Review by: Ros Madigan

The August bank holiday was drawing to a close, with many left with sore heads and the unenviable realisation that work looms on Tuesday morning. Fortunately, a trip the Olympia was on the cards for me to see the two Belgium brothers, David and Stephen Dewaele, take to the stage to entertain the near-capacity venue. The Soulwax DJ’s, better known together as 2manydjs, had just arrived from Kilkenny where they played a sold out Heineken Green Spheres gig in Langton’s.

I was surprised to hear that the gig was taking place in the Olympia and wondered how a Dj act would feel within what is in my opinion, Dublin’s nicest theatre venue. Having only seen the Belgium Brothers at Electric Picnic on the main stage last year, I was very impressed how they controlled a whole field full of eager punters. My worry was that considering that the main stage at Stradbally is a world apart from the intimate surroundings of the Olympia Theatre, would 2manydjs be able to go from a grand scale to a more confined space. I was not to be disappointed.

A stage time from MCD.ie was set at 10pm and the duo uncharacteristically, for a couple of Dj’s, arrived on stage perfectly on time. This turned out to be much to my annoyance as I was just entering the front doors as I felt the viscous vibrations race through the ground and crawl up the walls. As I jogged towards the entrance, trying to look cool and avoid being caught running as if it were my first musical venture. I could hear KLF ‘What Time Is Love’ being played. I just caught sight of the stage as the curtain dropped, the light show started and 2manydjs showed us what to expect for the night.

This set the standard for the night and everyone had no problem dancing/fist pumping/shuffling for the gigs entirety. Anyone who has seen 2manydjs will know of their outstanding audio visual treats they offer at most of their headline gigs. These visuals add an extra element to the performance with both hilarious and intricate animations coupling whatever song is being spun on the decks. The first notable animation on screen was to see Nicholas Cage and a young boy dance together perfectly in sync with the beats being supplied. This animation was to be followed by a short line on the massive screen that read “You cannot be serious”. This humour coupled with the mixing wizardry of 2manydjs was to continue throughout the night. Radio Soulwax anthems were followed by Ed Banger records, only then to be followed by classic anthems such as Queens, ‘Another One Bites The Dust’. The famous base line was felt beating through everyone’s body only to be followed by John Paul Young’s ‘Love is in the air’. Certainly not a track you expect to hear, but love to sing along to. Needless to say it went down an absolute treat and the crowd watched with smiles on there faces as John Paul Young shot lasers from his eyes on the big screen behind the Dj booth.

2manydjs must be highly commended because they had this packed crowd feeding out of their hands. There seemed to be no, what seem to be ever present at Dj gigs, moments were a lead-in to a track takes that little too long or even where the track seems to peter out. They picked their set-list expertly, blending in underground dance tracks with golden oldies, only to throw in an indie classic. Such a song that took the crowd by storm was the steady build up into MGMT’s ‘Kids’. The crowd where now begging for more and the brother act stepped it up with what I deemed the stand out track of the night. Radio Soulwax remix of Paul Chambers “Yeah, Techno!” got everyone whipped up into a mini frenzy.

An example of the hilarious animations was when the much adored and equally loathed ‘Riverside’ began to play. They teased the crowd by repeating ‘Riverside, Riverside’ over and over by which time the massive screen behind 2manydjs read ‘We appreciate the patience’, then followed by ‘Good song, pity about the album sleeve’.

There was no signs of the night ending when the original ‘Outer Space’ by Max Romeo was chosen, leaving every sole within the building joining in, in what was to be the nights largest anthem. Just as everyone had stopped swaying and singing along, the Gent duo hit us with The Prodigy’s quite considerably faster adaptation of ‘Outer Space’. The night was drawn to a close when 2manydjs finished on Joy Divisions ‘Love will tear us apart’ to the delight of the Dublin crowd. The crowd could sense that the set was coming to a close but could not expect what was to come next. As the Chorus went ringing around the venue, confetti was rocketed out from steel cannons on stage, which ended a great gig with a memorable moment to a memorable song.

Classics on the night featured, Shaka Khan, ABBA ‘Money Money Money’, Pink Floyd, Kenkraft 3000 ‘Zombie Nation’, Donna Summer’s ‘I Feel Love’, The Eurhythmics ‘Sweet Dreams’, Sparks ‘Beat the Clock’, Harry Thuman ‘Underwater’ and The Bee Gees. More recent tracks consisted of Lil Waynes ‘Amelie’, Justice ‘Phantom ll’, Crookers, Tiga ‘Your hair is such a mess’, Proxy Raven Turbo, Deadmouse ‘The reward is more cheese’, Harry Thuman, Daft Punks ‘Robot Rock’, LCD Soundsytem and Carte Blanche ’Gare Du Nord’ .

I was unsure as to how long they would remain on stage and they did not let us down, staying on stage just under 2 hours. The light show was out of this world and the set list the best I’ve heard. Everyone went away out of breath and fully satisfied. One passerby even remarked, “That’s the 8th time I’ve seen them and they just keep getting better”. In that case, I look forward to my next 6 outings.

Olympia Opening

Link to Paul Chambers – Yeah, Techno!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cu2iG0cEtB8