It’s a beautiful Saturday night and Sydney is absolutely packed to the rafters, full of people laughing, singing and dancing and running around miming words to various hits by Madonna and Kylie Minogue. It’s the wonderful night of the Mardi Gras parade that comes but once a year in Sydney, and just about all of the party-going population is out and about, stumbling around the city searching for the hottest gig in town. Traffic is being diverted around the pedestrian filled streets: groups of young teenagers are drinking on the sidewalk, unable to talk their way into many of Sydney’s hot spots. Five hairy-legged Paris Hiltons try and cram into a single unsuspecting taxi.

Meanwhile I make my way through the city, keeping to the sidelines and heading towards Cockle Bay where I hope the crowds of angry youths may have subsided after falling into the harbour. I arrive at Home nightclub just after eleven with the Ministry of Sound tour is already well under way, and our man of the evening Sharam has just taken control of the main dance floor. This was his first solo tour of Australia, having stepping aside for the moment from his producing partner Ali from Deep Dish, there has been allot of hype surrounding his upcoming releases. It was a relief to find that the main room was not packed like a can of sardines, which can sometimes be the case at Home when an international act is on the bill. So with plenty of room it was much easier to dance around without an elbow jabbing into your chest.

As expected, the majority of the dance floor was full of punters still in Mardi Gras mode, and everyone looked like they were having a great time dancing around to Sharam’s music. I was expecting something a lot different from the talented progressive extraordinaire behind the Deep Dish name, yet he chose to play a much more upbeat house set, mixed in with the occasionally progressive track. It took me a little by surprise at first, but after all it was the Ministry of Sound tour and it wasn’t long before I was dancing around with some friends even if the music wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. Towards the last hour I thought his choice of tracks seemed to go far off into some really plain and repetitive house music and unfortunately I was not overly impressed with his mixing, which was nothing compared to the incredible five-hour gig Deep Dish played at YU in 2005. In my personal opinion I think that the duo should stick together, having seen Sharam struggling to keep the crowd as excited as what I am used to seeing. The solo career he is trying to build might be a risky move, but having only seen him play solo once he may have a few tricks up his sleeve.

Next up on the decks, another international guest Tom Stephan started off playing some really dark sounding tunes, moving the night into more of a techno and progressive vibe. I have to say I enjoyed the majority of his set more than Sharam’s, but it’s a matter of taste and I guess I am still a progressive fan at heart. I also managed to head upstairs to the terrace room where the Sweetchilli crew had taken control. Daniel Crocetti was giving the crowd some very nice warm-sounding techno, and soon afterwards Mr Carlos Zarate jumped onto the decks and delivered yet another fantastic selection of music.

To sum up the night: It was good to see Sharam play again yet I would have preferred to have seen him under the Deep Dish name, as I just can’t let it go that easy. I will definitely be looking out for more of Tom Stephan’s work as I enjoyed his set immensely and of course a big thank you to the Sweetchilli crew who continue to make me smile.