Well it’s January… probably my favourite part of the year.  It’s the time for lots of holidays, sunshine, scantily clad bods and, of course, the Sydney Festival!  With so many things to do, there is absolutely no excuse for sitting at home!

One of the biggest events of the Sydney Festival is, of course, the Beck’s Bar.  Located at Hyde Park Barracks, this is a venue that has everything.  With a great dance space, plenty of tables for chillout time, yummy food and lots of friendly staff, you really can’t go wrong. Running from January 12 to January 29, the Beck’s Bar boasts an incredible line up of acts set to rock the Barracks over the coming week and a half, so be sure to check it out.

So back to Saturday night and wow what a night!  I have been to a huge number of events over the past 12 months and I have to say that Saturday night will go down as one of the best ever!  The party attracted a really great crowd and the vibe of the night was incredible.  Everyone seemed to be having a ball and the incredible tunes did not stop coming!

Unfortunately, there was a bit of a mix-up with the line up.  Inthemix had reported that The Nextmen would be appearing, whilst the Beck’s Bar line up had dj Pogo listed as the international act.  As a result, it was a little unclear as to who would be playing when.  Putting all confusion aside, I am pretty sure the line up started with Frenzie, followed by Mark Walton, The Nextmen, Kid Kenobi & MC Shureshock and, finally Ajax, designed to take us on a ride through the world of breaks from the old school to the new school.

And take us on a trip they did!  When I arrived Frenzie was at the turntables pumping out some old school breaks which had a funk, soul and almost jazzy flavour.  And whilst at this early stage of the night the dance floor was still empty, I couldn’t help but tap my foot to the beats as I enjoyed a Becks beer with a couple of friends.  When it was Mark Walton’s turn to spin, the music noticeably turned towards hip hop and the dance floor started to fill.  The music and mixing was incredible and ranged from rap to more of a reggae sound, including remixes of the Beastie Boys and I think I may have heard a remix of Bell Biv Devoe’s Gangsta, an old favourite of mine.

At 10.00pm it was time for The Nextmen!  Wow, what a performance. These guys are great.  Not only is their mixing incredible, but they put on a great show with loads of personality and they certainly looked like they were having as much fun as the crowd, if not more!  As for their music, well the set started with the inevitable party starting track, Gimme the Breaks, and then just got better.  To be honest there were so many great tracks, I couldn’t stop dancing long enough to take notes… but I do know that almost every mix was responded to by cheers and dancing in the crowd as the music progressed from breaks to drum n bass to hip hop and included various remixes, including some James Brown! 

The night continued on a high note from 11.30 as Kid Kenobi, with his right hand man MC Shureshock, showed us once again why he has been repeatedly voted Australia’s No 1 dj.  Playing to an already hyped up crowd Kenobi and his MC delivered, putting on an entertaining performance of breaks and hip hop as always.

To end my review I have to make a small confession… the music was so good on Saturday night that I didn’t take nearly as many notes as I would have liked to – I was just too busy dancing!  Despite this, I hope the above will give you a little bit of insight into all the dj’s performances and again, if you’re a breaks fan I encourage you to get along and see any of the above acts if you get the chance – presuming you haven’t already!