Something was different about Nik Fish this week as he was handed the reins to warm up the decks for the DJs who were launching Central Station’s latest compilation Central Energy Vol. 21 in Voodoo. I don’t know if it was his new haircut or even the fact that seen him play in ages, but he actually seemed to be enjoying himself. Not since at least a couple of years ago when he used to finished off with that remix of Video Killed the Radio Star have I’ve seen him move around on stage as much as he did this week, but he was really getting into the whole main room atmosphere. In saying that though, searching for any consistency in what Nik Fish was playing was like painting a pedestrian crossing in red and purple stripes. In other words, the set was a little illogical in its track selection, with the only glimmer of excellence coming from couple of anthems like the 2006 remix of Yakooza’s Cocaine. But even that wasn’t able to save the set: I’ve always admired Nik Fish for his contribution to Australia’s hard dance scene but it looks like rising star Baby Gee is about to snatch his crown…

In contrast to Nik Fish’s set, Baby Gee was fluent, energetic and consistent in his mixing and track selection, showcasing some of the tech-trance goodness that can be found on the Central Energy compilation and getting the crowd energy flowing in the dark depths of Voodoo. It certainly made for the perfect place to drop DJ Teisto’s anthem Lethal Industry (the Richard Durand mix). Baby Gee continued his set with layered tech trance tunes like Youri Parker vs. Fred Baker’s Bang , Marcel Woods’s Accelerate and Jesselyn’s Contact. Baby Gee is definitely a DJ that deserves credit for his technical ability and pure energy behind the decks.

Amber Savage lived up to her reputation of Australia’s queen of hard dance, with her adoring crowd chanting out her name even before she had even hit the decks. The music was hard, and I mean hard! When the pounding basslines make the roof on the second level shake, you know there’s a decent amount of ‘kick’ in the system – it’s surprising that it even manages to still stay suspended sometimes! A set comprised of all aspects of hardstyle, jumpstyle and other elements of hard dance, it featured some of the latest tracks from Europe including Into Deep, A.S.Y.S’s Cheers and DJ Virus’s Rush. If you liked it hard and loud then Amber delivered, but unfortunately it lacked any technical mastery with some occassional choppy mixing.

Last on the decks was the third pillar of Central Energy Vol 21, Archie, who did what he always does: plays the tracks the crowd want to hear and enjoyed doing it. As always it was hard to fault his track mixing and technical arsenal. Unfortuhnatley I was not able to hear the whole set, but what I did hear was a pleasure.

The other rooms provided a haven away from the hard dance mayhem of the main floor, with Kemuri giving the punters a real education on mashups with his electro laced goodness and his bass driven, party breaks masterpieces. Brendon Fing provided Cargo with current electro-house favourites including the remix of Red Hot Chilli Peppers’s By the Way and TV Rock vs. Dukes Of Windsor’s The Others to name a few.

Overall the main room provided a nice sneak preview to the next edition of Central Energy and overall, the crowd numbers reflected a possible return to some of the past greatness of Sublime as a weekly event. The line-up across the rooms was excellent and diverse, with the atmosphere definitely enhanced by the recent tweaks to layout and production. Maybe, just maybe, Sublime is once again becoming the premier gateway to Sydney’s clubbing scene.