Hydrophonik @ Bluprint, Perth (29/10/05)

With warehouse raves and secret entrances pretty much a thing of the past in today’s clubbing culture it was nice for some of us more new to the game to get a taste of what this might have been like when Hydrophonik came to the top room at Bluprint on Saturday night. Situated down an alleyway and up an inconspicuous set of stairs, any thoughts you may have the wrong building were allayed once you were through the door.

With Hydrophonik also serving as birthday celebrations for ITM’s very own Megs, there was many a friendly face on arrival. As I arrived at 11.30 Philly was reaching the end of funky set of the broken variety. The sound system at Bluprint has never been its strong point and while it certainly made chatting easier, the music seemed muted somewhat.

This proved small obstacle for next up to bat Fdel who’s funk fuelled hip-hop oriented set got a few bodies on the dance floor. The combination of scratching and track selection, such as Afrika Bambaata’s “Soul Makossa” kept the small but appreciative crowd entertained and more than a couple of heads were bopping.

A little after 1am everyone’s favourite JJJ correspondent Shariff stepped up to the decks, found the volume knob and opened his bag of fat heavy baselines. The tempo of the night increased markedly in a set atypical of what I’ve seen Shariff produce in the past. Consisting predominantly of electro-house yours truly was pretty much stumped in the track name department, but as always I can assure you he failed to disappoint.

If Shariff was lifting the tempo, then the Beatslappaz were pulling out the heavy machinery to drive it home. Fast, heavy, broken beats were the order for the waning crowd and Armand Van Helden’s “My my my” (Deekline & Wizard rmx) was warmly received.

Unfortunately around 3.30 the night was wrapped up due to a drop in numbers, meaning Karl Sav didn’t get a chance to let rip in the timeslot he’s come to call his own: the 4-6 closer. Never the less a great night was had by all and the next Hydrophonik featuring Dopamine, Micah and the Signal Drivers should be an absolute corker.