Live Review: Nightmares On Wax

Veteran party engineer DJ EASE represented the Nightmares On Wax crew with a stellar closing night performance for the Sydney Festival.

Ever the consummate professional, EASE effortlessly threw down a mix that oozed style and swing. The Aurora Spiegeltent was the perfect venue, and with all the dark drapery, mirrors and booths the party felt like a private one, and that we were seeing something secret.

Say one thing for NOW, they have good taste in music. The mix was exceptional. Cross-cutting some light jungle with trip hop early in the evening playfully offered the punters a tonic to get them moving. Once the floor was full it was a funky trip through OG hip hop with a little Mos Def for the kids, some breaks, some funk, some soul and, praise Jesus, some quality disco to really loosen things up.

The whole thing was super fun, with everyone having room to swing about. This wasn’t a show for self-absorbed EDM warriors; it was a vibrant and inclusive show in which even someone who has never listened to anything past Grandmaster Flash could get caught up and walk away with a headspace exploding with new sounds. For the seasoned campaigners, this was a grab bag of deep cuts and old favourites.

Things kept escalating, and when EASE dropped Luther Vandross’ Never Too Much the crowd went bananas (never underestimate disco). EASE closed the set with Purple Disco Machine’s My House, a blessed-out house track and a great bookend to the night. Bonus extra was Kaori’s Good Life, a beautiful (and apt) finishing touch to the night and to the Festival itself.

Nightmares On Wax were one of the benevolent dictators of the post-rave scene in the UK, and it’s so good to know they’re still kicking and getting parties moving well into their third decade. Bravo!