There were a couple of ideas that were floating my boat prior to boarding the Ship Faced cruise on Friday. For one, I was a little bit excited to be able to purchase and skull a beer past the 10pm Good Friday cut-off (it’s secular on the high seas matey!), I was rather keen on the fact that I’d be doing this whilst cruising around the most beautiful harbour in the world – plus the fact that the soundtrack to both these activities would be the sounds of a handpicked group of Australia’s dance elite was not a bad thought either. With spirits high and ravers rummy – it was time to celebrate the 3rd birthday of the annual event – it was time to get shanty.

Alighting the monster double-decker glass boat – fairly $waggy, I must admit – my rave sister and I took to the sky deck to catch some local groove-masters. First up was Kiss Kiss – two young lads who were intent on busting out some deep and funky house/techno vibes.

Very similar to a Hannah Wants set and a nice departure from dance pop – the boys’ set was bass heavy and a highly impressive opener for the evening. Disappointingly most of the punters were still making their way onto the boat (don’t be fooled by it’s seaworthiness- the boat is security heavy) and Kiss Kiss may not have had the crowd they deserved. We still boogied guize!

The sky deck was an awesome place that night to showcase local up and comers – other artists including Eratik & Lemond, Parental Guidance, Blow Out DJs, Fiktion & Them Again and Unknown Associates did not disappoint. With a capacity of 200 people  – the deck was filled to the brim with bumping and grinding despite the harbour wind. Even so, it was darn chilly – scantily clad midriff ladies and muscle-tee enthusiastic dudes be warned – fripples ahoy!

Heading down to the main room, we arrived just in time to groove to Lewi McKirdy. Far from lunch – Lew still wanted to serve up a spread – the gent looked like he was having as much fun as anyone in the crowd and pumped some highly decent jams. It was a short intro however to German house legend Doctor Dru – who gave an absolutely mesmerising performance behind the decks. Turning the ship into a giant pulsing house machine – the response to the incredible sounds of the good Doctor were refreshing too. Pushing away the trashy banger-esque party boat conceptions – Sydney harbour became home to an awesome underground (luckily, not underwater) euro house den.

The highlight of the evening, however, was a complete draw between the last two acts.

Ok, I need to take a minute to talk about Touch Sensitive. Seriously, how fucking great is this guy? I managed to do the sneaky behind the deck and have a chat to the legend, who seemed a little nervous under that fantastic mo. Upon investigation – he was nervous about pulling out the plethora of instruments he had prepared in the gap after Dru. Backpack bound – out came the bass guitar, midi controllers, a whole host of sound creating goodies. We often talk about the questionability of live electronic performance (this video is a case in point) – but Touch puts those to bed. An artist who truly understands the computer/instrument divide (/balance?), the bass skills are absolutely out of control. Dropping favourite tracks Pizza Guy, Body Stop and new Slowments (available here for free download), Touch was slappin da bass the whole time and groovin’ his Converse off. It was nothing short of fucking awesome… and hot.

Never ones to disappoint – it might be no surprise that we also frothed over the match made in heaven that is L D R U and Yahtzel. It’s good that we were on water because these guys were on FIRE. Dropping mainly other Aussie producers (nice to see a healthy dose of Indian Summer and others in there), whilst dropping homemade track ‘The Only One’ – which might have seen the crowd have a collective peak. Hectic flailing lad. It was a sweaty affair which literally saw the inside of the boat get one hell of a steamin’ (great for writing creepy love letters on the walls of the boat – noice). Love was definitely on board as Yahtzel and I exchanged world’s sweatiest hug and I was bestowed L D R U’s damp captain’s hat, hooray for germs!

All together, Ship Faced was an amazing way to make some motion on the ocean. The amount of talent on one boat was unbelievable – from the excited local performers to the international headliner – the music was absolutely primo. This isn’t to mention the beautiful Sydney harbour which we cruised around. Ship Faced really brought the decks to the decks (aye!) and turned a Good Friday into a bloody great Friday!

Here are some of the more random things I spied/experienced whilst creepin’ around the cruise:

• Some chick trying to catch smoke from the smoke machine in her mouth and breathe it out into her friends faces like a dragon. Hecccccctic fail lad.
• Yahtzel catching some cheeky Z’s before his set. The legend was all tuckered out after a week of touring.
• So many almost-overboards. Just one would’ve been funny, but safety was top notch.
• A guy selling E-vapours humped me leg. Not keen.
• Dr. Dru standing directly behind Touch during his set – havin’ a creepy admiring sesh. It was nice to know I wasn’t alone.
• More floor condoms than I care to admit. I wasn’t aware I was on the love boat, shwing?

(Photo: Doctor Dru creepin’ on Touch… whaaaaaaaaaat.)

(and my souvenir for the evening…)

This content has been created as part of my involvement in the Microsoft Connections Program.