The first time I saw Modular's darlings The Presets was back in 2005 in a dingy small venue that I ran in Manchester. The gig was busy enough that I didn’t have time to pay much attention to this Australian band who I’d never heard of.

When someone played me some of their tunes a few months later I regretted not taking the night off and getting fully involved with this band. Imagine my joy when I discovered my trip to Dublin would coincide with The Presets gig at The Village as part of the Heineken Green Synergy music week. The Village is a good venue; it’s not too big and not too small and has a great lighting rig. I actually thought it was Whelans (another venue in the area) but after a confusing conversation with some doormen I realised my mistake!!

Unfortunately, due to my venue dyslexia and various other things (mainly my lovely new skirt being too tight and my shoes... well having heels) I arrived just in time to miss the support act. Judging by the crowd’s reaction to the local band, Le Galaxie put on a well appreciated show. I’m actually gutted I didn’t see their set as on record they are just my cup of proverbial tea; pretty, building, bleepy noises in front of solid beats.

After shamelessly pushing in at the bar and loading up on frighteningly over priced beer I found myself at the back of a very crowded venue. The queue that I had just breezed past outside was still going round the corner and for a brief moment I feared for the health and safety of my fellow public. Just a brief moment, mind!
If there’s one thing in this world that makes me tingle more than an electric shock it’s that feeling when you hear an 80s synth fade up above the murmur of the audience, followed by the roar that lets you know the bands walked on stage. I imagine it’s how Gary Numan still makes money from playing live! Anyway, this occasion certainly didn’t disappoint when Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes, better known as The Presets walked quietly, but commandingly onto the stage and launched straight into "Talk Like That", the 3rd single of their ARIA award winning, Platinum album, Apocalypso.

The usually outrageous duo was surprisingly sedate, dressed in plain jeans and t-shirts and stood quite calmly behind their bank of keyboards, synths and drums. The sounds coming from the stage however, were anything but sedate and, 20 minutes into the set I was beginning to understand what their MySpace page means by "standing there staring at the fork in the road between heaven and hell". The Presets’ songs seem to strike an impossible balance between light and dark, making you feel happy and bouncy with a distinctly sombre edge and with a crisp, live sound system this is multiplied by infinity. At this point, I was very glad for the lighting rig as I couldn’t see the stage through the vast crowd of trendy young things who were going mental. Even at the back of the room the vibe was like the days of the M25 raves when people danced like there was no tomorrow because they would probably end up in prison by sunrise (but still with an odd grin on their faces)!

After a couple of relatively slower songs the pace built straight back up to pulse racing, heart pounding terror with the crowd loving every second. When The Presets finished with a "spot on" performance of their 2007 single “My People” I felt like I’d just spent a very intense 5 minutes enjoying having my head pounded with an ice pick, surrounded by my best friends who I’d known forever. The set had apparently lasted for 45 minutes and I’d never met any of the crowd before; so it’s true what they say, time does fly when you’re having fun and a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met yet!

http://www.myspace.com/thepresets