So it's that time of year again, Splendour in the Grass is on and Sydney once again feels like a ghost town. While a few lucky friends went off to see all the Splendour antics, I took a little bit of pleasure by seeing DJ Shadow at the Hordern Pavilion.

As I showed up at the Hordern, I was taken aback by the amount of police presence. I went inside and more of the same. That didn't deter the fans at all though.

Sadly I didn't get the chance to see Ghoul perform, but I did show up mid-way through Midnight Juggernaut's DJ Set. I mean I know I came to see "DJ" Shadow play, but Midnight Juggernaut could have put a bit more effort into it. They were mixing up bits and pieces of their songs along with a Tame Impala track or two. Some people enjoyed it, and others seemed pretty unenthused. Most of the DJ Shadow fans hadn't showed up at this stage. And to be honest, it wasn't much fun watching two guys with their heads down tweaking knobs. Not to say that Midnight Juggernauts are bad. I've seen them live before and they do put on a great set, but tonight just didn't feel like one of those nights.

After their set, a short intermission ensued while the roadies set up Shadow's "ShadowSphere" project. He's taken this moving carnival of activity all across Europe and North America, receiving rave reviews along the way, so I was definitely excited to witness it firsthand.

After they had finally set up the immense dome in the middle of the stage, almost nonchalantly Joshua Davis aka DJ Shadow walked quietly to the centre of the stage and picked up the mic. It was a nice little moment, he took the time to welcome the crowd and earnestly spoke about how glad he was to be there. Even paying special attention to the younger fans.

Serenely he disappeared into the dome. As soon as he did so, the lights collapsed and the magical projection show began. Dark, introspective and cavernous. the colours danced all over the dome and the back of the stage. Bizarre effects came out even stranger, morphing instruments and jagged chainsaws cutting through the dome itself as the songs progressed. The crowd was entranced, as the images shifted and dispersed and re-collected all over the stage, there was sparks flying, turning into circuit boards. At this stage I wasn't even sure where Josh was, but at the end of his first song out came a tiny hand at the top of the dome.

After everyone came to grips with the light show, he shoved the dome along a pivot and turned it around. The back was open, so now we could clearly see him working his magic.

One of the tracks that got the crowd going was "DJ Shadow Vs. The Pharcyde - Passing Me By". A classic hip-hop track from the 90's re-worked by him, much of the older crowd recognised it and instantly began squealing with delight. A similar effect took place when he dropped "Enuff ft. Q-tip". These tracks along with "Number Song" caused the majority of the crowd to start grooving to the now nostalgic break-beat sounds of the 90's.

What I was really holding out for was "Midnight in a Perfect World". When the sound of those organs began to play, I knew it had been worth it. This track along with "Six Days" are what I feel is some of DJ Shadow's best work. The projection made it seem as if the dome was travelling through roads/factories/highways/mountainsides and space.

Of course he couldn't go out without playing "Organ Donor", which helped to re-energise the crowd one last time before it was all over.

The effort and creativity behind the work that DJ Shadow and his team had put into this show was clearly worth it. I hadn't seen such a phenomenal stage set-up since Daft Punk came to town. Here's hoping he comes back to town sooner rather than later.