If there was any place to be in Brisbane on this night, West End seemed the nucleus. I walked past the Rumpus Room with the blast of horns in my wake – West End was a hive of activity. I could even feel the escalating energy assembling under the eaves of Uber with the promise of a stellar live performance from Kosheen with support from My Ninja Lover and featuring DJs Rasp, Operon and Aniki on decks.

I had to wait in my first Uber line, but it wasn’t very long before I was walking through the glass doors. Uber, being the dome of sophistication, was home to a great many attractive bodies and faces on this night. I noticed a few eminent faces in the crowd: staff from Jorge, The Empire and Family milled about. They obviously knew where it was happening. The place was absolutely scattered with people and the line outside, was getting bigger by the second. It didn’t take very long until the line ended up trickling down the stairwell.

I wondered where the stage was. The first time I had seen My Ninja Lover perform at Uber for Australia Day Eve, the stage at been at the front entrance of the Lounge. This time however, there was no sign of a platform. Once I wandered into the Main Club, the stage was visible through the throng of bodies dancing across the floor where DJ Rasp was in control of the decks. People were already on the dancefloor, taking advantage of the liberal rhythms and bass lines that Rasp was discharging. With his hat perched jauntily on his head, there were plenty of 80s sounds coming through the speakers with ample rhythmic colour to fatten the sparse lines. Rasp is always excellent as an opener to a feature act. There is always that feeling of expectancy when a band is just about to go on stage; a tangible feeling that magnetically transmits to each person and drifts up toward the ceiling to infect an entire group. Rasp is tremendous at developing and building up this anticipation. He takes the apprehension and gently manipulates it. His fat synthetically charged chords with Hip Hop inspired beats only served to shake the nerves of the clubs occupants all the more, and thus tinge the atmosphere with that metallic taste of suspense.

During Rasp’s performance, the doors to the main club were opened, turning the whole club into one colossal room. This is an absolutely bonus about this club – its versatility and resourcefulness. Naturally, the bar was a core of activity, the mojitos churning out nicely. Already, the vibe in Uber was marvellous. The whites of people’s teeth as they smiled were luminous under the lights.

Chris playing all over his bass introduced the sounds of My Ninja Lover to the crowd. Manta’s call of “Are you Ready for some Drum n Bass!!” was promptly followed by definitive screams of yes from the audience. Porl then launched into their set,  though I recognised it as new material. Fast Lane is a new addition to the My Ninja Lover repertoire, the dub elements and wah pedal of the guitar washing through the system. Unfortunately, with the setup of the massive speakers situated behind the PA system, this affected the system on the stage with feedback filtering through the front of house mix. At first, the bass guitar was too far down in the mix to even exist and there was very little clarity in the vocals. By the time Shudder came on, there was a great deal more transparency in the sound. The unfortunate bouts of ear splitting feedback however, would be an effect that was sure to reoccur for the majority of the evening. I found the best sound of the band directly beside the sound desk [of course]. The acoustics just seemed to work better there than anywhere else.

As Manta flung off her footwear and pranced barefoot across the stage, the audience responded to the infectious DnB rhythms, their fingers, hands and fists stabbing the air. Manta, her fingers splayed and pre-empting the direction of the music, was overwhelmed as the range of her notes required her to anchor her body to the ground. Chris jumped up and down in time, his fingers continuing to fly across the thick strings while Porl supported his own body by planting his feet apart as he leaned into his keyboard. Their vibe was just incredible, as they all worked together and produced their wonderful music for our ears. In spite of the washing machine sound that was on stage, Manta continued to hit the direct centre of each note. Crazy Ass, Connery and favourites: 2×2 and Tin Cat also featured in the set. When the Bass solo came around, I rushed towards Chris’ side, determined to not miss a single note. His fingers nimbly scaled up and down the neck, his touch wonderfully strong. When he slapped at his notes, I was involuntarily affected to squeal with delight. Chris continued to procure satisfyingly resonate sounds from his wonderful instrument. When Manta reached into the audience, the words “She Will Be Loved” entered my mind, as I watched the responding arms grasping at her with love and adoration. As Kosheen stood watching in the band room to the far left of the stage, I could not help feeling proud that Brisbane was able to offer a comparable support for an international act of much repute.

Operon, the God of mischievous foreplay, assumed the sounds behind the deck as My Ninja Lover packed down. As the night was being tagged as a Drum N Bass evening with Kosheen as a group espoused for embracing Drum n Bass concepts, it appeared that the crowd seemed relatively new to this genre. I can only assume this because they were staring at Operon as if struck dumb. I guess DnB is still quite exclusive in Brisbane, with such events as Rudebwoyz still too subversive for the ‘standard’ Brisvegan. While there are plenty of DnB converts, I realised that there’s still a large percentage out there, ready to be rehabilitated the DnB way.

Using a technique similar to that of a basso continuo, Operon was establishing a walking bass line for his smooth melodies to plump out. The audience felt it, knew that it was great, but because they didn’t recognise it, were unsure how to react. Which didn’t really matter, because within ten minutes, the whole floor was pumping. Operon was exploring the intervals of the music, creating a significant depth between notes and thus exploiting the profundity and intensity of each note. His rhythms were wonderful: the beats mimicking the heart’s throb and then escalating towards dub palpitations. Rhythmic grooves were the stimulant while the bass notes took centre stage.

Kosheen took over the stage. Before, where the dancefloor had been comfortably packed, it was now crammed with bodies. Self proclaimed ‘Psycho’ (if one were to judge by his shirt) Darren Decoder and Markee Substance stood behind the decks while Sian Evans took over the microphone. Immediately, the unique sounds of Kosheen hit the waves. Sian conjured up images of an English barmaid, swirling her skirts and quivering her hips provocatively. From the clips and promos I have seen of Kosheen, Sian is a very attractive lady, but in the flesh, singing into the mic and blasting the air from her lungs, she was absolutely gorgeous. She thrilled in the praise, love and adoration from the crowd as the words to It’s All In My Head rang out across the system. Whenever the crowd reacted to her magnificent voice, their cries served to urge her to exhilarating heights, prompting her to become more animated and dynamic. Markee seemed to be experiencing a few technical glitches behind decks, but the music continued to be unwavering and indomitably Kosheen. Their breaks beats permeated each corner of the room, the bass rousing and intense; the arrangements lush and aggressive. When the intro to Hide U rang across the floor, the punters’ excitement knew no limits. Shrieks of pleasure clashed with the renowned bass heavy lines, as Sian crooned into the mic. She incited the crowd into a riotous clamour, her vocals pitched and beautifully rounded. I actually wondered if there were some recorded vocals fed into the mix – the sounds were too textured for this live performance. There were a few more vocal tunes:  Kosheen as a trio was amazing, but, unfortunately, shortlived. Sian wandered off stage and suddenly, Darren was alone behind the decks, long drawn out bass notes reverberating in Sian’s wake. Phasers and filtered effects slowly added to the mix,as Darren unleashed venomous beats into the room. He had a very masculine approach to his music, his timing excellent. He was able to pull the beats around, enforcing where the accents were placed. Plenty of distortion made it into the mix, reminiscent of Beastie Boys. Darren enjoyed breaking into a new tune by introducing the new beats as interludes. It was a smooth method of mixing, seamlessly segueing into each tune and emitting as a wall of sound. The intensity grew, and just when you thought you couldn’t take the force anymore, your teeth grating on edge, Darren would abruptly rotate toward a melody, visibly anchoring your body back on the dancefloor.

I remain unconvinced that the larger cities of Australia could offer a more attractive, friendly and admiring bunch of people. These supposedly larger cities have had plenty of time to develop, and thus run into decay. Brisbane feels alive and lively, bustling with a fierce energy, remaining as a stimulating city to explore and seek adventures.

Love and Kisses, Lady Lex