Live Review: Dave’s Cans Opening Party

There is nothing quite like the Australian summer and the time-honoured tradition of welcoming in our nation's most famous season with a BBQ party in your backyard. The Dave's Cans Opening Party took things one step further on Sunday by turning the Myre Rooftop carpark in Fremantle into a giant outdoor house party. A fully licensed bar, cranking sausage sizzle and a handful of Perth's best DJs and EDM producers and this slab of concrete was set to go off.

After an hour's delay the sheet iron doors were thrown open and the crowd started pouring in. By 5.30pm nearly 400 people had already gathered on the slab, seating themselves on the various stacks of plywood crates and makeshift picnic benches to drink and chat. The venue had gone to great lengths to instil the backyard vibe and came complete with picnic lights strung up through a couple of very out-of-place eucalyptus trees.

For once the music took a back seat to conversation and the crowd relaxed through chilled DJ sets from Savoir Organization Ltd, Ben EM + Ben Taaffe, Rex Monsoon and Nik Ridik b2b Maria Mendes. Rounding out the line-up were two of Perth's finer EDM acts, Gerani Doepel and Leon Osborn & Nora Zion (otherwise known as Rokwell & Groom), who electrified the crowd with haunting musical force.

With a fun and friendly environment and surprisingly cool setting, Dave's Cans Opening Party saw the cross-section of the Perth and Fremantle social scenes in attendance right at home sipping cans of beer and swapping yarns on the rooftop. Hipsters and mothers, yuppies and students, even young kids were hanging out on the slab to enjoy the music and watch the sun go down. Dave's Cans was a fitting start to summer and we can expect to enjoy many more before the season ends.