West End Tavern played host to the developing club evening Evolve for the second time Saturday August 7, this time gathering visiting Melbournian James Young with several Perth DJs; the common bind being a penchant for progressive sounds.

A tavern may sound a touch strange for hosting a night of club oriented beats, but with a little effort on the lighting front, West End Tav provided a pleasantly intimate setting. Mandy B opened proceedings, diverging from her trademark deep house lean, into some driving tribalism and robust progressive house, but still keeping strictly to the 4X4. Following on was Jon Noonan who maintained Mandy’s high standard and directed the mix into more melodious territory.

A cold night and 8:00pm start contributed to a low turnout in Evolve’s initial phases, but by about 10:00pm a gathering was gradually building up, and DJ Slade, who also organised and promoted the event, launched into his set.

Slade warmed up with some funky tek house, such as the offbeat Android from Wyatt & Earp, before moving into some grinding prog breaks in the form of Hybrid’s I’m Still Awake (Christian J remix). The acidy overtones of this track were eventually smoothly transitioned out, as the sublime soundscapes of Ulrich Schnauss’ On My Own (as remixed by Sasha and featured on his latest GU project), rose to prominence. I was instructed by an onlooker to mention that Slade indeed seemed to be channelling Sasha in mind, body and spirit, adopting a reminiscent stance and expression as he progressed towards the set’s conclusion. Jokes aside, Slade did a great job, and handed over to James Young at about 11.           

James is a strong contributor to Melbourne’s solid progressive scene, holding a residency at popular venue Altitude which hosts a regular progressive session. He immediately directed the basslines back to the house tip, opening with Lexicon Avenue’s pounding remix of Killer.

James’ showcased silky skills throughout his session, and selected tracks that maintained a strong sense of building momentum; included among these was Datar’s B off the sadly departed HOOJ label, and Steve Porter’s fantastic peak-time number Definite Form (Jumpin dub).

James brought on the melody in the final stages of his outing, drawing to a nice conclusion, before handing over to Micah and Tigger who finished the night out. The boys again tended towards a combination of melody based progressive breaks and house, which was also well represented on a nicely programmed promo CD from Tigger, featuring uplifting sounds from Lostep, Chable, Quivver and many others. On a sidenote Tigger also showcased the 80’s charms of Walk Like an Egyptian in his live set – a remix from Bushwacka has actually metamorphosed the pop number into a rather funky piece of production!

Nights like these are a big positive for giving fans of prog more nightlife options, so come down to support them – you’ll be treated to a quality evening, and the scene will continue to grow.