Sydney's premier party duo Levins and Captain Franco have been dishing out Halfway Crooks parties in clubs across Sydney since 2009. Alongside festival appearances and hosting some of our favourite after parties, the parties guarantee the perfect mix of bangers, sultry R'n'B grooves and those shameless hip hop hits that will have you on the dancefloor until close.
Ahead of their 7th birthday Levins and Franco shared the club night's best moments with us, from chicken deliveries to appearances from Chris Lilley. If you want a slice of the action make sure you head down to Plan B this Saturday from 10pm.
The First Crooks Cruise
Levins: "For our fifth birthday we crammed 200 rap fans on this old boat called The Royale and cruised the harbour blasting only the finest nautical themed bangers. Nobody got sunburnt, nobody fell in the water and nobody can remember the last hour of the boat cruise."
Jonah/Jamie in the Club
Levins: "One of Halfway Crooks’ biggest fans is Chris Lilley. He’s friends with the Faders DJs and would always come to Crooks with them and dance nonstop for like four straight hours. Pretty much every single person in the club makes their way over to him to get a selfie at some point in the night, and he is always so patient and accommodating. Unlike us whenever someone makes a request!"
I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do...
Levins: "I proposed to my now wife the day before a Halfway Crooks party and when I was playing my set she stood beside me and people started cheering, so I played Young Jeezy’s I Do and the club went ballistic. If I had sorted a wedding ring out by then we could’ve just gotten married that night and there and wouldn’t have had to worry about a ceremony."
Chicken deliveries
Captain Franco: Around 2010/2011, a crew of Sydney’s hottest young chefs started coming to Crooks every month to blow off steam after their shifts ended. One month, our now good friend Chef Mitch Orr (of ACME Restaurant fame) turned up with a tray of fried chicken from his then restaurant Duke. This became a monthly tradition which lasted close to a year and as soon as Mitch entered the club, he’d be handing out delicious drumsticks to partygoers, DJ’s and security! You can see the evidence in this old promo video...
Unintentional stage diving
Levins: "When we were at Phoenix Bar there was this weird little wall that surrounded the DJ booth with a perspex screen around it. During a particularly triumphant song I decided it was a very cool idea to climb this wall and balance on top of the perspex over the crowd. I lasted maybe two and half seconds before plummeting to the ground. Don’t worry, I was fine and more importantly, someone caught the moment on video."
Rappers, festivals and tours
Captain Franco: Some of our most memorable Crooks nights actually haven’t happened in the club, but in theatres, concert halls and on festivals supporting touring artists. We’ve been pretty blessed with supporting some of our favourite artists; including A$AP Ferg, Freddie Gibbs, Rae Sremmurd and the list goes on. Most recently we played before Jeremih, where the front row of 15 year old girls (shout out to all ages shows) screamed at us ‘play Rihanna ya dickheads’ for about 30 minutes. Other notable moments include turning up with Rae Sremmurd & ILoveMakonnen at one of the Listen Out Tour afterparties, opening for our producer hero Just Blaze then watching side of stage as he played a back to back Roc-A-Fella set and trying not to get beyond stoned by the copious amounts of weed backstage at a Freddie Gibbs show.
