Satoshi Tomiie presents himself as a quiet, reserved polite and gentle being, with an awe of composure and harmony, a direct juxtaposition of what the Tomiie sound is all about. Ok, confession time. I had never been to Tank! (Shields face). Maybe not a great deal to most but after being the host to some of the top house DJs on the planet, not to mention one Steve Lawler last week, it not something that one puts on their clubbing CV.

My perception of the club and club-types was of a collar up, fancy shoes and hair type crowd, dancing because apparently it was the cool thing to on the weekend, and so I was glad to witness my own false reality evaporate into the vibration of energy in the club. The irony of it all was that I was forced to dance in my black, leather (fancy) work shoes because my trainers were left at a doof 200km from Sydney. Dancing in leather shoes just does not work.

Anyways, so Alex Taylor is preparing the broth, consistently providing the right recipe for a molding dance floor and gradually lifting up the tempo with just the right track selection and mixing. There was en enjoyable vibe at this time. A load of smiling faces, a load of bopping heads and swaying bodies and it felt good to be where you were, where ever that was. The main meal was about to be served, the appetizers just about complete and there was perhaps time for just one more drink. Time ticks over, enter Satoshi Tomiie.

With the most uniquely individual set of headphones (which would be more suited to be called ear phones) the placid natured DJ started his set, a shy smile of his face as he humbly accepts audience gratification. The energy was felt basically immediately as he mixed himself with elegant ease into his 3 hour self expression.

It interests me to understand how it is that the music a DJ plays is directly related to the person himself. As I mentioned, in simply seeing how Tomiie pressed the CDJs, how he moved around behind the decks, how he sipped his drinks and the way in which he was annoyed by the camera flashes, one would think was more suited to be a violinist than a DJ. The dark drive of his progressive sound was a stark contrast to his exterior personality. The continuation of blaring basslines and thumping groves were infectious to all and it was refreshing to experience the ‘prog’ sound evolving with snippets of tech and electro sounds mashed as one in opposition to 180 minutes of epic-ness.

The crew from Melbourne, a few Poms, some Kiwis and the Sydney massive I chatted to were indeed treated to an engaging spectacle that reeked of rawness, oozed a sublime twinkle in those special tracks and held the floor tight for the duration of the Tomiie set. I am fairly certain that there were very few if not any disappointed faces at the end of the night, the performance was great, technically brilliant with a fiery blast. Satoshi Tomiie- Tank- recorded on CV.