With the unfortunate close of the Dendy, one of Sydney’s classic venues where many small nights originated, it was time to see how Sweetchilli would fare at its new home for this month; Gas night club. With two huge international guests: James Holden and Steve Gerrard playing on the night as well as the local Sweetchilli talent the night was shaping up to be one to remember. James Holden needs no introduction; the original bedroom producer first burst into the scene in 1999 aged only 19 with the now classic tune ‘Horizons’ and has in just four years made an impact on the scene of which many older producers can but dream. Having recently blown many people away with his latest release Balance05; a magnificent double mix cd which seems to combine incredible atmospheric mixing and great track selection, many were anticipating his set and how he would play on the night.

Having the usual ‘leaving the pre-party difficulties’ our crew finally got down to gas just before midnight to find almost no queue and headed down to the main room to hear some great prog tunes being belted out by Daniel and Crispin as a warm-up for Steve Gerrard who was starting in half an hour. To deafening applause from the psyched up crowd Steve Gerrard took to the decks and began to build the vibe with some great tracks, with more of an upbeat and melodic sound. From the look of the dance floor the crowd loved his set as he dropped some amazing tunes such as his own mix Age of Love, Tocharian – Awakening, Magnetic North & Space Manueuvers – Stage One. Gerrard seemed to slowly build up the vibe and intensity and then drop a monster beat that made the dancefloor go insane.

Towards the end of Gerrard’s set the vibe was amazing and I thought it would be hard for Holden to continue at this pace. As he stepped up to the decks to begin his set he put on the first track and started the journey on a slower note, most importantly he began to build a new vibe track by track starting with 16B – Water Ride. What followed for the next couple of hours was amazing, a distinctively progressive trance set with nice long transitions and soft melodic tunes that absorbed all the fans in attendance into a hypnotic state. Many tracks from the new Balance compilation were woven into the set including my favourites Jase from outer Space feat Claire – Do What You Want (Infusion’s sky mix), PQM – You Are Sleeping (PQM meets Luke Chable vocal mix) & Nathan Fake – Outhouse. Other memorable tracks included A Break in the Clouds, Nothing (93 Returning Mix), Joshua Ryan – Pistolwhip (James holden Mix). After the set finished with his version of Accadia – Into the Dawn I was stunned at how good the music and the evening had been.

As Ben Korbel stepped up to take over Holden stayed around for a while chatting to various people and signing records. Overall, this is one of the best nights I have ever had at Gas, both in terms of music and crowd. The vibe of the crowd is possibly one of the best and positive ones I have ever experienced. It seems that 99% of people were there for the music and certainly enjoying it by the looks on all the faces on the dancefloor.The lighting and visuals were not to strong and seemed to match the mood of the night perfectly. The set times were ideal in my opinion but many said that Holden on too late. After such an amazing night put on by the Sweetchilli crew for only $25 I definitely can’t wait to see what they do with Space when Seaman tours in a few weeks. See you at the next one!

Set Times:

Sweetchilli Room (Gas)
10:00-11:00 – Trent Anthony
11:00-12:30 – Daniel vs Crispin
12:30-02:30 – Steve Gerrard
02:30-05:00 – James Holden
05:00-06:00 – Ben Korbel

Playtime Room (Bohem)
11:00-12:30 – Dom Tych
12:30-02:00 – Jools
02:00-03:30 – Ben Morris
03:30-05:00 – Jilbert