The tent was completely packed out, such is the popularity of this man now. But did Nick, complimented by MC ID, deliver the goods? Read on to find out.
Let me get this out the way first: I honestly don't think that Sub Focus needs an MC. ID does a decent enough job, but I find him to be pretty superfluous to requirements. I'm not sure why I feel that way about Sub Focus - I really enjoy lots of artists' MCs - Netsky, Pendulum, Chase & Status... maybe it works better with live instruments, where the MC can better interact with the band/artist. Whatever the reason, I've just always thought that ID is unneeded. That said, no offence to the guy - he does do a fairly good job of crowd control.
Right. The rest of the show then. It is quite the setup that Nick has built for himself. As the large, LED rings that surround him slowly begin to come to life during opener Torus, you know you're in for a visual treat. And indeed, the hits flow thick and fast from Mr Douwma, with fan-favourite Rock It following up, and all the singles you'd expect - Turn Back Time, Turn It Around, Out The Blue... they're all there, and each has it's own spectacularly designed visuals.
Nick also has a weird laser thingy. Yep. Pretty sure that's the technical term. He uses it to particularly great effect in set closer Let The Story Begin (always thought that was a bit of an odd choice for a set closer, given the name), milking the crowd of every reaction they have as he skilfully manipulates the pitch of *that* synth by moving his hand up and down, breaking the laser beams.
One of my personal set highlights is Falling Down VIP, which, midway through, switches from nasty, head rattling dubstep, to an intense D&B track - the pits open up, and all hell breaks loose.
Credit must also be given to Sub Focus for managing to craft such crowd friendly songs. Endorphins definitely had the biggest crowd singalong that I saw throughout the weekend. Everyone in that tent knew the words, and it was a similar story for many of his other hit singles, which seemed to just come one after another.
And it's there that I have to mention my main criticism of Nick's set. At times, it suffers from what I would call the 'push play' effect. I know Deadmau5 says they're all at it, but it seems a shame that despite the incredible array of tech that Nick seems to have on stage with it, it really does seem to make very little impact. At times, it felt like I was actually just listening to Torus on my phone or something. Tracks were just sort of faded into one another at times. It's a tricky situation that we're in right now - audiences now demand spectacular visual displays, but these all have to be preprogrammed. The result of this is a set that can feel very rigid, and one that doesn't allow the artist a lot of control. It's a tricky balance to strike, and I can't particularly think of anyone that's found a good solution yet.
I could be totally wrong - Nick might be doing an awful lot up there. But having attended one of his pre-Torus live shows, back in the one-ring days, this one felt far less creative, with far less clever mixing and track combinations.
That aside, I can't deny that Nick did indeed put on a great show. I left satisfied - not exhilarated, but satisfied. It wasn't my highlight of the weekend, but it was far from being a low point.
I had a good sing-song. And there were lots of pretty lights. I guess that's all you need at the end of the day!
The Octopus' Rating: 6/8
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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