The name Fang has always been synonymous with unique, high quality clubbing experiences and this instalment was no exception, (although they certainly made us wait…) – Ah, finally! We’ve missed the toothy goodness!

Bap, bap, bap, went our little hearts as we climbed the stairs in anticipation of the performances we were so hyped to see. Rocking up a little after eleven, Ben Henderson’s hypnotic, and throbbing tech-house already had the crowd smiling and grooving. Sliding past chunky dance-floor tech, grinding against chunky sub-bass sounds and sprinkling instrumentals here and there, Master Henderson’s initial set reminded us why we all miss him so much and by the end of it the crowd were perfectly primed for Microworld’s Canberra debut performance.

Microworld played an impressive set, starting off with elegant, succinct house and progressively adding energy and depth to the sound. Their unique brand of deep Detroit tunes was both refreshing and appropriate and they handled playing live with finesse. The dance floor thickened out significantly at this point and people were responsive to the atmosphere that was carefully created by the artists.

It was somewhere during Microworld’s set that I noticed that no one was allowed in the back bar. It was kind of weird because no explanation was given by the burly bouncers and people were curious about what was going on beyond the black curtains, (bit Wizard of Ozish actually!) Strategically, it was a clever move on behalf of the Fang crew because the Babylon main room is large and lacks intimacy which is why so many nights see it relatively empty and the back bar filled. Also, the crowd were united through the shared experience of the main room sounds so that when the back bar was finally opened, the night still had a cohesive feel.

The Hacker announced the start of their performance with seething, plodding beats. The approach was fantastic because a really hypnotic mood was created and the phat beats were infectious. The swaying crowd then released from the haze as he began to pump out the trashy goodness. Miss Kitten’s wandering, intricate vocals interacted perfectly with the pulsing, sex brimming from Hacker’s boxes and for a moment we all felt like we were in Berlin. Sporting a sexy-funky-teeny-weeny dress and a sexy long wig, Miss Kitten was total superstar stuff with oodles of charisma and the crowd loved her for it. Playing killer track after killer track including 1982, Frank Sinatra and a brilliant cover of Eurythmic’s “Sweet Dreams,” the dynamic duo bonked our ears and boy did we come!

Ben Henderson took over from this point and although he played fantastic tech tunes, he didn’t pick on the mood created and jolted us out of Euro-bliss rather abruptly -­ bummer… Meanwhile, The Hacker started DJing in the back room playing an excellent blend of tech house and cross-over tunes. The unifying element during his DJ set was churning bass lines. Interestingly, the tracks selected were either wet-your-pants worthy or almost boring because they were so looped. (Ed. The Hacker’s set was deliciously analogue electro that carefully trod the line between the trashy sound of italo-disco and the looped up funk of German minimal techno. If you’d like a listen, try his ‘Next Step of New Wave’ mix on the Human label).

Altogether, the whole night was deliciously fresh and loads of fun. There’s no doubt that those who went will be keen and totally up for the next Fang instalment. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait so long this time!