Last year saw The Presets return with their third album Pacifica,and their kicking off 2013 with a national tour. With local support acts DJ Light Year and Parachute Youth, the stage seemed set for what could be the ultimate dance party.
DJ Light Year was first to hit the stage with his techno sound. Despite being able to get punters to slowly bop along to the beat, the soft and repetitive nature of his set became little more than background music for the few people in the theatre.
As the numbers began to pick up and the drinks set in, Parachute Youth seemingly slipped on stage.
After a short intro that highlighted their electro sound, they played a strong set, with an impressive keyboard solo and plenty of moments that got the room going, despite being unknown to about half of those in the room.
A duo quite similar to The Presets themselves with their sound and set up, the set ended strong as the punters jumped along to the song most knew ‘Can’t Get Better Than This’.
Then Light Year was back, and this time getting to play for a bigger audience as people began to cram into the theatre waiting for the headliners.
Though the sound was still the same, and wasn’t really enough to get the people going, the mere number of bodies in the room created more energy this time around.
Whether in support, or because of the fact the main act weren’t far away, everyone still screamed their love at the end of the set, and were more then happy to jump on top of one another to get into his photo.
After a short break, the lights went out, the strobe lights, lasers and digital screens came on, and the crowd went nuts, with the theatre suddenly completely full. A few minutes of antagonising waiting, The Presets burst on stage and launched into ‘Push’.
With a mixture of young and old in the crowd, there was plenty of energy but still room to move in the mosh.
While concert-goers were in high spirits throughout the night, things really kicked into gear once an introduction that sounded like their newest hit ‘Ghosts’ begun, then morphed into ‘This Boy’s In Love’. From there, the mix of old and new favourites kept on coming; from ‘Are You The One’, ‘My People’ and ‘Talk Like That’ which saw the crowd go their craziest, to newer Pacifica cuts such as ‘Ghosts’, ‘Youth In Trouble’ and ‘A.O’.
Throughout the set, Kim Moyes found himself switching between his drum kit, a xylophone, and keyboard, putting his range of impressive talents on display, while Julian Hamilton showcased his impressive, pitch perfect vocals and his own skills on keyboard.
After ‘finishing’ their set, the duo came back for some thanks, another photo-opp – which the entire mosh tried to be a part of – and an encore in the form of ‘Anyway’, which seemed an odd choice as it brought down the energetic mood of the room.
Though a good performance, the crowd was definitely at their strongest when the older hits came out, and no one can deny that the highlight of the night was the older gentleman in the first row of seating who was on his feet dancing the entire night, with a shirt that seemed to come more undone every time you turned around to watch him.
Overall, an extremely impressive and diverse set that felt like it was put together by more than just these two men, highlighting just how talented the duo is.
