Deep As Funk has featured highly on my list of ‘Eclectic Sydney Clubs To Check Out When You Have The Time’, when it dawned upon me that I must actually make the time. So after sampling a few cocktails from the new menu at Soho, we trundled off around the corner and down the stairs to the intimate confines of Club 77. The first sights and sounds that greet you at a club are always portentous. In this case, it was the strangely pleasing juxtaposition of A Clockwork Orange being projected onto the wall, and the sound of catchy pop song ‘The Impossibles’. Fun and freakiness, yeah! I haven’t heard of DJ Panayotis before, but I hope I’ll be seeing him again. He played a tech-y mix of Kylie’s ‘Slow’ (just when you thought it was over!), and a tough cheeky electro track that repeated the word ‘Bonjay’ over and over. His set then took a turn towards the tribal, which I thought was an interesting diversion. It was at this point that I felt a little worse for the weather, and sat down to calm my uneasy belly. But I wasn’t allowed to rest for long – I soon recognized the familiar melody of the Happy Mondays’ ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’, and was forced back to the dancefloor! He played the Tim Heeley remix, which is a stomping rendition of the original (and lovers of this song will also revel in the nu-jazz treatment on the recently-released compilation Nouvelle Vauge). Guest of the month was Ben Korbel, who started off with some slices of electro-rock. He then eased into some modern acid-house, which somehow developed into the progressive sound he is frequently known for. After sufficiently exciting the gathering mass of people, he then disappeared into the night to find his lost girlfriend (hope you found her!) Next on the menu was Rif Raf, enjoying some back-to-back action with JoDee. They started off with a real funky sound, including a killer track with the unrelenting refrain ‘You’ll Never Be A Lover Again.’ I also enjoyed the familiar but dangerous tech-house track ‘Rocker’, by Alter Eagle. There was a very healthy (size) crowd at 77, which is admirable, considering it was the weekend before the long one. Although, as I cast my eye around at the friendly neo-goths and artistic types, I suspected that many of these people didn’t possess a Harbourlife ticket anyway. The team behind Deep As Funk (Rif, Panayotis and Marco) have been putting on parties for about a year and a half, although not always with the same name, and at various different venues. Deep As Funk looks to be a regular event on the last Friday of each month, at Club 77. I’m looking forward to hearing Mark Dynamix’s interpretation of this quirky night; he’s the special guest for their October party.
