Jamie xxThe intro to the night starts with Melbourne native Harvey Sutherland and Berlin-based Tornado Wallace. After a successful few weeks back in Melbourne playing Off The Grid and some headline gigs, Wallace warms the crowd with what someone in the audience described as "Balearic jungle dance party", which is pretty accurate. The set is technical yet light and approachable, dancing-wise.
Jamie xx comes in heavy and wastes no time. In 90 minutes, he takes thousands of people in the Forum on a musical journey through techno, house, garage, disco and Gil Scott-Heron. His set is fast-moving and unbelievable varied, launching off through his latest album. Loud Places, the homage to Idris Muhammad's Could Heaven Ever Be Like This, is the standout track among fans.
There is a slight dig into the darker days of We're New Here. We hear a glimpse of NY Is Killing Me and I'm New Here, before Jamie xx goes off in a completely new direction, into Caribbean tunes with cowbells and whistles. As he plays what seems like a ten-minute-long track, he takes a sip of his beer and wiggles his hips around.
After a while there is a cut to some serious disco which pleases the lately disco-obsessed Melbourne crowd, which is accompanied by two giant disco balls descending from the roof, bathed in gold lights. As Jamie xx slowly moves through fluid, warm disco into the darker, faster BPM London house everyone has really come to see, the crowd lets loose. We're left wandering out onto Russell Street as if we've left Fabric on a Sunday afternoon.
