When they unleashed their tremendous decades series of mixes for a triple j Mix Up Exclusives residency last October, the Flight Facilities boys kicked up quite a frenzy. It was a simple, but brilliant concept – four mixes, four hours, and four decades of music spanning from 1972 to 2012.
Although the idea was a straightforward one, its implementation certainly wasn’t. The duo was intent on keeping the mixes as chronological as possible, so the first three mixes required them to cross reference 30 years of music charts with Wikipedia release dates, to ensure everything was in order. They took their pick of the crop and dropped in a few of their own edits to keep things current, along with a few from the likes of Tim Fuchs and Rocco Raimundo. Then, to take things even further, Hugo and Jimmy stitched everything together with sound bites from notable corresponding historical events. The result was a genuine musical journey – one that was funky, nostalgic, and even somewhat educational.
So when Flight Facilities announced they would be putting on live two live versions of the mixes, it came as no surprise that they were both complete sellouts.
By the time the lads landed on stage for Friday’s 1972-1992 leg of the voyage, illuminated by the amber glow of a giant ‘FF’, The Foxtel Festival Hub was hot, sweaty and primed for a boogie. Word about prizes for the best fancy dress outfit had inevitably gotten round, and there were plenty of bad afros and flares in sight.
Flight Facilities were aptly suited in aircraft attire and were clearly having a ball right from take off. And you couldn’t blame them; they dished out hit after hit – Hall and Oates’ I Can’t Go For That was an early highlight and era-defining essentials such as Stevie Wonder’s Superstition and Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al are always going to go down well.
It soon became clear that although the theme of the mix was akin to that of the original incarnation, the DJs had taken a different approach to complement the live medium – gone were the news sound bites, and the chronology of tunes was also discarded. The song selection was also tackled differently – where the first mix incorporated a few slightly obscure numbers, the live set instead played into the hands of a party-hungry crowd.
Nobody was complaining. If the mission statement was to get every single punter boogying, it triumphed – nobody stopped moving until the final silky smooth note of Lionel Richie’s All Night Long.
Loved: The bulletproof song selection.
Hated: Nothing, but I would’ve loved to hear Mindless Boogie’s edit of I Can’t Stand The Rain.
Drank: Boatrocker Alpha Queen
