Live Review: Siberian Nights

Australian record label Siberia Records initiated Vivid Festival's Studio Party program in style on Friday night with a tasting platter of some of the finest music out there from a roster of their very own artists.

While label darling Kirin J Callinan did not play, his presence was felt in the foyer via his statue doppelganger. In what is hopefully a mainstay of the festival, Callinan's projected face watched eerily over the audience. 

Locals acts acted as the first course, warming up the initially tentative crowds at the bar and main stage. Melbourne's FORCES filled the room with dark electronic and grating vocals. Meanwhile, Sydney trio Black Vanilla brought their A-game with sleazy tracks to get the people moving.

When Andy Stott made his presence known, the audience entered a surreal dub techno nightmare, with heavy bass lines puncturing the room. The crowd was hypnotised by the beats and writhed with pleasure, breaking into coordinated chaos when it dropped.

Off the back of their worldwide tour, Midnight Juggernauts brought Sydneysiders a show that was both musically and visually compelling. As the founders of Siberia Records it was always going to be their domain.

As well as taking the surroundings up to new levels with mind-melting projections, Midnight Juggernauts continued the momentum of the audience with their eclectic cosmic sounds and wide-ranging vocals on full display. They brought the crowd both more recent tracks and older classics from their back catalogue, rounding the strong set off with the crowd-friendly Tombstone.

Siberian Nights promised a sensory overload and they delivered. Look forward to the next time they decide to throw a party.