LIVE REVIEW: Peking Duk, Benson & Confidence Man – Factory Summer Festival

In a year that we’ve been waiting for and manifesting the day we can dance again, Factory Summer Festival has offered a line up that was curated to truly celebrate that momentous moment. With Peking Duk, Benson and Confidence Man headlining their SNACK event, it was unsurprising when it reached SOLD OUT status.

Kicking off the Friday night vibes, Confidence Man did not mess around by giving the crowd a theatrical set full of bangers, choreographed dances, costume changes and big instrumental moments. Opening with ‘Out the Window’, ‘Does It Make You Feel Good?’ and ‘Better Sit Down Boy’ while in priest inspired outfits, they immediately set the tone for their ridiculously fun set.

After the brief ‘Catch My Breath’ interlude, lead singers Sugar Bones and Janet Planet returned to the stage in tartan outfits for ‘Try Your Luck’ and the instant party starter ‘C.O.O.L Party’ which should always remain a set staple as it’s a pure moment of “dance like nobody is watching you”. With Sugar Bones spraying champagne on the crowd at the end of ‘C.O.O.L Party’, they changed outfits one last time and closed out the set with ‘First Class Bitch’, ‘Don’t You Know I’m In A Band?’ and ‘Boyfriend’. With confetti raining down during the final moments, the crowd were out of breath from dancing and singing along to every track in this energetic, chaotic and highly memorable set.

Benson was up next and transported the crowd into a warehouse rave with EDM beats that complimented his recent singles ‘Designer Girl’ and ‘Ride Tonight’. But he also added in some big singalong moments like ‘Can’t Get You Outta My Head’ by Kylie Minogue and ‘Believe’ by Cher which even had it’s own confetti moment.

Segueing smoothly into Peking Duk’s headline set, the dancing continued and didn’t stop until the lights came on at the end of the set. Opening the show with a video from Adam Hyde (1/2 of Peking Duk) apologising that he wouldn’t be able to make it as he was quarantining in New Zealand, he introduced Rebuen Styles to the stage and encouraged the crowd to lose their minds.

With a brief snippet of ‘High’ opening the show, he then introduced Michaela Baranov to the stage who was performing vocals for the set and segued into Peking Duk favourites like ‘Nothing To Love About Love’, ‘Wasted’, ‘Lil Bit’, ‘Fake Magic’, ‘Stranger’ and ‘Take Me Over’. Mixing some DJ favourites into the mix like ‘Losing It’, ‘Time Of My Life’, ‘WAP’, ‘Say It’, ‘Africa’ and ‘Vengabus’, the pure serotonin that was being create during this set was at an all time high.

With fire and co2 canons erupting throughout the set, it only seemed appropriated that confetti and fireworks exploded during the encore performance of ‘High’ which closed out the energetic night perfectly.

Check out the full gallery captured by Kirsten Roe Photography BELOW;