Dennis Ferrer and Kerri Chandler

I had the chance to see Dennis Ferrer at a festival earlier this year and it opened my eyes to his music. I was unfamiliar with this artist before the festival, but I am definitely a fan now. He played on a large stage that was very well lit and worked well with the type of show he was doing. The lights were coordinated with the beats of the music he was playing. What I liked about him was that he used softer beats rather than the hard hitting stuff that tends to be softer now. It kind of reminded me of something you would hear in the early to mid 90’s. He let the music build from a soft swell to a strong climax. His set was over two hours long and he paced it wonderfully. His set list got the crowd in to the music and everyone was dancing. There wasn’t any crowd interaction really, but with the type of music being played, I can understand that. I was never really in to this type of music but his set list and the crowd have turned me on to the genre. I will be seeking more of this out in the future.

Visually, Kerri Chnadler’s DJ set was the best set I saw at Exit Festival all weekend. The set opened with the graphics of a white clock whizzing round on a black back drop, before the house lights came up and the crowd started cheering. There were holograms and strobe lights, and everyone was cheering for Chandler to come on stage. Eventually, he walked out with six dancers dressed in florescent bikinis, and made his was to the DJ booth whilst they took centre stage to start their routines.

Chandler of course as we all know is an incredibly skilled DJ, and watching him command the vast booth with apparent ease was incredible to witness. His mixing was really well rehearsed, and in perfect time with the ever changing lights around him on the stage. He opened the show with Super Lover, and then moved on to some more of his original deep house tracks. It’s refreshing how he combines elements of Jazz in with his garage sound, and always gets the audience going.

He was wonderful at interacting with the crowd by pitting his arms in the air, or jumping up and down to get everyone excited. It was a 2 hour set, and he maintained his high energy throughout, he’s a great performer as well as musician.