- The fundamental core of Let Them Eat Cake is decadence. Set in a park overlooking an 1870s Italianate mansion, in its short three-year lifetime the New Year's Day festival has already established itself as a must-attend event for the more discerning of electronic fans. An ornamental lake divides the parkland, cocktail bars hide within the pines waiting to be found and art installations absorb punters at every corner. And then there's the carefully curated lineup, which offers a range of top-notch house, techno, drum & bass and beyond.
The day kicked off with an assortment of local talent, with Harvey Sutherland, Andras Fox and Sleep D all turning out buoyant sets. At 1 PM, Jamie XX (an eleventh hour replacement for DJ Sneak) took the reins on The Bastille stage. Starting in typically wonky and eclectic fashion, the Brit helped revellers find their rhythm for the day, as Roy Davis Jr.'s "All I Do" bellowed from the stage's hefty Funktion-One.
By 2:30 PM The Bastille was brimming, as one of the day's biggest draws—Todd Terje—approached the decks. As he did last time he was in Melbourne, Terje opened with an edit of Men At Work's "Land Down Under," before gliding through a two-hour set of whimsical house and disco. His dropping of Q Lazzarus' "Goodbye Horses," paired with a light sun shower, elicited a particularly rapturous response.
After a hit of late-afternoon refreshment, the more bass-inclined guests departed for the Palace Of Versailles for the one-two punch of Mr. Carmack and Goldie. Meanwhile at The Guillotine, Psychemagik laid out a hard-hitting set of space-tinged disco, while back at The Bastille KiNK's mad scientist-like manipulation of his keyboards and controllers made him many spectator's MVP for the day. Following the Bulgarian was festival headliner Carl Craig, who treated his swelling audience to a string of Detroit classics, among them Octave One's "Black Water" and Jeff Mills' "The Bells." There was even time for his own rerub of Tom Trago's "Use Me Again," as well as a tongue-in-cheek dousing of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" to close.
As the crowd dispersed to join various ramshackle bus and taxi queues, I overheard numerous statements of post-party elation. Having combined uncompromising attention-to-detail with immaculate infrastructure and a stellar lineup, and with all of the (very few) teething problems from previous years sufficiently ironed out, I'd go as far as to say that Let Them Eat Cake is currently unrivalled on Australia's underground festival circuit.