Fresh from the crazy activities of New Year’s and Christmas, Defected in the House and Tank made absolutely sure that the only way to go for 2006 is to keep on partying until the rest of the summer is over. With everyone’s New Year’s resolution’s still intact and that famous saying of ‘’taking it easy to start the year’’, it’s nice to see that all this got thrown out of the window as a packed Tank Nightclub starts the year off with a house music icon whom everyone is so familiar with. The international man of mystery himself, Bob Sinclar, headlined Defected in the House for a night set to be the biggest Defected party since they started their residency here in October.

Tank, once again, was looking ultra chic, with a healthy crowd right from the offset. This night promised to be huge and early on you could see it was inevitable, with the place looking great and the crowd looking gorgeous as always. The night seemed to have all the perfect ingredients for Bob Sinclar to turn this into something special. And something special he did. For a club that boasts ‘at this club, we ONLY play house music’ it’s so good to see classic mainroom house take centre stage once again, especially with the rise of electro very evident in almost every other club you go to in Sydney. This was to be a night of classic house music, and I for one was very happy to embrace the landing of such well respected label and clubnight on our shores.

The club was packed early on and I realised this time was probably the only chance I’d have to do a tour of the place. The back room was looking great, John Glover was spinning some great tracks and had the place rocking. John seems to be a roll at the moment and for anyone who still hasn’t caught one of his sets you’re definitely missing out. This served to be a nice diversion for people who were eagerly anticipating Bob’s set. It was great to see this back room finally open to the public and playing great music,  this was one of the biggest problems I thought the old Tank had as this area was previously only open for members. Now with quality DJs playing here it makes visiting this venue a more complete package for all of us.

Back in the main room  Defected residents Graham Cordery and Alan Thomson were perfectly warming up the crowd. Apologies to Graham as I didn’t quite catch most of his set, but early on it was obvious what the crowd’s vibe was like, Alan opening his set with the classic Ron Carroll track ‘Back Together’, and playing favourites such as ‘Madan’, ‘Most Precious Love’ and ‘Make A Move On Me’. The place was rammed, I’d never seen it quite so packed! I decided to go all the way to the very back and find a spot as there simply wasn’t any space at the front. The place was looking great, and in spite of the huge turn out as far as I’m aware there was never any huge problems anywhere. I’m pretty sure capacity was reached without a sweat (well not literally of course).

When the time came for Bob Sinclar to take charge he opened with an instant crowd pleaser, ‘Jealousy’, a track by his fellow Defected artist Martin Solveig. The crowd stepped it up a gear, and I don’t think I was the only one impressed by his set. I think it suited Tank’s main room like a glove, his set was thumping, at times techy and tribal, but one thing was for sure it definitely was entertaining. Playing classics like ‘Calabria’ and ‘Right About Now’, with acapellas and samples of ‘I Feel for You’ and Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop til you get Enough’. He also dropped Pryda’s ‘Aftermath’ and the S Man’s new track ‘Turn on the Music’, finishing it off a bit earlier than scheduled with a track that everyone was waiting for – his very own ‘Love Generation’. It sure was worth the wait and it seems like everyone pretty much got what they asked for. It would’ve been nice to hear some of his classic tracks like ‘Save Our Soul’, the full version of ‘I Feel for You’ and some tracks from his classic album ‘Champs Elysees’, but seriously I didn’t think anyone was complaining.

After his set I think everyone needed a breather, so it wasn’t at all that surprising to see the mainroom loosen up a bit after his set. I decided to go to the back room, and at the time Rob Kay was playing and he sure did drop some funky tunes to keep us all going. I think every time I’ve seen him out he always knows how to judge a crowd and always have variety in his sets. The main room was still pumping but a with a lot more room to move. Alan Thomson was back in charge and from everyone’s reports he finished the night off in style.

All in all it was a great night and I certainly didn’t regret coming out, even though that voice inside of me was saying ‘take it easy for a bit, this is quite soon after Fatboy and Field Day!’ The crew at Tank should be congratulated for the way the night went as I certainly didn’t hear one bad thing about it. Defected in the House at Tank once again delivered the goods, so for those of you who haven’t checked it out I suggest this is the best time to do so as they have a great line up in the coming weeks ahead. A lot has been said about the old Tank/new Tank, one thing that’s sure is there’s always going be criticism – just as much as there is praise. Personally I believe it was one hell of a job to be able to land such a well respected label and have a weekly club night here down under. This can only be a good thing for Sydney. I’m sure the one thing they’re probably asking from us punters is the time to check it out and see for ourselves and see what the fuss is all about. If you love house music then this really is the place to catch it. Don’t you just hate that feeling of missing out on all the fun?