Review: Oh My God, Theres a Riot in Belgium

Riot in Belgium
Crush @ BackBooth
3/24/2008 - Orlando, FL

Miami’s annual Winter Music Conference brings the biggest and the best of electronic music to the south. But for those that don’t want to or can’t make to the drive/flight/train trip to the sweaty south, good news! Orlando got lucky this year and is blessed to serve as a pit stop for a few of the finest making their way down. The result: This week, Orlando is a party destination like it’s never been. No mouse, no theme park, no movie studio could make for a bigger load of fun.

A regular Monday night, for most regular people, usually involves television and rest to prepare oneself for the week, distress from returning to work. These are the kind people who wake up extra early to clean their house and coordinate their shoes and belts. These are the people who have big IRA’s, who don’t drink, who don’t raise their voices above a three, who don’t own dancing shoes. To spice things up, a glass of wine with dinner maybe. But Every Monday night, for the past two year, Backbooth opens its door for anyone who wants to break the mold of regularity and party like rock stars at the beginning of the week.

Monday night this very special week was no exception, and for a select hard headed, dedicated individuals, the perfect start to 6 days of total non stop action. Day one of spring training, the official name for the aggregation of a week’s worth of amazing parties, was a kick in the balls delivered by Beni Single, one half of Australian dance music sensation Riot in Belgium.

In 2006, the duo sprung onto the scene with the release of their album "The Acid Never Lies" on Relish Recordings (formerly known as Relish Records). If you’ve gone to an indie dance night anytime in the past year, you know Riot in Belgium. You’ve heard their song "The Acid Never Lies", or their powerhouse hit "La Musique". You've no doubt also been privy to their remix work for the likes of Yelle, Surkin, Sneaky Soundsytem, K.I.M. Headman, and Chromeo.

Riot in Belgium is Joel Dickson & Beni Single, but Beni performed alone on Monday night. Individually, Joel also puts out fantastic music with Tim from Cut Copy as Comets, and Bennie is one fifth of the banging (pun intended) Sydney based DJ collective the Bang Gang Deejays.

Beni’s set was amazing, he comes on all of a sudden, full throttle with a noticeable and very audible warning. “Oh my God, there’s a riot in Belgium” and the entire crowd wants to be a part of it. Beni makes his performance look easy. He is dancing, throwing his hands in the air, wooing the audience and passing out stickers while tweaking the knobs and buttons that make his characteristic funky electro noise. He even has time to put a bandana over his face to look extra cool for his photo ops. It is total non-stop action from this man, and the slew of drunk 20 something’s and underagers that want to fit in shaking and mixing to his music, your humble reviewer included, don’t care to focus on what individual songs he mixes, because the overall effect is too too strong. The entire set is electric and we all move with every single drop and pound of his bass heavy sound. People seem drawn to him, there are almost more people on the stage than there are on the dance floor, they all just want to get as close as possible to the source.

All in all, The Aussie delivered from start to finish and sent us home reeling, pumped and ready for the sleep deprived week ahead.