Served well after dark: Fat Boy Slim, Die Antwoord & Skrillex.

A sweaty and somewhat frantic dance-floor of all-age ravers packed out Auckland’s Vector Arena in early March. The highly-anticipated triple bill of Fat Boy Slim, Die Antwoord, Skrillex & Guest Porter Robinson was a side show from Australia’s Future Music Festival. Their hot and heady appearance was an easy sell-out.

Like a dinner mint, electronic music is served well after dark. Yet the early show start meant queues in daylight and an after-work rush. A little premature, perhaps.

He’s young and fresh, yet the kid of Northern Carolina Porter Robinson opened to a keen crowd. From a young age he’s been pumping out the electro house beats, and his confidence was apparent on stage as the audience bounced off his enthusiasm.

After signing to OWSLA last year, and touring with Skrillex he’s hot on the international festival circuit for 2012, and is expected to play at Coachella and Ultra Music Festival. Not yet a household name, however Robinson sure showed that he was here to push the envelope.

Bright orange pants deserve at least a double take. Attention-seekers Die Antwoord achieved that and more. With their white-trash talk, the freaky South-African trio raved and rapped their way through an exhilarating (and somewhat expletive) set. Their style is futuristic in every regard, particularly noticeable in Yo-Landi with her haunting fake black eyes, gold skin-tight pants and avant-garde hair cut. She may be little in stature, yet this lady loves to push limits as she thrusted her attitude (and back-side) out into the arena.

The two vocalists Yo-Landi and Ninja complemented each other on stage, with their Zef-swagger they almost kick-boxed they way through the power set. The crowd went crazy as Yo-Landi’s chilling vocals instructed the crowd ‘jump, mother**cker, jump’ in I Fink You Freeky. These antics went up a notch as the muscular Ninja launched his tattooed torso into the audience for some fun. Phenomenal performance - but not for the ears or eyes of Grandma Jo.

On the radio, your headphones, your mates Facebook page and blogs around the world. Long hair, signature glasses, shy disposition and a partially shaved head. Grammy Award winner. Controversial and innovative. Meet Skrillex. With a whirlwind of red confetti and visuals to match, the stage and arena lit up something special as hundreds pushed and shoved their way towards the barriers. Screams were heard often as Sonny Moore raised his arms up and out to acknowledge the heaving mass of sweaty ravers.

As expected, he worked his magic through the smoke machines pushing out favourites Bangarang, Right on Time, Moombahcore. He is a master of his own craft as he rides the wave of hyper-active dubstep success. However, there’s talk of him being one of dubstep’s most hated producers. That’s hard to believe when the guy comes off grinning backstage and is happy enough to stop for a chat, a sweaty hug and a quick photo in the green room. Those green-eyed haters should try talking to him some time.

With sunglasses on, the big face on the even bigger screen leered back at the patient crowd and boomed ‘Welcome to the psychedelic circus’... A good way to warm up the crowd, which had dissipated slightly after the dubstep kids had their fix. More than twice the age of the previous act, Norman Cook (AKA Fatboy Slim) and an eye-boggling paisley shirt graced the fluoro-lit stage.

It was easy to see he was enjoying himself up there alongside the bright polka dot visuals, and the 48 year old pleased the crowd with old songs like Praise You and Funk Soul Brother. The first few tracks kept the party people moving, yet this was not Brighton Beach as we have all heard about. The performance and audience’s reaction were a little lack-lustre, and this may have been due to the hyped up atmosphere from the previous three acts.

Not far off midnight, the dance hall of Vector came to a halt and all that was left was the taste of a truly memorable mint of a show.

By Olivia Young

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