I arrived just as Perth partyboys Bombs Away were revving up the crowd. The highlight of their full-on, energetic set was a surprise rendition of Gangnam Style. Love it or hate it, it’s hard not to dance to it — especially when a massive shed full of people are doing the same. Bombs Away even sung along to the lyrics in Korean, adding their token swing and swagger. No lip-synching here!
After the last bomb had been dropped, the crowd, already at fever pitch, worked itself into a frenzy of anticipation, yelling, “A-OKI! A-OKI! A-OKI! A-OKI!” When Aoki finally took to the stage, you’d almost think it was the Second Coming. The Dim Mak boss kept the party mood varied yet consistently crazy, flitting between bouncy house, edgy electro and low and dirty dubstep. Dropping tracks from Wonderland such as Dangerous and Livin’ My Love, Aoki leapt from strength to strength and kept it fresh with remixes such as his version of Duran Duran’s Hungry Like the Wolf.
The crowd was a sweaty, writhing mass of bodies and I found myself needing a bit of fresh air. Outside, leaning against the corrugated iron wall of Shed 4, I shared a cigarette with some guy called Ian. “It must be unreal,” he said in an awed voice, “being someone like Steve Aoki. He gets to travel around the world, throw parties, play tunes, hot babes coming up to him left, right and centre, signing autographs, everything like that… what a life!” Venturing back inside, DJ couldn’t help but agree. This skinny, excited man, currently standing atop the DJ table, framed by yellow and purple lasers and enveloped by dense fog – he really had something. With each new banger in the mix, the crowd roared its adoration for their hero.
Then there was the champagne. Bottle after bottle (I counted at least five) appeared, seemingly by magic, in Aoki’s hands. After a vigorous shake ‘n’ spray over the screaming crowd, he would drain the last few sips and spit it all over said screaming fans. By the end of the show there was a decent-sized moat of Moët around the stage. Even more impressive than his champagne-soaking antics was Aoki’s throwing of cakes. There’s something wild and a bit magical about a grown man throwing a giant, cream-filled chocolate cake into a screaming crowd. He takes a run-up. He really gets a bit of height on that throw. You can imagine him being quite an accomplished shot-putter. It’s very impressive. And needless to say, the front row loved it – you could say they really ate it up.
