- As we noted last year, the first-ever Let Them Eat Cake festival was a resounding success. Battling against one of the harshest festival climates on the global circuit, and amidst an overcrowded New Year's marketplace, a host of Melbourne's finest underground promoters joined forces to deliver a small and decadent electronic feast that the city's more discerning punters had long been yearning for. All this without the teething problems that are common with new festivals.
Though numbers were up this year, the intimate atmosphere remained intact. There was an extra stage (the Isle of Tortuga, which mostly featured local talent), and production values across the festival had been greatly improved. An abundance of local-favourite food stands provided gourmet delicacies throughout the day while specialised bars, art installations and chill-out areas scattered throughout the 10-hectare gardens ensured the attendees had plenty of multi-sensory stimuli.
Melbourne's typically unpredictable weather ran amok within the first few hours. Sporadic downpours left unprepared punters seeking shelter in the shrubbery and marquee bars, while others crafted makeshift ponchos from garbage bags. On the RA stage (backdropped by the stunning 1870s Italianate Werribee Mansion), local luminaries Mike Callander and Fantastic Man rinsed a delicate ensemble of humid techno and pulsing house. Over at the Guillotine, Myles Mac and Andy Hart (the duo behind the Melbourne Deepcast series) served up a fine-tuned mix of their signature deep house.
As the weather settled and punters started to find their rhythm, Julio Bashmore flirted with the more bass-heavy side of house, with his infectious 2012 cut "Au Seve" warming up the dance floor. Both Soul Clap and Bicep offered healthy doses of hard-hitting house, while Floating Points' eclectic mix of soul, techno and samba divided the crowd, with many departing the Palace Of Versailles to see the festival's main attraction, the one-two punch of James Holden followed by DJ Koze.
Holden laid out a dynamic showcase of electronica, including a pulsing rinse of Four Tet's "Parallel Jalebi." Opening with Robag Wruhme's remix of his own "Nices Wölkchen," Koze closed out the festival by returning to the more melancholic vibes of his 2013 record Amygdala, with his ubiquitous re-rub of Matthew Herbert's 2001 cut "It's Only" soundtracking the masses' retreat to the busses waiting at the exit for the journey back to the city (or to the rooms at the mansion, where afterparties abounded).
The second edition of Let Them Eat Cake showed ample growth for an event that needed little improvement. The vision is clear, the motives sound and the organisation unyielding. If Let Them Eat Cake continues to live up to its potential, Melbourne will finally have an underground electronic festival to rival the world's finest.
Photo credits: Asher Floyd