Rave revival – Wax Addicts brings back the beats

OLD-SCHOOL DJs from around Australia will descend on Byron Bay for the SMILE 2.0 rave party at OTHERWORLD on December 14.

Local promotion group and DJ duo Wax Addicts, who specialise in playing music on vinyl, organised the event after the success of the first SMILE at The Northern in July.

More than 300 people attended the rave, which aimed to pay homage to the golden era and dawn of electronic dance music and dance parties.

“People love nostalgia,” Wax Addicts’ Scott Plant said. “Aside from that, an evening of classic dance music tunes is always well received. One of the joys of the first event was the young people it attracted, and the joy the evening brought to them.”

Plant has been promoting events and performing throughout the Northern Rivers region on and off for 20 years.

He and his friend Andrea Jones began performing gigs as Wax Addicts after the Northern Rivers floods in 2022 to help support the local community.

“We play all kinds of genres and eras of music as we believe in pushing beyond musical boundaries when expressing ourselves artistically,” Plant said.

“We love the tactile nature and feel of vinyl, as well as the raw challenges it brings to mixing and creating musical tapestries.”

The pair has performed at the Nudge Nudge Wink Wink dance party, which is held at Billinudgel Hotel on the first Saturday of each month, and runs regular events at Coorabell Hall.

They also entertained the crowd at the after party of the Byron Bay International Film Festival opening night at OTHERWORLD, and the Immersion dance party held there last month.

SMILE 2.0 will be held in the warehouse-style pop-up venue, Underworld, at the rear of the immersive art and light attraction.

For more information and tickets, head to events.humanitix.com/smile-2-0