Walking into Pitt Street’s Veda Bar last Friday night seemed a rather strange phenomenon. Just gone 11 o’clock and the cosy couches were waiting for bodies to fill them; the dance floor for people to rip it up. Through the glass doors to the back room exposed yet another set of empty couches, a lonesome dance floor and a deserted bar. Where was Sydney’s drum and bass crowd?

Well, perhaps they could be excused- it was still early, after all. Or maybe they were saving their energy for later on (because they were sure as hell going to need it). After a rather random walk and bathroom run, we walked back into a Veda Bar that was steadily filling up. There was a welcoming atmosphere in the air, as DJ Eli was warming up the front room with some melodic tunes, and out the back, those who were feeling the beats were enjoying the extra room to move on the floor. Looking around there seemed to be a pretty relaxed crowd, kicking back with the old ‘thank god it’s Friday’ beer, and gradually the room began to fill up with some pretty keen looking faces.

I don’t know what the crowd on Friday night were expecting, but I’m pretty sure that whatever it was, it was totally destroyed the moment DJ Ray Keith took to the decks. Certainly a much anticipated gig for all those lovers of hard and fast drum and bass in Sydney, Ray was not going to disappoint. In fact, if there was one thing to give the man credit for, it would have to be the pulse of his set: straight in, no slow warm ups (he let the supports warm the decks for him) and a hell of a lot of raw energy.

Well, energy’s one thing, but substance is quite another. There seemed to be a distinct lack of variety in Keith’s set, as each track linked into the other, with only two stand out moments really pumping the crowd up and lifting the energy levels to the roof. One, being everyone’s good old dance floor favourite, Capoeiera, the other, his own track, No No. These two have been around for a while now, it’s true, but they certainly went down well the other night- perhaps also because this was a time when the local MC’s put their mikes down.

It’s always a shame when MC’s overshadow the music at any event, especially with angry, edgy, rhymes (I’m sorry, but I’m just not digging cussing in rhymes). It just kind of takes away from the fun atmosphere of actually being out with your mates and having a good night. So when DJ Trace, also of UK fame, took to the decks and got everyone up with a very heavy ‘Don’t tell me what to do- and who the fuck are you?!’ track, accompanied by similar rhymes, the vibe in the room had well and truly shifted from its welcoming opener, to a distant, angry, ‘where am I?’ kind of feeling. Time to go out to the back room again.

Ah, through the glass doors and on to a less crowded dance floor with a hell of a lot more room to move and a bit more syncopation, melody and a lot less angst. And it’s always just a couple of degrees cooler out the back as well, which made for a very nice change indeed.

Towards the end of the night, Trace wrapped things up with some tricky scientific sounds, to his favour, which saw people literally bouncing all over the floor. Ten points to all the DJs in the back room, who consistently kept playing, track after track regardless of the crowd in front of them. Not a bad night for d’n’b of the darker sort, but certainly not a smile inducing evening- and isn’t that what nights out are about?