Last Friday night marked the final night of ANU’s O Week, and suitably the city was alive with students aching to party before the tedium of classes begin. Academy Nightclub was holding a secret garden party, with some of Canberra’s best DJ’s providing the beats, and of course the internationally renowned headlining act from Perth; Bombs Away. But before the Perth duo graced the stage with their presence, three other DJ’s worked the room to get the party started.
The night kicked off with Cha Cha Char, a DJ I haven’t seen behind the decks before. He did a great job, unfortunately spinning out his tunes to a modestly populated club. The night was still early and Academy was yet to be inundated by students. Those who were around for Cha Cha Char’s set appreciated the dance music, and as every night must start somewhere; Cha Cha Char opened up nicely for the next two Canberra DJ’s, The Projektz.
The Projektz played to a slightly bigger crowd, pumping out their signature electro house music and coaxing a few more patrons onto the dance floor. The three Canberra DJ’s that make up The Projektz gave it their all as usual, and I found that their set flew by. Academy was slowly filling up, as punters trickled in.
When The Projektz ended their set they handed over the decks to DJ Runamark. The Academy regular launched into his set, an exciting mix of RnB, Pop tunes and of course some techno mixed in to bring it all together. By now Academy was steadily filling up, the students had arrived. Girls dressed as fairies and boys wearing tights were filling the dance floor and lining up at the bar. This was some garden party!
Academy was finally packed. There was barely space to move amongst the sea of flowers, taffeta and wings. The floor was full and all the seats were taken. Runamark was playing to a full house, and the already hyped up students were having a blast.
I was lost on the floor, my view to the stage was obscured by the hundreds of excited revelers, I didn’t realise Bombs Away had made their way to the stage until an almighty roar of the crowd alerted me to their presence.
The eccentric duo launched into their set and everybody lost it. Academy has seen a lot of great Dj’s over the years, but I admit this set by Bombs Away has to go down as one of my personal favorites. Every song was vastly different from the previous one, they had the audience in the grip of their catchy baselines and beats.
Of course their club favourite ‘Big Booty B*tches’ went down a treat, the pair never stumbled or lost their breath when yelling out the lyrics to their songs. They also threw in a few other songs from other artists, and their mix of Macklemore’s hit ‘Thrift Shop’ was another tune that received much love from the audience.
Bombs Away’s performance was a mish mash of techno, big heavy beats, and a little bit of dubstep. The pair’s eccentric style, and cheeky lyrics suited the crowd of new students perfectly. I was surprised at how many of their songs I recognized, and enjoyed every minute – even being trampled by over-excited punters racing to catch an inflatable beach ball Bombs Away threw into the crowd.
By the end of their set, Bombs Away had well and truly tired out the crowd. Academy was hot and quite few punters panted their way up to the bar, simply to refuel and head back to the floor to embrace the next DJ in line, DJ Rawson.
It was a huge night that continued well into the wee hours of the morning. As usual DJ Rawson put on a great set, ending the evening on a high for those who still had the energy to remain. The not-so-secret garden party in Academy was a monumental end to ANU’s O Week, and a great way to kick off the academic year for those hard-partying students.
