Riot In Belgium @ Crush 03.24.08 - Review by MGAP

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WMC Spring Training Day 1: Riot In Belgium @ Crush - Backbooth
March 24, 2008 - Orlando, FL
by Melanie Gapany

Miami’s annual Winter Music Conference brings the biggest and the best of electronic music to the south. But for those that don’t want to or can’t make to the drive/flight/train trip to the sweaty way south, good news! Orlando got lucky this year and is blessed to serve as a pit stop for a few of the finest making their way down. The result: The week of WMC, Orlando is a party destination like it’s never been. No mouse, no theme park, no movie studio could make for a bigger load of fun.

A regular Monday night, for most regular people, usually involves television and rest to prepare oneself for the week, de-stress from returning to work. These are the kind people that wake up extra early to clean their house and the kind that coordinates their shoes with their belts. These are the people who have big IRA’s, who don’t drink, who don’t raise their voices above a three, who don’t own dancing shoes. To spice things up, they drink a glass of wine with dinner, maybe. But Every Monday night, for the past two years, Backbooth opens its door for Crush, and anyone who wants to break the mold of regularity and party like rock stars at the beginning of the week is invited.

Crush on this very special week was no exception, and for a select hard headed, dedicated group of individuals, the perfect start to 6 days of total non stop action in two cities. Day one of spring training, the semi-official name for the aggregation of a week’s worth of amazing parties, was a kick in the balls delivered by Beni Single, one half of Australian dance music sensation Riot in Belgium.

In 2006, the duo sprung onto the scene with the release of their album "The Acid Never Lies" on Relish Recordings (formerly known as Relish Records). If you’ve gone to an indie dance night anytime in the past year, you know Riot in Belgium. You’ve heard their song "The Acid Never Lies", or their powerhouse hit "La Musique". You've no doubt also been privy to their remix work for the likes of Yelle, Surkin, Sneaky Soundsytem, K.I.M. Headman, and Chromeo.

The duo is made up of Joel Dickson & Beni Single. Individually, Joel also puts out fantastic music with Tim from Cut Copy as Comets, and Bennie is one fifth of the banging (pun intended) Sydney based DJ collective the Bang Gang Deejays. Regardless, of whether they are playing alone or not, both the boys have the experience they need to back up their talk with impressive game.

Beni’s set was amazing, he comes on all of a sudden, full throttle with a noticeable and very audible warning. “Oh my God, there’s a riot in Belgium” and the entire crowd wants to be a part of it. Beni makes his performance look easy. He is dancing, throwing his hands in the air, wooing the audience and passing out stickers while tweaking the knobs and buttons that make his characteristic funky electro noise. He even has time to put a bandana over his face to look extra cool for his photo ops. It is action from beginning to end from this man, and the slew of drunk 20 something’s and underagers (your humble reviewer included in the former group) are shaking and moving to his music, and don’t seem to care to focus on what individual songs he mixes, because the overall effect is just too strong. The entire set is electric and everyone moves with every single drop and pound of his bass heavy sound. People seem drawn to him, there are almost more people on the stage than there are on the dance floor. It almost broke out into a Riot, but they all just want to get as close as possible to the source.

All in all, The Aussie delivered from start to finish and sent us home reeling, pumped and ready for the sleep-deprived week ahead.