Fish56Octagon is not your conventional DJ. Until the end of 2023, he was known for his car videos on social media, giving advice and recommendations to drivers. Nowadays, he is known for his encyclopedic dance music knowledge as he provides song recommendations from his vast music collection. Many of these videos can easily be recognised with Fish wearing one of his numerous dressing gowns and/or eating dry Weetabix, as I’m sure you would expect from a DJ, right?
Fish has worked hard on these videos to become a viral sensation, with over 647,000 followers on Instagram and 473,000 on TikTok. This has led him to become one of the most sought after names in dance music, playing at major festivals this summer such as Parklife, BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend, and Glastonbury, where he performed 4 sets over the weekend.
His two-hour set at Liquid Rooms comes as part of his Scottish tour, with this visit being the second time Fish has played in Edinburgh this year – after closing the weekend at Terminal V Festival in April. This gig takes place the night after his Aberdeen performance, with Dundee still to come.
He opened his set with his brand new release ‘Dreaming (Feelings)’, which samples the 90s trance classic ‘Dreaming’ by Ruff Driverz, a UK top 10 hit. Vocals are provided by renowned dance vocalist Issey Cross, who has previously collaborated with the likes of Wilkinson and Sammy Virji. This provides a fresh take on the original, which is sure to be heard in clubs across the country.
For the first half an hour or so, his set focused on house music, namely remixes of well-known classics. This involved ‘Galvanise’ by The Chemical Brothers (Chris Lake remix), ‘Innerbloom’ by RÜFÜS DU SOL (Rumpus edit), and ‘Finder’ by Ninetoes (ID remix).
Fish then offered the crowd a blend of trance and techno, playing new versions of many 90s classics, such as Storm’s ‘Time to Burn’ (a UK top three hit), and Underworld’s ‘Born Slippy’ (as seen in Trainspotting), as well as ‘Adagio for Strings’ – one of the most iconic, and reworked, dance records of all time.
Techno largely makes up Fish’s track selection in the final hour. This is where his set becomes largely reminiscent of his Terminal V closing performance, as he revisits his mashup of BK’s 90s trance classic ‘Revolution’, with ‘Tunnel Vision’ by new techno star Restricted.
Another highlight from Terminal V receives arguably the biggest reaction from the audience tonight, ‘Habits (Stay High)’ by Uri, reworking Tove Lo’s 2013 hit. He also plays recent techno anthems from the likes of Holy Priest, TNT, and Darren Styles.
He closes with an exclusive mashup of Q-Tex’s ‘Power Of Love’, which he declared “one of Scotland’s fave rave tracks” on his Instagram, with the newly released hard trance record from Metta & Glyde ‘Better Version Of Yourself’. Of course, the crowd were craving an encore, leading to Fish playing his edit of Hannah Laing’s ‘4am In A Rave’, who he supported on her Ibiza residency this summer.
Given how this was billed as a “journey through house, techno and trance”, there could have been more of a mix between the three genres, as techno did take up the majority of the set. Having said that, Fish56Octagon still provided an unforgettable two-hour mix, resulting in all dance music fans wanting more. Given how this was his second Edinburgh performance in six months, hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to see him again soon.
Image provided by Josh Mistry.