In long weekend tradition, the Fuzzy team had made special efforts and were showcasing Joe Ransom, a first appearance in Sydney for the London-based DJ whose Fabric CD had captured my attention on first listen.   I was curious to see how he would measure up in a live performance.  Before he came on, Q45 was tasked with the early set. 

YU is one of Sydney’s best venues for breaks: a nice and dark dance floor for all those wanting the DJ on hand to transfer them from a bad week at work to heads-down hedonism. Although Joe Ransom isn’t exactly a household name here just yet, the true ‘heads had high hopes and expectations. We are talking about a Fabric resident, after all. You don’t just blag gigs at what’s become London’s only surviving – and credible superclub.

By about midnight, Q45 was well into his set and although the bar area was at capacity; the dancefloor wasn’t faring as well. To be fair, it was hard to tell whether it was just an early night malaise due to indifferent (or young, prematurely munted) punters, or something to do with Q’s set, a mash-up of Ayia Napa-esque garage breaks, top-notch MC stylings and more well known tunes. Q45 did what every good DJ does in this situation: tried a few different approaches and looked for what was going to appeal to the crowd but he seemed unable to find the key. It’s a sign things aren’t clicking when a DJ drops a track like Dylan Rhymes ‘Salty’ to muted crowd response. What’s worse is once you drop a heavy hitter like that, it’s hard to go back. Q powered on though, and prepped the floor as best he could for the main event.

For whatever reason, the announcement of Joe Ransom’s set soon managed to at last shift people from the bar area to the dance floor. If the intent was to impress upon all present that Joe Ransom was a force to reckon with, his set opening made the point loud and clear.  Anyone who weaves DJ Shadow’s Organ Donor into their set proves their taste is impeccable. The vibe of the entire crowd changed within the first minute of the set opening. Ransom took off with a string of quality hip-hop party starters, working his way upward through the BPM’s into a re-work of Dee-Lite’s ‘Groove Is In The Heart’ (was that the Stanton Warriors on the mix?) and the familiarity helped the crowd to ease into their groove further. Having proceedings tastefully sprinkled with an MC added a thread of consistency between Q and Joe’s sets and further galvanized the crowd. The true proof of Ransom’s faith was the flawless insertion of Al-Naafiysh’s ‘The Soul,’ the quintessential electro track and a tune that draws a razor-sharp line between the hip-hop of yesterday and modern breakbeat.

The Impossibles inherited an audience primed to stay for the duration. They continued to work hard to sustain the party but come 4am, the dance floor started to empty.  Again, it was less indicative of the tunes that were being played than that the crowd just weren’t in it for the long haul.

Overall, Joe Ransom’s set reflected a wide musical accolade to those who have inspired dance music to such a great extent. Fuzzy’s promotional team should be applauded for taking a risk on introducing what could be referred to as a truly London sound to their open-minded following in Sydney.