Live Review: LIVE REVIEW: Reminisce Carnivále

It’s an exciting day for electronic music fans in Melbourne as Reminisce Carnivále is one of the first major festivals of its size during the pandemic and after countless lockdowns. The big top welcomes punters to Flemington Racecourse and it’s an incredible feeling to be back to (a new) normal – no pods, no decks and no masks, just a whole lot of fun with people coming together to have a good time without a care in the world to celebrate dance music. There’s only one undercover stage too, so we don’t miss a moment of the action. 

Tom Evans jumps on the DJ decks early to welcome everyone to the dancefloor. He’s no stranger to the Melbourne club scene and knows exactly the right tunes to play to pump up the crowd with some of his original material and a wide-ranging track selection of house and techno music.

To change things up a bit, Northeast Party House perform live with an electrifying high-energy performance. Having released their third album Shelf Life in early 2020, it’s one of the first opportunities to play some of their latest material for local fans who have been hanging to see them. With pulsing bass rhythms and storming synths, they immediately get the party started and capture the attention of those in the crowd who may have never heard them before. Lead songs including Magnify and Dominoes hit hard with a surge of thumping beats to jump around and dance along to.

Counting down the top 50 dance songs of all time, as voted by the public here today, John Course takes to the stage to deliver his tenth Reminisce countdown to take us on a musical journey down memory lane back to the time when we lived for the weekend. Kicking off with Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams at number 50, the king of house music takes us through our favourite hits from around the world over the past 30 years. 

The memories come flooding back as we reminisce with our mates about the times they served as soundtracks to milestone events, nights out at our favourite clubs, euro trips, festivals or drives in the car pumping our favourite Ministry Of Sound compilation. It’s a dream come true to be back together with so many people, dancing, singing, and celebrating this moment.

Explosions of colour fill the stage as performers doing acrobatics surround Course on the decks as he powers through the huge set with hit after hit. The mind-blowing production continues to surprise us with confetti cannons and pyrotechnics to elevate the experience. Course finally reaches the top 10 and excitement builds in the air as everyone checks their voting lists and speculates which song will be at the top. 

It takes about three seconds for the crowd to recognise the classic intro of the coveted #1 song as Course drops Levels by Avicii. The crowd goes wild to celebrate the big finale for a song and artist who has made such a big impact on the electronic dance music industry since being released 10 years ago.

The food trucks and drink stalls are flooded as people take a break before the final act of the day. After already having one of their biggest songs My People featured in the countdown at number 36, The Presets are ready to turn up the heat with their full live show featuring their entire back catalogue of hits from the past 20 years. 

With an electrifying sensory spectacle, they showcase a massive mix up of electro, rock, techno, pop and disco to keep everyone dancing until the very end. They treat us to non-stop extended versions of some of their biggest hits including This Boy’s In Love, Talk Like That and tracks from their latest album Hi Viz, plus recent heart-stopping collaborations with Golden Features. 

The Presets prove their iconic status of Australian electronic music royalty and they’re still going stronger than ever. Their explosive set builds momentum to the very last drop and makes us feel truly free alive again, back and better than ever.