Adelaide Fringe Review – Wet Sounds

Reviewer: Dale Anninos-Carter

What: Wet Sounds

Where: Adelaide Aquatic Centre, North Adelaide Presented by: Newtoy

When asking “what’re you doing tonight” and someone replies with “I’m going to Wet Sounds by Newtoy”, many a thought may pop into mind. It sounds a bit 18+, but no – Wet Sounds is far from dirty, more-so on the cleaner side (literally), as you’ll be floating and swimming in the diving pool of Adelaide Aquatic Centre.

Grab your togs and gogs and submerse yourself for 45 minutes in what feels to be another universe. Above the water, a DJ spins multiple sounds which seem to be disjointed and rhythmically confusing, but below the water you will discover a truly magical world of peaceful
melodies.

As you watch the coloured light display beneath the surface, everything appears to transform into slow motion. At times, the entire pool turns shades of green, red and even black, which feels like you’ve been teleported to the Black Lake in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, while scuba divers whisper harmonies from the bottom of the pool. Not gonna lie, the whole experience feels a little hallucinogenic.

As Wet Sounds is primarily an auditory experience, it is somewhat up to your imagination to perceive the questionable reality taking place. While you let your mind drift away in a relatively meditative state, you’ll forget about your sins and sorrows in the outside world. However, if you’re not easily impressed by sounds and lights, this probably isn’t the Fringe show for you. Here’s what some floaters had to say:
“Probably the most physical Fringe show.”
“Beautifully immersive.”“I think everyones going to take something different away from this one, it’s kinda up to you to feel what you see.”

Water you waiting for?