Yacht Club DJs | Corner Hotel
Having entered my partying years (and distinct ability to neck a bottle of Passion Pop within a couple of minutes) with the likes of Yacht Club DJs, it was hard for me to hear that they had decided to call it quits. After all, they’d been a big part of my legal (and, at times, non-legal) drinking life. Sorry mum!
From the glorious Street Party days, to gigs at Prince Bandroom and Corner Hotel, there was never a time I saw them and felt disappointed. These guys know how to get a crowd motivated to party! Unlike the fine form that I took in my formative years, on this particular night, I opted for a night off the beers and onto the water. “Hydration is key,” my inner health guru told me… No, I’m kidding. I was ridiculously hungover from my friend’s dad’s 60th the night prior and decided to drive in to Richmond. Granted, had I drunk alcohol that night, it would have been rejected almost instantaneously. In comes Danny Glover – aka Lethal Weapon’s Roger Murtaugh’s voice in my head, “I’m getting too old for this shit.” Water and V was my diet for this special occasion.
Bel Air and Hunting Grounds opened up the evening to get the crowd pumped for what was anticipated to be a very, very fun albeit sad affair. After all, Yacht Club DJs were an integral part of a lot of our party upbringing. The two ‘Rat locals began their set in a somewhat…reserved fashion? Reserved by there standards, that is. “Surely this wasn’t going to be the way this entire performance was going to pan out?” I mean, don’t get me wrong. The intro to the set was a bloody good time! But I was expecting to be covered in sweat by now – mine, as well as some strangers’. I wanted nudity. I wanted beer in my hair. Granted I had that thought within the first five or so minutes, it was evident that I really just needed to give it that bit more time. Once the warm-up had gone down, it was go time. I saw nudity. I became infused with sweat – mine and others. And, yes friends, I had beer poured all over me. And I loved every minute of it.
That isn’t to say that my experience went off entirely without a hitch. There are just some things that shouldn’t go down at live shows. Firstly, I was surrounded by a 30-something couple that spent more time gyrating on one another then actually enjoying the celebrations that were taking place. I mean, sure, they were enjoying it in their own way…but, y’know. Last time I checked, Corner Hotel wasn’t a brothel. Save it for the bedroom, mates. I basically felt your boner thrusting on me. And my second, probably biggest hatred of live music etiquette – punters that, without fail, decide to record and/or photograph the entire performance. Word of the wise – take a couple of snaps, maybe one Snapchat, and then put the fucking phone away. Because listening/watching back to a distorted video is nothing like experiencing it in real life. Anyhow, I digress.
What was meant to be an hour-long set of sensational insanity became so much more so quickly. Doubling in time, the set from the two party kings erupted in a way that is indescribable. Fusing tracks within their set – from rap and hip hop, to metal, to electronic, to 80s and just everything in between – there was not one moment within that set where people weren’t moving. A highlight of my night definitely came when Sisqo‘s deep and heartfelt Thong Song dropped on the crowd like a booty-popping tonne of bricks. Could my booty be stopped? Hello, of course it couldn’t. Dat ass never quits when that beat is dropped.
As the night progressed, I remembered wandering over and over again when the set was going to be drawing to a close. Not that I wanted it to, by any stretch of the imagination. On the contrary – in my hangover hell, I was oddly content sweating out the previous night’s booze whilst being fed free water in amongst the crowd. Then the announcement came, “We’re almost at the end.” Depression started to kick in, but we partied on… Where the thank-you’s and goodbyes started to roll in, the duo decided to play one or two last songs to truly send themselves off. After all, this wasn’t one of the nights that they’d last be playing in Melbourne, but rather the last night that they would be performing in the city. And I think they felt it. Overcome with emotion and some mild confusion, Dirty Dancing anthem (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life blasted through the speakers, as the pair, their friends on stage, and half the audience took it upon themselves to be-robe their upper-halves. And no, it didn’t end there.
No great performance ever ends without the inclusion of quite possibly the greatest song ever created – Queen‘s Bohemian Rhapsody. A la the scene from Wayne’s World, where the four friends belt out the anthem in Garth’s car, the Corner Hotel audience that evening emulated that exact moment, only not whilst operating a motorised vehicle. I can’t tell you what this performance did to me – or my body. Where my ears failed to unblock for a good two or three days after the show, my legs felt like I’d just pressed a solid 150kgs. Everything hurt, but it was the type of battle wounds that you look upon proudly. I discoed my little heart out to a live act that I have spent my funnest and loosest years with. However, where Yacht Club DJs are saying hooroo to their live act, I am yet to give the same send-off to my love of beer and disco. Thank you for the memories and the bruises, boys. There’ll always be a special place in my heart for your loose performances. Until we party again, hooroo!
For the rest of Australia, Yacht Club DJs
Hooroo Tour hasn’t yet finished up! Lucky you. The boys still have a few performances left to go. If you get any opportunity to catch them in their final shows, make sure you take it!
Yacht Club DJs – The Hooroo! Tour Dates
Friday December 5 – Amplifier, Perth
Saturday December 6 – Hooch Fest, Mandurah
Wednesday December 17, Friday December 19 & Saturday December 20 – Karova Lounge, Ballarat
