Review: Heineken Global DJ, Bassment Jaxx etc
Our girl Panda held on tight at a very windy Heineken Thirst DJ’ing final and was delighted to meet the man in the picture, her hero Felix from Bassment Jaxx – Looks like we missed out – here’s her take:
The Heineken Music Thirst team has been very busy since 2002 scouring the globe for the finest DJ talent. The global final at Cape Town’s castle was a culmination of a series of…
elimination rounds. On Saturday 7 January 2006 the best upcoming DJ talent in the world was put to the test with a challenging twenty minute set in front big names in music who would determine the champion.
Amongst these brave young men (unfortunately there were no women in the finals) was South Africa’s own DJ Budda – aka Sibusiso Mnyandu from Durban. The proudly South African crowd cheered loudly when his name was read out. He was to go first. Other regional finalists were from Indonesia, Denmark, Morocco and Mexico.
Probably the most prominent guest at the castle that night was a rather violent South Easter which was blowing drinks off tables and tearing at our hair. The cloud was thick on Table Mountain. It must have been intimidating playing the opening set with the crowd cold and mostly sober. Budda opened smoothly. Just as the music was picking up momentum, the ungracious wind lifted the vinyl off the turntables and the set came to a rather abrupt cacophonous end. Fortunately almost all the other DJs were playing strictly off CDJs (except Basement Jaxx who were somewhat concerned about the possibility of the same happening to them) and the competition continued regardless.
Next up was DJ Adhe from Indonesia. I was picturing him playing to large young audiences who hit the backpacking trail to “Indo” for great beaches and surf and with ideals of finding themselves. They’d be lucky to find themselves sweating on a dance floor played by Adhe. He is good at what he does.
Enter Hak’X from Morroco. He started with dramatic sirens and picked up the pace, track through track, faster and faster harder techno. The crowd loved him. Then Ronin from Denmark stepped in, keeping up the pace although his style was different entirely but mixed it over seamlessly. He had a marked electro influence which I had never heard before in a house music environment.
Thankfully, music is always evolving. I realised in hindsight it would be natural for house music to pick up on the recent surge in popularity of electro music and the eighties revivalist scene. The result is fabulous. This innovation, his natural interaction with the crowd and his unmistakable style are what I believe earned him the trophy in the end.
A hard act to follow for Eduardo Rossell from Mexico. He was definitely the most charismatic of the DJs in terms of crowd interaction. He enjoyed every second of being there, conducting each beat and for that we love him. His focus was mainstream house.
With the wind still howling, a very windswept Nicole Fox from 5FM announced that Mylo would be up next and that DJ Budda, his chances at victory thwarted by the Cape Doctor, had set up in a small (sheltered) room by the fountain for anyone who wanted to catch his set instead.
With Mylo being a headline act for the evening, the crowd by the fountain was small but special. It was there that I had the best time. Budda delivered great house with a strong local Kwaito flavour. I was pleased to see hanging out with the crowd were fellow DJ contestants and their entourages, Felix and Simon from Basement Jaxx and a lot of the press who had travelled with the Heineken thirst tour. It was clear that they had all become firm friends with a lot of mutual respect and admiration.
As a local support DJ took over the decks, we went back to catch the rest of Mylo, hearing grinding guitar as we rounded the corner. He was cooking and the crowd was loving it. To watch him is amazing. He runs around from instrument to mixer producing exact replicas of the studio tracks we hear and then modifying them to suit the crowd’s enthusiasm.
And then there was Basement Jaxx. I cannot remain objective about this band. I am the fan in their fantastic and have been ever since I saw Felix fall off the stage and crack his head open and continue to perform without missing a beat in Cape Town last year (singing “where’s your head at?”). They always seem real and at ease. Their DJ set left no disappointment as they mixed up a crazy storm of radio hits, house beats and threw in a few nice surprises, playing the crowd’s reactions like the talented professionals they are.
Last on the stage was Erick Morillo, most famous for his hit “I like to move it” (move it). Again it was easy to see how years in the business have set this legendary producer apart from the talented young rookies that Heineken brought to the fore that evening. It will be interesting to see these five young men in ten years time. Hopefully they would have been able to take advantage of the exposure they’ve had on this tour and successfully push dance music into the next dimension.
************************************************
8 Jan 2006
If you’re in Cape Town on the 7 January get down to the final of the Heineken Thirst DJ’s event with the fabulous Bassment Jaxx on the decks – WE LOVE THEM! Let’s hope they’ll be popping into Jozi too! It’s the GLOBAL FINAL of the very long search for the world’s best DJ’s and you don’t want to miss it.
Here’s the PR:
After a round-the-globe search for the hottest non-professional DJ talent in the world, The Heineken Thirst 2005 Global Final is taking place in Cape Town on 7 January 2006 at the Castle of Good Hope. Clubbers will be treated to a dance music spectacular as the Regional Heineken Thirst DJs play alongside three of the biggest names in dance music, Mylo, Basement Jaxx and Erick Morillo. The regional finals took place in Thailand, Croatia, Dubai and Argentina during the course of 2005.
Franco Maria Maggi from Heineken in South Africa, says, “Five DJs from five continents have been chosen for the global final and will battle it out for DJ supremacy and the coveted title of Global Heineken Thirst Winner 2005. This will be the first time that a global, overall winner has been chosen since the Thirst project first began in 2002.”
The regional finalists are South Africa’s DJ Budda, Indonesia’s DJ Adhe, Denmark’s Ronin, Morocco’s Hak’X and thewinner of the America’s region.
The night of the Global Finals will kick off with sets from the five finalists, who each take a turn on the decks. An esteemed panel of judges will decide the first ever Global Winner of Thirst 2005. The triumphant DJ will go on to play a victorious set before Basement Jaxx takes to the stage for a DJ set, followed by a very special live performance from Mylo.
Maggi concludes, “The Thirst 2005 entrants have been encouraged to be creative, by incorporating vocals and live elements where possible. The Thirst Winner 2005 will receive a range of exclusive prizes including top DJ hardware and software, widespread national and international media attention and career tips from international DJs.”
