It was one of those nights in one of those clubs. Down the alley and into the stylish surrounds of Brown Alley AKA Colonial Hotel they came. Everyone with an itching for some drum n bass chaos. The large open areas with clean hard wood floors enabled the punters to dance as well as mingle and catch up with each other. It had been a while since everyone had chilled out at Brown Alley in such a way.

The back corner was alive with loungers swigging down beers & bourbon whilst choking down their smokes. The bar noisy with conversation and the balcony full as people leaned in for a closer look at the dance floor below. This was such an apt image for the old dungeon like hotel… with its antique leadlight windows, blue stone interior and giant bells of the ball. Not to mention Colonial’s superior sound system.

The early birds received a healthy dose of tunes from the MelbDrumnBass.Com crew as ShiKung opened with some Shapeshifter favourites. Then The Odd Couple slipped in some funky dance drum n bass styles to help increase the population on the floor. All of a sudden K-O struck; that single cord to grab the crowd’s attention. The time had come and the dance floor was ready to Fly Away. Through their merry Winter garden with their optical illusions, K-Oscillate beamed a sound wave so visible that their audience was immersed in energy. Organic electronic energy… dance energy… positive energy. It’s no wonder their audience are the fans that continue to circulate and reciprocate K-Oscillate’s vibrancy. Musical gluttony in its purest form – live, where no matter how many times you’d heard it before it never quite sounds the same.

EZ now, it was time for a change with a couple of brand spanking new tracks. Some big guitar sounds just rolled off the tongue so quickly and easily, helping us to really see the sound. Re-introductions by the band to each other and the sounds they’d left behind resulted in a Soul Evolution right there on the stage, as the five brilliant musicians showed incredible unity as a single performance. They could have played like that all night. After K-O everyone was feeling a bit Grimey (Ad) so it was time to smooth it back to some more conservative Drum n Bass sounds.

As a whole package, the night was largely a success. The sound was unbelievable as is 99% of the time at Colonial. With midi controllers, 808 rhythms, synths, v-bass, guitar, live drums and microphones, not to mention a fractured MC; K-Oscillate demand a high quality sound engineer to hold the seams together on the night. Brown Alley and Fractured continue to surprise though their ability to maintain such a cool weekly drum n bass arena even with their hands tied. Brown Alley’s security is consistent in ensuring order where necessary and the bar staff always knows who’s first. If you’re yet to get the picture, it’s definitely worth a trip to the corner of King & Lonsdale Sts on a Friday night.

As for the entertainment, K-Oscillate are so well known for getting stuck in the moment of the performance whereby creating an insane amount of adrenalin, not only for the crowd but also for the performers. This night was no exception with a way to escape from the memory of past and the future, if only for an hour and a half. But is 90 minutes really much time to sacrifice for the “now”? Sit down – this is K-O.