Concert crowds get high on disco fever

Jun 6 2008 by Johnathon Menzies

PERTH'S Festival of the Arts got stuck in a welcome timewarp as Calvin Harris wowed the audience by bringing his very own brand of disco to the Fair City.

Mainly playing tracks from his debut album “I Created Disco” – a top ten hit following its release a year ago – Harris impressed the near sell-out crowd with his energy and charisma.

What the 24-year-old frontman lacks in vocal talent, he makes up for in sheer enthusiasm and stage presence.

His eccentricities are encouraged by the four-piece live band that accompanies him onstage, and magnified by spectacularly camp lighting.

This combination resulted in his heavily synthesised, contemporary disco-style tracks translating well into the live arena – the success of which could be seen in the reaction to his most popular singles.

Predictably, “Acceptable in the ‘80s” and “The Girls” were both greeted rapturously by a lively crowd.

In fact, the man from Dumfries could appear to do no wrong in the eyes of an audience that was mainly comprised of neon-clad teenagers, barring a few uneasy looking Mums and Dads seated towards the back.

Many didn’t stop dancing for the duration of Harris’ set, which lasted over an hour, and only seemed subdued in the build-up, as Glasgow-based support band Xvectors failed to excite.

Even his more experimental new material drew positive feedback, showing that Harris – who composed his entire 14-track debut album using a £200 computer in his bedroom at home – has the potential to build on his early success and expand his fanbase still further.

Leading to the conclusion that, although this was the first time Calvin Harris has re-invented disco in the Fair City, it may well not be the last.