Live Review: Roland Tings, Cut Copy DJs, No Zu, Andras & Oscar

Cut Copy have pulled together some of Melbourne’s finest musicians and DJs to celebrate this city’s dance music and club culture. Also to celebrate Melbourne’s music scene, Cut Copy have recently released Oceans Apart, a compilation record, and many of the featured artists are on tonight’s bill.

We arrive in time to see the World’s End Press DJ set, which is synthy and upbeat, but the crowd hasn’t quite mustered up enough courage to start dancing yet. We love World’s End Press live so it’s interesting to see another, equally great, side of them. Andras Fox & Oscar Key Sung are up next and a small, excitable crowd is starting to form. These two have had a fantastic year, playing together all over the country, and have clearly developed a following. Key Sung’s assured, smooth vocals are divine over Fox’s beats. Their fun R&B tunes provide the perfect warm-up for what’s to come and the dancers who join them onstage are an exciting touch.

Our favourite act of the night is NO ZU, purely because they absolutely bring the party to life. Their upbeat, positive energy is infectious and, even though they are a large band, everyone does their part and plays with enthusiasm. Special mention to the two female vocalists and the drummer, who kill it!

On a side note from the music, if you’re going to anything at the Queen Victoria Market for this year’s Melbourne Music Week, you’ll notice the set-up is sensational with plenty of bars and excellent food options. This is a godsend for events that run for hours when you don’t want to leave and miss out on the action. The Hammer & Tong stall located close to the stages is particularly brilliant.

Considering the set goes for nearly two hours, we are intrigued to see whether Cut Copy DJs will play an all-Melbourne or all-Australian set. It isn’t either, and that’s fine as well. Their set is well-mixed, covering an assortment of international and local artists, but, to be completely honest, some of the energy is lost from what NO ZU established. That’s not to say the crowd don’t enjoy themselves, they certainly do, but rather than instigating an all-out party the crowd seem happy to chill out. Sleep D and Roland Tings bring things back up and round out this evening, which celebrates this great city and the music coming from it, perfectly.