The Wild Nights Tour @ HQ Complex, Adelaide 21/6/2018
ARE YOU READY???? Yes, we were! The Wild Nights Tour featuring five of the dance superstars were in Adelaide at the HQ Complex making sure was a wild Thursday night. Nick Skitz started off the night getting the crowd pumped with all the classic 90s dance hits remixed in the classic Skitz style. The HQ Complex is the perfect venue for a hyped-up dance crowd having a huge screen behind the DJ desk screening colourful visuals in time to the pulsating music.
First act of the featured artists was British electronic music group N-Trance starting off with their big hit Stayin’ Alive. Bringing back a lot of memories of the good ole days of the previously located HQ/ Heaven night club. MC B (Ben) was a buffed muscle God rapping in his sexy cool voice while vocalist Lynsey Jane Barrow wearing a gorgeous shiny sequined dress shimmied and swayed in time to the beat. Her vocals were on point and it was obvious to see the great chemistry between them on stage.
Their set included a solid dance beat version of Florence and the Machine’s You Got The Love, Bruno Mars Locked Out Of Heaven which then morphed into Tag Team’s Whoomp! There It Is and their remix of the Rod Stewart classic hit Do Ya Think I’m Sexy. Finishing the set with the big hit Set You Free.
It was my first time seeing DJ Aligator live and the anticipation was built up from the visual on the screen with a countdown. With his OBEY baseball cap, muscly arms fist pumping to the beat and him yelling “Mother F*cking House” first impressions were this DJ knows how to command the crowd. When he demanded “Put your f*cking hands up” we did without resistance. He played us his new single Drop the Bass and payed tribute to Avicii by playing Levels.
Playing a mix of old skool and new beats he had the audience in a frenzy. The highlight was when the crowd were given whistles and he played his 2000 hit The Whistle Song. The piercing sounds of a hundred whistles filled the HQ Complex ending what was a high energy set.
While Love Inc’s set was a short one it had a helluva impact on the crowd. This was supreme vocalist Simone Denny’s first time in Adelaide and she showed us just what we had been missing all this time. Singing her hit All Things (Just Keep Getting Better) the theme song from the original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy TV series she had the crowd eating out of the palm of her hand. Ending on the 1998 song You’re a Superstar she had a little help from the crowd by pulling up a few ladies and gents to dance on stage with her.
By this stage the crowd were pumped in a trance dance zone and it was elevated higher via DJ Sash telling us to “Putting Up Our F*cking Hands”. Taking us through a 90s journey playing his hits Mysterious Times featuring Tina Cousins and Stay featuring La Trec and Adalante. He also did a great remix of Children by Robert Miles and at one point had the crowd chanting to the beat of the White Stripes song Seven Nation Army.
With fists pumped in the air and using the whistles left over from DJ Aligator the piercing sounds returned to the atmosphere lifting the crowd to higher levels. Sash yelled Aussie! Aussie! Aussie! and the crowd yeah back Oi! Oi! Oi! He asked, “Are you ready” and for sure the crowd were more than ready. Ending the set on a dance version of Alphaville’s Forever Young solidifying his time in Adelaide as exactly that – forever young!
Last but by no means least was the livewire and energetic Cascada. She excitedly told us that it was her first time in Australia and by the amount of fun she was having I’m sure it won’t be her last. Starting with original songs Miracle then club anthem Evacuate The Dance Floor the crowd were in a frenzy singing along leaving a delighted smile on Cascada’s face. Covers of Savage Garden’s Truly Madly Deeply and Roxette’s How Do You Do! were a nice touch while Corona’s Rhythm Of The Night had her dancing and jumping on stage like a boss! When the crowd is having fun, an artist will feed off that energy and that was certainly evident half way through her set. Finishing off on originals What Do You Want From Me and another crowd favourite Everytime We Touch showed why trance dance and Eurobeats are still as popular as ever just like they were in the 90s. While the crowd were still pumped and yelling for more Cascada came back for an encore ending the set with Patti Smith’s Because The Night.
One things for sure, it might have been over twenty years ago but on this night everyone in the room were re-living the 90s like it was yesterday.
Live Review by Anastasia Lambis