Reviewed on Friday October 10 (photo by Ashley Mar)
Even though Hot Dub Time Machine DJ Tom Loud is a glorified iPod, you’re not turning up to his gigs because he’s a musical prodigy. You’re turning up because you want to dance and scream yourself hoarse for two hours straight in a room full of people doing the same thing.
For those who don’t know, Hot Dub Time Machine is a self-described ‘Time Travelling Dance Party’ – starting back in the 1950s, he takes us year by year through the decades playing snippets of some of the most popular songs of the time. It’s extreme karaoke, in a giant room with 1,500 other drunk people.
We went through the likes of Chubby Checker’s ‘The Twist’, The Isley Brothers’ ‘Shout’ and Roy Orbison’s ‘Oh, Pretty Woman’ before moving into the 1970s, which saw everything from Led Zep and Fleetwood Mac to ABBA and The Bee Gees, with a dedicated ‘Michael Jackson Megamix’ at the end of the decade.
Hot Dub Time Machine’s appeal is enhanced by the party accessories – Loud accompanies the songs with fun video footage, he shoots confetti guns and has giant illuminated neon beach balls. At one point during the 1980s, warning alarms sounded and the big screen indicated that the Hot Dub Time Machine had had an “’80s Overload”. Nena’s ’99 Luftballons’ started, Loud pulled a cord, and a tonne of red balloons were released from a net hanging from the ceiling. A hilarious little touch was added later on when the music stopped and a Channel Ten ‘live’ weather report came on the big screen, with Tim Bailey holding an umbrella out in a wild storm talking about the heavy rain… cue The Weather Girls’ ‘It’s Raining Men’.
The ’80s gave us A-ha, Eurythmics, Whitney Houston, et cetera. The ’90s really set the place alight, and was the longest of the decades in terms of songs played. Think Snoop Dogg, The Spice Girls, and a “MOSH” segment featuring Rage Against The Machine and Nirvana. The 2000s had huge R&B/pop jams like House Of Pain’s ‘Jump Around’, Britney’s ‘Oops!… I Did It Again’, and R. Kelly’s ‘Ignition (Remix)’, moving all the way into the 2010s, where we got Calvin Harris and Avicii (sigh).
Loud appears to collate his setlists for each night according to the city he’s playing in, which shows a dedication on his end to making each gig different and relevant. With a simple but genius concept, Hot Dub Time Machine essentially plays music from the local RSL and turns it into one of the rowdiest evenings you’ll have in a long time.
