The few punters mingling round the bar created an odd vibe as I walked into the Liberty Social basement. Lit by extravagant lasers projected onto hanging white sheets, a few of them danced about to trap and tracks from other producers such as Cashmere Cat . I was swept with confusion as too why they were playing so much trap at a chill-wave artists show and why there were no set times about.
Unsure what time the American producer Giraffage was to start and becoming overwhelmed by horrific trap music, I retreated to the front room with my partner. It seemed I wasn’t the only one confused, and the front room soon became a hub for social interaction, conversation smothering the now faint trap music.
Hitting 1:30 AM Giraffage begun setting up his equipment so I made my way onto the dance floor to listen to more (you guessed it), trap. The audience on the left was motionless, waiting in anticipation for Giraffage to start, whilst those on the right danced about in front of the so-called DJ, who blasted one bad song after another.
Around 1:45 AM Giraffage took control and it was nice to hear some smooth, down tempo electronica. He mixed party hits and did not drop one of his own tracks until ‘Close 2 Me ’ after 15 to 20 minutes. I was annoyed as I’d anticipated him play more of his own material, seeing as he has two quality albums and an exceptional EP, yet it was not too be.
For the second part of his set I sat in disappointment on extremely comfy couches at the back of the basement. The night had so much potential, but failed to meet my expectations. Sticking around after, I overheard a few punters murmur about how disappointing Giraffage’s set was as he played a feeble four tracks off his much loved discography.
As no set times were posted, I still retained hope of hearing some extraordinary beats from that up-coming Melbourne producer Electric Sea Spider . But because I arrived around 11:30 PM after the doors opening at 10 PM and as there was no sign of Electric Sea Spider setting up, I assumed he played an earlier time slot. I left Liberty Social, for the first time, disappointed with the night.
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WORDS BY Blake Creighton
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