Live Review: Leftfield, Wordlife

Sydney locals Wordlife kicked off the night with a DJ set reminiscent of a 2am club slot which featured dirty, bass-heavy dance beats with distorted vocal samples thrown in here and there.

Their performance definitely set the vibe for the evening; however, it was a little lacklustre with only half of the duo present for the initial opening. Once Adam Bozzetto joined Kato on stage their set immediately picked up and the quality of the music significantly improved. The addition of Bozzetto's improvised drum machine and a reworking of Jungle's disco-inspired track The Heat were their standout qualities. By the time the audience had filtered in the boys had to leave, much to their dismay, as they were visibly enjoying themselves. It was a nice touch to see their personality shine through while they kicked the crowd into gear.

The faithful devotees only had to wait mere minutes more in anticipation for the headlining act. With a career spanning almost 30 years, iconic British outfit Leftfield did not disappoint. Promoting their 2015 album release Alternative Light Source founding member Neil Barnes has successfully resurrected Leftfield, incorporating engineer Adam Wren and Sebastien Beresford on drums into their live performance. An intricate light show silhouetted the band and seamlessly matched with every track change or additional beat. The progressive house set was interspersed with their earlier reggae releases including track Africa Shox which called for a welcome guest singer. The crowd was clearly impressed and there were moments during the gig when time simply became obsolete, such was the quality of their performance. After a brief break they returned for an extended encore of the intense and otherworldly hit Phat Planet.