Have you been to a rave at Sydney’s Carriageworks?
You may have popped by the Carriageworks Farmers Markets, gazed in wonder at Sydney Contemporary and strutted your stuff at Fashion Week, but seeing a big, blinding rave at this arts and lifestyle institution is just as essential.
I once saw Grace Jones in the belly of Carriageworks and I’ll never forget even being in the same room as Bjork. Still, despite their commonality, I had never seen a major DJ at the industrial staple. What a spectacular mistake. Bays 22-24, which regularly host large-scale events, lends itself perfectly to snub-nosed, wall-to-wall raves. And that’s exactly what Jamie XX was.
For two nights, one of the world’s most popular producers and DJs bought a smart light show and a ridiculous range to the warehouse space, which was decked out with massive industrial-sized standing fans, sandwiched between two long sidebars (with more outside) with a food truck lounge to the side.
Such a space elevates a performance like this. It’s just the right size for a rave: not overly long so you feel short-changed up the back, not almost impossible to reach the front through the crowds, and acoustic enough to amplify Jamie XX’s textural smorgasbord. A palette of perfectly conceived, paced and layered tunes that dug into all his popular singles (“Loud Places” was absolute bliss with everyone singing at the top of their lungs) and then some.
The 4,200-square-metre space heaved as beats bounced off those brutal concrete walls, intensifying the rave – on a school night nonetheless.
And I guess that was the only downside of Jamie XX at Carriageworks. It was on a Sunday, and then on a Monday. Scheduling issues can’t be helped most of the time, but the feeling of getting there and being so immersed in the music that you just wished it was a Saturday night was strong.
There’s also the excitement for Jamie XX’s music in particular. The 36-year-old maestro came up as the beating heart of The XX and then banged out a few highly acclaimed solo records. This was at a time when there was a large shift in the type of music millennials listen to, bringing things down to R&B-influenced pop rock with an EDM tinge. As such, these are songs that have soundtracked plenty of coming-of-age moments for a lot of people, which only adds to that sense of intensity.
“Loud Places” comes on and immediately people start hugging each other. Entire groups are jumping with their arms linked. Smiles plastered on every face. You just had to have been there.
FOUR STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Feature image by Gabrielle Clement.
