When a hardhouse or hard dance DJ is announced for a Perth performance, the relevant community collectively beams with excitement. The sound is something of a rarity here in Perth, a situation that can be maddenning when one wants to dance to BPM’s exceeding 140. When the news went out that Tara Reynolds would be playing a set at The Church Nightclub on Friday the 8th of April 2005, there were few who could resist the temptation to rock it hard!

This would indeed be my first ever visit to The Church after four years of loving dance music. I had no idea what to expect from this club in terms of atmosphere, lighting, sound and specific music policy. My expectations were exceeded in all of these areas and as a result, I shall be visiting this club on a frequent basis from now on.

At just after 11pm I arrived at the venue and I was greeted by a number of farmiliar faces. I was immediately struck by the visuals and excellent sound system. John Paul was warming up the smallish but amped crowd with a selection of tunes that included; “Jump the Next Train” (Young Parisians feat. Ben Lost,) Tiesto’s “Love Comes Again” & “Traffic,” an excellent track that remixed or sampled Dire Straights’ timeless classic “Money For Nothing,” and things got nice and hard in readiness for Tara Reynolds’ appearance with “Not Over Yet” by Neon Lights.

At 2:00 Tara Reynolds took control of the decks. Tara began her career mixing it up in her home town of Melbourne before she moved to London – the home of hard dance – with husband Phil Reynolds (another top hard dance DJ.) Tara quickly gained a reputation as one of the finest female DJ’s on the circuit and testiment to this was her mix CD for Tidy Trax: Insomnia vol. 3 (CD 1 was mixed by Paul Maddox.) Tara Reynolds’ sets can best be described as being hard, dark, fast and furious!

Hard dance seems to be moving in a techier and darker direction at the moment so it was no surprise that Reynolds’ set began as such. The music was hard but was of a kind that a listenner could get lost in, rather than being uplifting and “hands in the air.” Many of the tunes were upfront, unidentifiable and underground – making for an excellent musical excursion. The crowd may have been small but this was more than made up for by the friendly vibe and intense energy that could be found on the dance floor and all around the club.

Tara Reynolds’ set changed its energy into something a bit more uplifting for the final half an hour. She had the crowd wrapped around her middle finger with every beat and one of the highlight tunes that she played featured a sample from Tony de Vit’s “The Dawn.” Ths track had me moving and spinning all over the place!

At 4:00 Reynolds finished what was an excellent international performance. Hopefully there will be many more hardhouse DJ’s of her stature visiting Perth as there is no better way to crush the stress of the working week. DJV was given a short ten minute play on the decks to close out the night. A big thanks must go to The Church, event organisers, Tara Reynolds and the ever excellent supporting DJ’s. I know I’ll be coming back for more at The Church!