Live Review: What So Not, Chrome Sparks, Kota Banks, Tina Says

In the space of a few years, What So Not (aka Emoh Instead aka Chris Emerson) has emerged as one of Australia's hottest EDM exports. And with a catalogue littered with hard-hitting electronic numbers and A-list collabs (RL Grime, Skrillex and Flume to name a few), it's not hard to see why. Fresh on the heels of his debut full-length release, Not All The Beautiful Things, Emerson returned to Perth for a night of pure energy.

After kicking the night off with one of Perth's most in-demand DJs, Tina Says, fresh new pop vocalist Kota Banks hit the stage. Banks looked at home, delivering a zesty 45-minute set before making way for the indie-electronic producer Chrome Sparks. The crowd enjoyed over an hour of Sparks' experimental sonics, with the Brooklyn-based DJ putting his hallmark spacey electronica sound on full display.

As the clock struck midnight, the peroxide blonde hair of What So Not emerged on top of a huge, LCD-fronted platform and Emerson's set was finally in flight. Keeping in the vein of his most recent release, the set never stayed in one lane, veering from drum 'n' bass to trap tunes, and even interpolating rock influences through his tracks. The latter was achieved through an electric guitarist who rocked out all night on stage in front of Emerson's platform, elevating the drops of tracks like Goh and Divide & Conquer to hit even harder.

Emerson played a set to please fans of any age, combining the tracks that first got him into the limelight (Touched, Jaguar, a remix of Major Lazer's Get Free) as well as the ones that have kept him in it (Gemini, Warlord). On a night which saw large inflatable pool toys bobbing around in the crowd, a 20-minute encore and enough confetti to give the most hard-working cleaner a headache, Emerson produced another notoriously high energy set that ticked all the boxes.