The glimmer of a full moon lit the streets of Fortitude Valley, while the crisp cool winds of winter were trying to creep in a little earlier this year. However, the temperature inside the Moonbar was warm and the bright lights shone down upon two of Brisbane’s hottest – D-Ko & My Ninja Lover.

I couldn’t help but notice on my drive to the Valley, that this night brought us a full moon.  I thought to myself will the wonder and mysteries that a full moon normally brings, rear its head tonight?  Couple this with my first time as an ITM contributor, and getting myself back into Brisbane Dance scene again.  I was eager to see what the night had to behold.

I couldn’t think of a better way of launching myself back into Brissy’s dance scene than to enjoy two of Australia’s best dance acts.  I guess it was only fitting that they are also both from Brisbane, and featured artists on Triple J’s Unearthed program. 

Upon arrival to the Empire I found the staff very friendly and obliging, some even asking for a photograph.  In the back of my mind I pondered, “Yes… the Empire my old stomping ground.”  Whilst in that thought I realized that I actually hadn’t visited there since late 2002.

As I ascended upstairs, I could hear Butterz transiting between traditional breaks and tribal house, surely the dance floor would be on fire – not so at this early stage, I had to say, “What crowd?”  Empire as a venue had changed dramatically to my infant clubbing years.  Extremely clean and polished, still it kept its incredibly murky ambience, sparing the use of lighting – oozing atmosphere for these particular acts. The crowd finally warmed up to Butterz’s awesome set by 12am.

By the time My Ninja Lover (MNL) hit the stage, the crowd was on fire.  From that moment on they lit the roof on fire with huge driving bass lines, wondrous programming, and the incredible musicianship of Porl and Chris.  I found a connection to the unique and slightly raspy vocals of Manta, many times loosing myself in their music.  Combine that with a rather energetic set, no doubt a set that helped them earn the Grand Prize at Nokia’s National Terminal Nine Connecting Beats Competition.  After running through several tracks from their yet to be released EP, and covering tracks from their current EP Silk and Daggers, including the hugely popular 2X2 and Tincat.

I was a little disappointed in the crowd after Tincat was dropped the dance floor almost halved, and never really quite got going again, even during D-Ko’s set.  Of particular note it was the younger crowd that seemed to disperse after MNL’s set.  Proving once again it was up to us oldies to wave the flag for Brissy’s dance scene.

D-Ko hit the stage after Brazen’s set, which kept the crowd warm.  It was roughly 2am when D-Ko graced the stage with their presence.  An act with a fair catalog now, including the hugely popular Golden Eyes and Kgrind, D-Ko did not disappoint, carefully catering for the entire crowd at hand. 

D-Ko themselves were amazing – displaying great musicianship from Kris and Ben, the usual showmanship from Simon who kept the crowds going and was even comical at times, and Evelyn’s Vocals, again their uniqueness and power couldn’t be explained. I even found myself dazed as if hypnotized when she belted out the beautiful lyrics.  

However something was missing, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.  Was it the dispersion of the crowd earlier? – Possibly.  Or was it that the Guitar wasn’t quite EQed right? – Maybe.   I asked myself, why did I enjoy MNL over D-Ko?  Along with the other combining factors I found the energy of D-Ko to be lacking, it possibly was due to the fact that they had more apparatus to overcome.  Which I’ll forgive, without that equipment they could not produce such brilliant music.

Upon descending the Empire’s stairway and exiting the premises I noticed many of that younger crowd that left early were congregating downstairs or outside.  Not quite understanding why,  I put it down to the full moon.  Driving back the wonders, and mysteries of the full moon did not really come into effect this night.  There is always next time…