It’s been a while since I’ve heard good quality hard house. After a stint in London back in 2004/2005 where hard house is simply mega, quality and banging, Melbourne just hasn’t cut it for me in that genre. Reading in the listings that a Frantic Reunion was in the midst, excited me no end – finally some good tunes to really stomp it out to! Still considering myself a newbie to Melbourne (2 years isn’t long enough to be a “proper resident” I’ve been told), and not a regular visitor to Room nightclub in the shopping strip of Hawthorn’s four-wheel drive mecca of Glenferrie road, I was unaware of what I was getting myself into on this particular night but went with an open mind and a desire to hear classic hard house.

What I did know was that Frantic parties started in Melbourne 7 years ago, and have always had a reputation for great parties and have attracted a loyal following. After the huge response to Frantic’s ‘One Last Time’ event in June 2006 (which I didn’t attend), the group decided that 12 months wait was about time for a reunion.

Arriving fashionably late just after midnight, I was surprised upon entering on 1) the lack of rave or cyber gear, and 2) the lack of space being used inside of Room. I must have missed the memo because I was one of few who weren’t in the standard jeans and t-shirt look worn by most girls and guys there. It seemed out of place considering how hard the tunes were. To me, very safe dressing doesn’t go with that sound. If you’ve been to the UK, hard house equals cyber wear and fluro all the way!

We missed local Ben Evans on the decks but came in on Steve Nichol’s banging set full of classics circa early 2000s, when hard house was at its best and utmost peak, where most re-hashes now are taken from. Hearing one of my faves, DJ Kim’s ‘Jetlag’ was a really nice start to the night, while hearing a wicked sampling of U2’s ‘New Year’s Day’ was pretty cool too. Already the crowd was warming up well, with most people out on the dancefloor, shaking their thing. There was a side room, the Phunk Room, set up playing dirty electro house and the like but hell, why bother if the party is for Frantic!?

According to the flyer, Frantic were stepping it up a few notches on production as well with more lasers, lighting, décor to make it a truly memorable experience. Well yes they had made an effort, the lasers and lighting were pretty cool but I think wasted in a venue like Room. Frantic’s up-for-it and friendly crowd was definitely there though as an ex-Brissie raver, I still found it hard to chat with people.

Nevin was next up, picking up the pace, keeping with the classics too, a constant stream of quality hard house at a danceable pace. The sound was good though the design of Room irritated the hell out of me as per usual, with its bizarre layout and the DJ in an odd spot. And what’s with the pods?! Anywho ignoring that, the staff were friendly and security were pleasant. Unfortunately we had to stick it out til 3.45am to hear the main reason we were there, Tara Reynolds. Til then Nevin and Ryza kept the crowd pumping, and the tunes a-comin’ with classics like the BBE re-hash ‘Seven Days and One Week’, Milk Inc’s ‘Inside of Me’ and two of my all time faves, that I nearly lost it with excitement hearing, 99th Floor Elevators’ ‘Hooked’ and Cortina’s ‘Music is Moving’. The night tracklisting was definitely a who who’s listing of hard house artists and producers with tracks like Love Revolution’s ‘Give it to me baby’, Ewok’s ‘Go Back’, and tracks from the likes of Lisa Lashes, Chris C, Paul Glazby, Stimulant DJs, and BK to name a few.

Looking around the male-dominated room, faithful hard house devotees were easy to spot through the crowd, singing along to the classic tunes and giving it all they got. Smiles all round as the pace picked up and we finally reached the moment when Tara hit the decks, 15mins late, which was hard at the end of a long week at work. Am I getting old or what??
Tara Reynolds is one of only a handful of international female hard house DJs and her ability to combine filthy turbo-charged basslines with uplifting hi-energy melodies have earmarked her as one of the few DJs who’s been able to break out of the tough London scene to command headline sets across the UK and abroad.

Tara started it up with a well manipulated rework of Carl Cox vs Tim Deluxe’s remix of Renato Cohen’s wicked techno number ‘Pontape’, overlaid with Jens’ ‘Loops & Strings’ showing her versatility. Wicked! You could already see that this set was going to be totally her energetic hard dance style, consisting of uplifting, groovey, techy and/or banging elements. One track that she worked that I was stoked to hear included Masif DJ’s rework of a trance classic ‘Everyday’. Keeping it banging hard, the UK sounds shone through, the true hard house sound from the most respected labels of Tidy, Nukleuz and the like. Nearing the close of her set, unfortunately I had to go, but it was wicked to catch a glimpse of UK hard house after all this time. My first time to see her, she definitely served up what I expected and kept it banging and solid all the way through. Perfect.

Overall there was nothing mind-blowing about this night, nothing that really made it memorable, however the highlight was hearing old gems, bringing back memories of raving days, cyber wear in the UK, munted convos and all round damn good hard stomping! Thanks for the memories! I look forward to hearing classics like that out again.