Minimal signage, a low-key entry and pleasant door people greeted me to the recently reopened and renovated Seventy Seven. It was the beginning of a night that for me was to be a refreshing change in the Sydney dance scene. As I walked down the stairs into the dark club, the Daluq mix of “Feel It Out” filled my ears with its huge breakstep beats. It was the end of Cause’s set that I barely caught, and as he stepped down from the DJ booth in the corner, a huge smile spread across his face. It seems that there is an ever-growing number of Sydney DJs gravitating to the sounds of garage and waiting for an opportunity to play for an appreciative audience. They found one at the Garage Pressure night, DarkSyde.
After a long, hot Black Friday, it was around midnight and there was a growing crowd – friendly and chatting – beginning to soak up the fresh sounds and dubplates. The punters were still pretty thin on the dance floor and the lighting was appropriately minimal, so we grabbed a beer and watched as Kid Kenobi took over the decks. Immediately, he launched into tough nu-skool breaks, which didn’t seem to interest the majority of people there. His DJing style was fairly standard, with tracks being mostly beatmixed end-to-end and the crowd simply standing by and watching. But it wasn’t long before the Kid upped his track selection and pulled out a massive breakstep remix of a Dillinja and Lemon D classic, getting everyone jumping. “Raisin’ Kane” by Darqwan saw punters shouting in appreciation and ensured the floor stayed moving to the phat basslines of heavy breakstep, with a pace and energy that reminded me of a techno night. The sound system seemed somewhat distorted with the top end being a bit hard on the ears, but a few steps off the dance floor and the sound was easier to cope with – we were even able to chat comfortably.
With the cheerful crowd amped and ready for just about anything, Lombardo arrived at the decks and was greeted by a cheer from the entire club. Only just recently launching his label Fragile Beatz, already Lombardo has a crate full of dubs from some of the biggest names in garage ready to go. The punters looked eager to hear what was about to drop, and they were not about to be disappointed. Beginning his set with heavy, rolling breakstep, Lombardo instantly had the crowd vibing his sounds. Almost immediately he was cutting up tracks and juggling beats, with brilliant mixing skills similar to that of a hip hop turntablist. A few times during the first half of his set, one of the decks seemed to be powering off randomly and although he looked frustrated, he cleverly covered the problem with a quick rewind or cutting in a new track.
Just as we thought the tunes couldn’t get any heavier, Lombardo started dropping drum and bass, turning Seventy Seven on its head, the place going absolutely mental. Having done some production with Twisted Individual/Bogeyman in the past, Lombardo looked and sounded very comfortable with DnB, constantly punching his fists in the air and jumping around inside the DJ booth. Once again though, he dropped the tempo back into garage via DJ Hype’s “Super Sharp Shooter”. Dubstep has recently taken a step out of the underground with nights in the UK such as Forward, and DJ Hatcha’s stunning mix “Dubstep All Stars Vol. 1”. However, the snapping snares that move your body in all directions and dubby sounds still seem to struggle on the dance floor and as Lombardo played some amazing dubstep tracks, most of the crowd preferred to look on and take in the tunes (as I went nuts up the front!). Playing the crowd brilliantly, Lombardo’s DnB again had the floor packed before finishing his set with some breakstep and 4/4 garage madness including Zinc’s “People 4” and Darqwan’s epic “Said The Spider”.
As Ritual and Farj took their places behind the decks, the crowd started to thin out a little, but those that stayed were loving every second. As I left the club, I heard Ritual’s own stunning track “Tribute To Tempa” begin, and it happily spun in my head on the way to the car after a night of the best tunes I’ve heard out for a long time. The Garage Pressure Crew have done an amazing job to push breakstep and underground beats and keep a strong integrity for their DarkSyde parties. With styles that are on the up and up worldwide, and supportive crowds like the one on Black Friday at Seventy Seven, we can only look forward to more great things from these guys.
