Peking Duk: A Rave Review

It’s been a great year for fans of Australian music. After treating us to a Winter DJ tour earlier this year, Peking Duk went straight into preparation for a second tour – this time in the style of a warehouse rave inspired by their massively successful Bunnings Warehouse Rave in August.

This is what happened at Peking Duk’s warehouse rave at The Triffid on November 2nd, 2024.

The Support Acts

Welcoming the crowd inside, NOY was the first on the decks for the evening. Her music was fun and light, with a great beat to dance to. NOY cultivated a great vibe with her song selection and people were hitting the floor quickly, busting out some incredible moves that you just don’t get to see once the floor is packed later on in a show. After an hour and a half, NOY swapped out with Lottie, who brought a heavier drum and bass mix to the party. This heavier mix amped up the tension in the crowd and brought a lot more listeners to the front of the stage, without killing the dance floor with a straight up ‘concert’ vibe. The darker sounds Lottie sampled in her hour-long mix also had a few surprise features; the Spongebob closing credits song somehow fit in really well and gives credit to Lottie’s creativity in her music selection.

Peking Duk

After the hours of work by NOY and Lottie, the crowd was well and truly warmed up, ready and raring to go. The Triffid, a former commercial hangar that’s now celebrating 10 years in the business of live music, was packed on the floor and the balcony. The lights went down and smoke began to cloud the stage. In a flicker of black and white strobes, we could make out the besuited figures of band members Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles behind the decks. For the next hour, they delighted their captivated audience with an incredible track selection, seamlessly mixed.

This is my fifth time seeing the band and I can vividly remember standing front row at Grapevine Gathering and sweating from the heat of pyrotechnics in tune with their hit song Fire, but this show was a no-frills performance that proves you don’t need a massive stage with all the works to still put on a phenomenal show. I’ll still shout out the production crew on lighting – this is an art form that seems straightforward enough (pretty bright colours are fun!) but gigs just wouldn’t be the same without the extra impact and embellishment lighting provides to a music set, immersing audiences in the environment. Many of us donned sunglasses to really vibe with the ‘rave’ theme of the night, but it didn’t dim our appreciation for the work of the crew on stage lights one bit.

Adam and Reuben aren’t generally dealing with swapping out instruments every few songs so they don’t always have that prompting to talk to their crowd. As a result, their crowdwork is embedded in the music and their performance of it throughout the show. Still, it added a personal touch when they did give pause to shout out some members of audience and share their excitement to play an intimate venue like The Triffid.

Included among the tracks selected for the mix were plenty of fan favourites the boys knew would get us singing along if we were hitting those fatigue spots from dancing too hard. Dancing My Own by Robyn was an early addition to the mix and Fleetwood Mac’s Everywhere leant the crowd a bubbly enthusiasm that made us fall in love with the band all over again. Classic dance hits like Sweet Dreams, Satisfaction, and Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat all featured in the set and made the atmosphere so cool.

Obviously, they played their own hits too, including some unreleased tracks from their upcoming album which we’ve been eager to get our hands on since the Winter DJ tour! Amongst hits like Fake Magic, Wasted and Fire, they also included their adored cover of Crowded House’s Fall At Your Feet. To close out the show in time for a hard midnight curfew, the saved the song that introduced them to many of their long-terms fans, including me – High with vocals by Nicole Millar. It left us on a high and tomorrow I’m sure we’ll be facing withdrawal as we eagerly await the release of the album… and hopefully, some new dates for next year!

Fave song: Wasted

Sounds Good?

If you can’t wait for Peking Duk to release their album, bide your time by listening to some more excellent electronic pop, dance, or drum and bass by the artists:

Hayden James – Hayden James is another electronic pop artist who can curate a great DJ set, but has a solid discography of his own to include. I love the Summery vibe of his music that makes you want to dance, but is also chill and relaxing.

PNAU – I haven’t seen PNAU live before, so I’m keenly awaiting an Australia tour in 2025! The dance music trio has been working for decades and has a massive discography and some solid collaborations with artists including Khalid, Troye Sivan and Elton John.

Fitch – I saw drum and bass producer Fitch earlier, closing the night out after Peking Duk’s club set in Brisbane. Partnering with Emile Battour on many of his own songs, I was really drawn to his remixes of music I already love but never hear included in a club set, with songs by The Chats, The Temper Trap and Florence + The Machine featured.