It was with great anticipation that I made my way to The Globe for the second birthday of the Sydney techno institution that is Tampered.

As we approached the entrance we hoped that the line to get in would not be to long. How wrong we were. On entering we found the top level of the Globe to be as empty as I have ever seen it. Sub Bass Snarl were pumping out their trademark live drum n bass and breaks sound to an empty dance floor and we began to wonder if we had come on the wrong night! We took the opportunity to grab a quick beverage just so the bar staff would have something to do.

At this point we decided to decend to the lower level and see if we could find out where everyone was. As the lift doors opened we were pleased to see that their were in fact other people present. Rip was at the decks and the floor was heaving to his hard as hell sounds. Unfortunatly I missed Biz’s set and apparently it was one of his best.

After Rip’s blistering set DJ Urban took to the decks for his first set of the night. He took it back a notch to begin with but soon brought the tempo back up. It was hard techno without being too slammin’ and had some awesome funkified bass lines which the crowd was gettin’ down to. I’m not sure if it was the DJ or the tunes but the dance floor seemed to be a bit up and down, being quite full one minute and then thinning out before refilling and fast as it emptied. As his set moved toward its conclusion he amped it up bringing in some dirty acid stuff which I personally am a big fan of.

At this point I ventured back up to the booty barn to catch sets from Deft and an interstate visitor, Typhonic from the ACT. Deft played some top class booty dropping in the classic Hip Hop sample Whoop their it is to the mix. Typhonic was a revelation to the unitiated Sydney crowd. His mixing and scratching were spot on and never self indulgant or intruding on the mix and flow of the tracks. Several jaws were on the floor in recognition of this guys tremendous skills.

Back downstairs AKA and Dartech were going back to back in their typical slammin style. They were followed by what started out as a very bass heavy set from Et Chan.

At this point I returned upstairs to catch Urbans second set of the night, in booty mode. For the first time all night a good size crowd had gathered in the upstairs room as Urban delivered an awesome booty set. He played all the classics and had me dancing like their was no tommorrow. Of course no Tampered booty session would be complete without hearing Ass & Titties and from memory it got several runs during the night.

G-mo followed on from Urban and as usual played an outstanding set as is to be expected from Sydney’s top proponent of the booty/ghetto tech sound. At this time it was time to get some fresh air.

On our return Marshall was on the decks pumping out the Eurhythmics classic Sweet Dreams, unfortunately this was all I saw of Marshalls set as I took a quick look downstairs to see a live set from Wrinkle Nose and by the time I was ready to return the top room had closed. Thus I took in one last dance during Wrinkle Noses DJ set and made my way into the light.

I and most people I talked to had had a great night, but it’s unfortunate that there was such a small crowd and that the Tampered boys took a fairly big financial hit. What has happened to the Sydney Techno massive? at the moment they seem to be MIA. Lets hope they all return before we start missing out on quality nights such as those put on by Tampered and others.