Last weekend, Netsky brought his massive live show along to the Main Stage of this year's GlobalGathering. This was the first set that we properly saw at the festival, having missed most of Vicetone due to them being on earlier than advertised. So we were understandably a bit peeved, and went into Netsky badly needing a lift. And boy did we get one. To find out more, and to see photos and videos from Netsky's set, continue on.
Netsky's live show has become incredibly popular, helping to fulfil a demand for live electronic music that fans crave, but often find in short supply. There's a disappointingly low number of artists that choose to play live - and in this instance, by 'live', I mean with instruments - but it's understandable in a way, because the costs can be prohibitive, and it's not often suitable for an artist's music. Boris' music, however, couldn't be better suited to the live treatment. And what a treatment it gets.
It's not an extravagant production, but it's so full of energy and the performance is so slick that we don't need the smoke machines or flames or fireworks - the music does the talking. At GG, we were treated to an hour's worth of the producer's greatest hits. The first track, though, sounded like it might be something new - I can't pretend that I'm intimately familiar with everything that Netsky's ever done, but I certainly didn't recognise it, and the crowd didn't seem to either. Either way, this led to far more familiar territory with massive hit Love Has Gone sending the crowd into an absolute frenzy.
From here on, the band knocked it out of the park, playing hits including Iron Heart (Michael Shack is absolute beast on the drums in this one), Netsky's remix of Strobot by Shameboy, and Come Alive.
The latter was sung by Billie, who was brought on earlier to sing a rousing rendition of hit single We Can Only Live Today (Puppy), during which the crowd obediently stopped moshing, and started bouncing instead. Billie seems to have become the band's go-to vocalist, as she appears with them almost as a permanent member now. And rightfully so, as she has a great voice and an even better stage presence, which can be useful sometimes, as it would be fair to say that Boris still has a little bit of growing to do as a frontman.
Another set highlight was the ever-popular Detonate. The crowd went absolutely berserk. As Script MC gave the countdown, the pits opened. As he reached zero, the fun began. Both the band and the crowd absolutely tore the place up.
Netsky's set started with the sun up, but by the end, its decent was well under way. As it set, the band rounded out proceedings with a mini-encore of sorts, finishing with their two most recent tracks, Without You and Running Low. Their work was done, and Boris and Script thanked their extremely appreciative crowd, which was one of the largest of the whole weekend.
The band seems to have gelled a lot more since I saw them a few years ago in their earlier days. Boris in particular seems far more confident playing the big stages - there were absolutely no mistakes to be found here, and the entire set was a completely professional performance from start to finish. And though they still have growing room, what we have in Netsky Live now is a very tight production.
As a prelude of sorts to Chase & Status' headline slot, Netsky and his band delivered on every level. They played all the hits, and they played them well. The crowd was amazing, and the evening just got better and better as the sun continued to go down. There were a few songs notable by their absence due to the band only having an hour slot, but it definitely felt like they made the most of their limited time.
If you haven't seen Netsky Live yet, I'd urge you to go and do so. Having seen them a few times previously, I already knew that they're fantastic; their set at GlobalGathering just served as a reminder of that.
The Octopus' Rating: 7/8
Writer, musician, and all-round top guy. I set up Excited Octopus. Currently, I'm on a one man team. It gets lonely sometimes. But I don't mind, because I love you all.
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