I spent Sunday afternoon relaxing in the Botanical Gardens catching up with friends. What a gorgeous day. Having had beautiful blue skies for much of the afternoon, thunderous rain clouds started to roll in at 4.30pm and the heavens opened. It was definitely time to make a swift move to Sorted Sundayze for a boogie…

Arriving at the Mandalay Room just after 5pm we ventured upstairs, to be welcomed by a smattering of Sunday afternoon party goers scattered around the room, eager to get their hard dance fill before the weekend was over. The venue is a modern decked out bar with a nicely positioned central dance floor, and booth seating surrounds. Wooden floors and blue neon lights give the venue more of a club feel and for a Sunday afternoon stomp, the bar/club hybrid is certainly a winner in my books.

Behind the decks was Torbynik, who is renowned for serving up fine helpings of electro house. On the Sundayze menu however we were being treated to a combination of hard house and trance, with many tunes dating back to the good old days of the early Noughties (‘03). Demonstrating ace beat matching and a good tune selection, including some top tunes like Funky Bassline and the Teknikal remix of Reach Out. Torbynik certainly delivered the goods, demonstrating his mixing versatility and allowed us a further insight into his diverse music collection.

Next up to the decks was Chimpy who was bouncing around behind the decks like a hyperactive monkey. His 2-hour set of uplifting hard trance was energy fuelled and jam packed full of synth melodies. There were some excellent tracks but each record followed a very similar format, and following numerous massive breakdowns I was ready for something a little different.

By this point the floor had filled out and there were many more hard dancers jumping around and causing chaos. One thing that made me giggle (very hard might I add) was the talcum powder all over the floor. Sydney Shufflers ahoy! To all those shuffling Melbournians out there, you better watch out… they’ve got your number!

I was chomping at the bit for the next DJ due on the decks, Trevor McLachlan: a well known UK hard dance DJ/producer who over the past few years has gone from strength to strength on the hard dance scene. He’s played some well known gigs as well as releasing numerous tunes and collaborating with various other big name DJs and producers. This was of one of only two appearances in Australia and as a former UK clubber, I was keen to see him in action.

Trevor’s beat matching was spotless and he dropped in some rather tasty bass lines, catapulting us from one tune to another. The floor was pumping and I was surrounded by lots of smiley bouncing people. I was a tad disappointed as I was hoping to hear some of his own productions however he pumped out some old favourites including a remix of Sandstorm, which certainly took me back to the old days! His ‘oldie but a goodie’ format seemed to pay off however and everyone had a kicking time. Trevor McLachlan’s a top DJ and certainly one to keep an eye on.

Unfortunately I was unable to stay for the last set (some of us have to work you know!), but I had a great time all up. The venue is the best yet for the Sundayze crew and the sound system was good, clear and bassy. I felt that it got a little too loud later on in the night however that could simply be ears becoming more sensitive in my old age – who knows?

It’s excellent to have promoters like Marie and Mal keeping the hard dance scene alive in Sydney. Love your work guys, keep it up!