| 3OH!3 + BASSHUNTER / don't trust a swede with two parts balderdash |
| Written by Sarah Mudgway |
| Wednesday, 07 October 2009 15:42 |
 Three girls walk into an arena. They’re greeted by two Americans singing about “fast cars, fast women and cheap drinks”, followed by a Swedish DJ-sensation wearing tight silver pants, six scantily-clad back-up dancers resembling the likes of “Who wants to be a stripper?”... and 4000+ kids who all seemed to be sponsored by the fluro section of Supre. No, this isn’t one of those bad jokes (although, at some points it really did feel like it). This was the opening night of the 3OH!3 and BASSHUNTER New Zealand tour. With locals Smashproof kicking off the night, by the time Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte took to the stage, the kids were all revved up and ready to go... and that they did. From the moment the first beats of ‘Punkbitch’ started playing, to the last notes of ‘Don’t Trust Me’, the crowd was a non-stop dance party of massive proportions.  Working their way through a short 35 minute set which included ‘Starstrukk’, ‘Colorado Sunrise’, ‘Don’t Dance’ and ending with break-out single ‘Don’t Trust Me', what was impressive about the two front-men was their obvious passion for what they do, coupled with enthusiastic appreciation to be doing their thing in our small country. Endlessly energetic and extremely animated, the synchronised steps and ridiculous dance moves being showcased made for a very entertaining performance.  However, despite the energy being projected from the stage, the audience dynamic was one of the strangest I’ve ever come across at a concert. Everyone was dancing, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that for a good proportion of those there, it wouldn’t have mattered who was on stage at that very moment. This became increasingly obvious, when 3OH!3 finished their set, and the dance-party continued on with the same level of enthusiasm, courtesy of DJ Justin Sane. For the teenage audience, this night was more about being with friends... 'good music' and a high-school dance-vibe without teachers chaperoning.  When Basshunter – real name Jonas Altberg – took to the stage in tight silver pants accompanied by six back-up dancers, it was hard to not think of anything but ‘tacky'. Opening with ‘Angel In The Night’ before ‘Boten Anna’ - the Swedish version of his hit single ‘Now You’re Gone’ - it was incredible how many kids could sing along in Swedish. While Basshunter was extremely professional and obviously well accustomed to entertaining on stage, his stage-show would have been better off without the tacky amateur stripper-esque dancers. I get that a stage is hard to fill when you’re just one man, but when there are six girls gyrating around on stage, losing an item of clothing every second or third song, it becomes increasingly hard to take the entire performance seriously. Maybe I’m just getting old...  Treating the crowd to a couple of first-time live performances, as well as tracks such as ‘Please Don’t Go’, ‘All I Ever Wanted’, crowd favourite ‘Now You’re Gone’ and... “This song isn’t about forgetting to wear a condom but if you read between the lines...”-track ‘Why’, the energy was never fleeting and his vocal ability was surprisingly decent, even if his set-list was oddly repetitive. However at the end of the day, I don’t think any of that really mattered to the teenage crowd... it was all about good times, and judging by the excited chatter and screams, good times were most definitely had.  |
