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Fringe Review: DJ Phone Home

Charge up your phone because this dance party with a difference lets you vote for the next song online. Dance, twerk and vote the night away!

Fringe2015-DJPhoneHomePresented by Laughing Stock Productions
Reviewed 20 February 2015

They say everyone’s a DJ, and while they aren’t far from the truth, the newest dance party to hit Adelaide makes that statement truer than true.

After a few espresso (martinis) on Friday night, it was time to stay up way passed bedtime to experience the latest craze from the creators of Hot Dub Time Machine.

We arrived at The Garden of Unearthly Delights at 11:30pm for a midnight start and headed straight to the bar. It was evident that we were late to this game, and that other attendees may have previous been at the bar for a little while. But that definitely added to the hype and anticipation as we were standing in line, waiting to be advised on our next move by various Spiegeltent circus characters.

As they checked our tickets and strapped us up in our paper wristbands they explained how the concept of DJ Phone Home worked: We were to log on to a website using a special code and follow the prompts on the screen, and that was all they would reveal! I immediately regretted not charging my phone.

This tit-bit of insight helped build the excitement in the crowd, with everyone discussing their thoughts and ideas about the night as we slowly filed our way inside.

The music was already blaring and behind the stage, on a large screen, repeated what we had previously been told about the log in information. As the crowd started building the DJ burst onto the stage, dressed in his best Blues Brothers costume.

As soon as he took to the mic his presence was formidable. He further explained that he would be selecting categories of songs and we would all be able to vote on our phones as to what would be played next in what he described as ‘The ultimate in dance floor democracy’. If there was ever a way to create banter amongst a crowd, this was it.

The DJ was beyond charismatic, engaging his new guinea pigs by jumping around and dancing as if he were in a choreographed Broadway musical (complete with splits.) It may sound corny but his extreme enthusiasm was contagious and soon even the people who had hidden away in booths were up shaking their stuff.

The night wasn’t just phone-oriented as he got the crowd to split in two to vote for their preferred songs, and even have a twerk off!

I will say that this is an event to grab all your friends together and enjoy as a group night out. We had incredible amounts of fun, especially due to the DJ, but to achieve real dance floor domination we could’ve done with a larger assembly.

If there are any hot tips I can give you for the evening it would be to wear flat shoes or something super comfy to boogie in. The floorboards of the Spiegeltent are very bouncy, and not necessarily built for the ferocity of certain dance moves. Secondly, charge your phone. You don’t want to spend an evening listening to Spice Girls just because you couldn’t get your vote in for KISS.

Overall this concept is great fun, and it will certainly follow in the footsteps of Hot Dub Time Machine’s success. If your missing your Hot Dub fill this Fringe, I strongly recommend you give DJ Phone Home a go.

Reviewed by Hannah Pendlebury

Venue: Spielgeltent, The Garden of Unearthly Delights, Rymill Park, Adelaide
Season: 27 February – 14 March 2015
Duration: 150minutes
Tickets: $20-$30
Bookings: Book through FringeTix online or at a FringeTix box office (booking fees apply)

 

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