Derrick Carter, Melbourne '06

After changing my mind a couple of times, eventually I decided to see Carter instead of Chuck Love. Carter played at the Atlantic South Wharf, which was located at the Docklands, but it wasn't the easiest place to find! After driving around the Docklands for about 30 mins I finally managed to stumble into right place.

The venue was perfect! It's located right next to the Yarra, with a small more layed back bar called Alumbra right alongside the main venue, for those after an occasional 'break' from the main act. Lots of nice Buddha statues in the Alumbra made it look very appealing.

Carter was in the main room, which had a large enough area to easily be able to hold 1000. He was supposed to start at 2am but started about 30 mins later (which was good for me as I was late too!), and played a techy/jackin' set, which I thought had a pretty similar beat right throughout. It seemed like most people were just standing around talking and moving their heads than actually dancing. There was a bit of a vibe right infront, but the rest of the crowd didn't look like they were enjoying themselves, including myself! There were a couple of good tracks after 4am, and I heard a couple of backspins and acapellas (e.g. Sexual Healing -- see video), but other than that I couldn't really get myself involved on the dance floor, which was a bit dissapointing. When I saw Carter up-close, I noticed him pitch riding both the turntables and the CDJ1000's with ease, using the eq's well, and I didn't notice any hiccups in his mixing, so he has definitely got some excellent technical skills!!

I was looking forward to catching Clint Hargreaves who was supposed to play at Alumbra next door, but unfortunately, probably because there were fewer people than expected, Alumbra closed before Clint's set.

Overall a bit dissapointed, but I didn't really expect to enjoy the Carter gig as much as a Farina gig anyway, as I prefer the slightly less techier/jacked-up version of House. Some pictures below, and a video coming soon!