are Running Back’s Gerd Janson, KiNK (Live) – one of dance music’s preeminent live performers, Hungaro-Swedish DJ Kornél Kovács, London’s Moxie, Melbourne veteran Papa Smurf and german techno maestro Stephan Bodzin. Now with a full decade of party planning expertise under their belt, Let Them Eat Cake sure do know how to plan a lineup that will provide killer tunes to keep you grooving all throughout the day.
Dance 2022 away at Let Them Eat Cake, get your hands on tickets before they go by heading here.
This article was made in partnership with Novel Tours & Events.
