With a growing reputation as one of the most interesting drum and bass DJ’s on the circuit, Calyx’s first Sydney appearance was pretty highly anticipated. The first gig for new crew, The Collective, at an as yet unused (for drum and bass, anyway), venue, and with high calibre supports in Shuey, Chris J, Ryan Lazy, Sakura and Murda 1, a top quality night of dnb was on the cards.

Arriving to catch the end of Shuey’s solid set, I was highly impressed with the setup of the venue. A heavy in-house sound system, complete with a row of 8 fearsome looking subs under the stage, a recessed dancefloor, sexy looking leather booths and a nice lighting setup, the night boded well for some drum and bass mayhem.

Lazy and Chris J smashed it with a quality set of tech-infused dancefloor action. Playing back to back, with their contrasting styles, Lazy on a more uptempo tip, and Chris on a techy vibe, the two rolled through tunes at a cracking pace and set up the nicely filled dancefloor (considering the weather was terrible, with rain and wind of biblical proportions keeping a fair few people home, I think) for the arrival of Calyx.

A giant of a man, all arms and legs, Calyx cuts an imposing figure behind the decks, matched with smashing tune selection. Slamming into Konflict’s classic Beckoning as his second tune, and following it up with BSE & Noisia’s new collaboration, Hideous, the set started out on a high note. Playing exclusively off CD’s, for the most part, the set was filled with new dub action, although he slipped in a few classics that got the punters firing.

A handful of older Optical, Matrix and Konflict tunes hit hard, along with Teebee’s new The Force, Chase & Status’ awesome Menace, Evol Intent & Ewun’s bowel-shaking The Rapture, and a full vocal VIP of his and Teebee’s Rakim sampling Follow the Leader. All over the mixer, working EQ’s, looping tunes on the CDJ’s and switching styles with effortless ease, and endless headbanging enthusiasm, he worked the crowd from start to finish.

As his 2 hour set drew to a close, he pulled out his own Illusions, Dead Ringer and my personal favourite Calyx tune, the spectacular True Identity as his second to last tune. Relentless to a tee, it was followed by what I think was an absolutely insane Noisia joint, with a “what you are about to hear is real, it has not been edited or enhanced” sample, to close. A massive way to end a massive set.

With the unenviable task of following on from Calyx was Murda 1. In his own inimitable style though, he stepped up to the task and dropped some killer tunage, mixed and scratched to perfection. I unfortunately had to leave about 20 minutes into his set, but from what I caught, it was top drawer.

Full marks to the Collective boys for taking the risk and putting on a cracking party in a very nice venue. Drinks, however, were pretty expensive (for a dnb crowd that’s used to fairly cheap booze), but that’s really out of the promoters hands, and no slight on them at all. Musically, and production wise, it was impressive, and I for one am looking forward to seeing more parties from this crew.