After the outstanding success of the “Wanna Break” parties, run by a few of the ITM breaks forum regulars – to showcase up and coming DJs and as an excuse to have a giant party – the house heads decided it was their turn, and thus the wheels for “Ill Repute” were set in motion. Boasting an impressive line-up of both experienced and up-and-coming DJs, drinks almost as cheap as a local phone call, and a fantastic venue, Ill Repute was always going to be a night to remember.

Commando Sting started off proceedings with a delightfully smooth deep house set played entirely off Ableton Live. Unfortunately he had a few technical difficulties, and the crowd at this stage was quite small, but neither of these minor set backs can take away from what was a great set. This kid deserves to be playing out more regularly, no questions asked.

Next up the very drunk Adam Hatfield and Soulshine reminded us all why we love acts like The Littlemen and The Greenskeepers, warming the crowd up with a set full of deep, subtle grooves and booty shaking goodness. Despite having enough drinks to sink the Titanic, the two mixed superbly, and played a fantastic set for their time slot that got everyone in the mood for some Saturday night shenanigans.

By the time DJ Real and Discolou stepped up to the decks the Scary Canary had started to fill with loyal house heads and ITM regulars, and these two didn’t disappoint a single one of them, throwing down punchy percussive numbers in amongst filtered groove based gems and some stupidly funky tech house, with the highlight of the set definitely being a bouncey, tough, and decidedly fun mix of Afrika Bambaata.

With the dancefloor gradually filling up, Gruso and Ben Kelly took the reigns and kept slowly building the intensity with some slightly tougher electro and tech house, with the odd classic thrown in for good measure. Ben, as would be expected, mixed brilliantly, and Gruso proved to everyone in the room that he’s one to look out for in the future – promoters take note! By the end of their set, the dancefloor had filled up and everyone was loving every second of it, particularly when Mr Kelly played the ever popular Lindstrom mix of LCD Soundsystem’s “Tribulations”.

It was then time for the headliners, Robbie Lowe and Michael King, to step up. And step up they did! For an hour and a half the place was going bananas to some of the phattest tunes I, and I think everyone else on the dancefloor, had heard in a long time. While Michael was content to keep it a little funkier, with tracks and remixes from the likes of King Roc and Chris Lake, Robbie wasn’t happy until he’d made people’s heads cave in, particularly with the massive “Paeng Paeng” by Zombie Nation. And I don’t think it needs to be said that these two were technically outstanding.

Marc Davis and Melbourne’s Lady Liquid brought it back down a little for the next hour with some delightfully smooth, funky tech house and a little deep, melodic progressive to give the dancefloor a chance to nurse their wounds and put the pieces of their heads back together. The crowd lapped it up, and so did the DJs, who definitely looked like they’d had their Weet Bix for breakfast, bouncing around behind the decks like lunatics.

Then it was time for your’s truly to finish off the night with Synik. The crowd stayed until the very last track, and it was great fun to play in front of such an up for it group of people and alongside such a talented DJ. Synik was, as usual, absolutely fantastic, spinning some extremely filthy electro and acid house – I felt like I needed a shower just listening to his tunes! But unfortunately it couldn’t go on forever, and eventually the lights had to come back on, but everyone definitely left on a high.

With a bit of luck Ill Repute will become a more regular party, as it serves as a great platform for up-and-coming DJs to play alongside more established names, is the most fun you can have in a small, dark room with really loud music, and leaves a lot of people spending Sunday morning wishing they hadn’t had so many cheap drinks. They were right in the ad for the night: Good Tunes, Bad Habits, Ugly Mornings.