Now, let me just preface this review with a totally honest introduction. There is always something bad about a party, because there are so many different areas of running and promoting a successful club night that could potentially be buggered up: the song choices, the sound, overzealous management, the bar staff acting like wankers, the crowd being full of ignorant troglodytes, or there not being a crowd at all. Or maybe just a slightly funky smell in the room from a drunken punters long lost half-eaten kebab under one of the couches.

That being said, prepare to be disgusted by the PLUR.

Arriving at opening time – 10pm on the dot – we ventured into the welcoming doors of the Burdekin Hotel. The bouncers were polite, the door girls were lovely, and the bowl of Minties as we walked in were just the right touch.

The reason for the early arrival time was due to eagerness to catch i-dub warming up the DnB room. I’d heard nothing but great things about i-dub, and was keen to see if he lived up to the hype. Even for such an early timeslot, there was still a relatively good crowd within the room, some sitting, some dancing. The mixing was pretty impressive, and the music itself was dark and melodic, or just lush really. As a relative newcomer to DnB, the beats were not as intimidating as I usually find them. This was entirely on purpose, as the aim of Drum[&]Breaks is to make these genres more accessible to general electronic music fans. Something which is long overdue for drum n’ bass particularly.

The breaks room on level 1 was not as fortunate in this early timeslot, as Dirty D was playing to an almost empty room. Did that stop him from playing the top notch dark, funky breaks he’s known for? Never. By around 11:30, the space to people ratio was looking a lot healthier. And from then on, it just got ridiculous. Both levels were filled with stacks of dancers and an awesome vibe every time each was ventured into.

For a bit of background, Drum[&]Breaks was the brainchild of James (JBY) and Ian (i-dub), two English lads with charming accents to boot. They felt that quality drum n’ bass and breaks nights were lacking in Sydney, as well as venues with proper sound quality. With the Burdekin as their chosen venue, they then bought in additional PA systems – not to make the sound louder, but to add clarity from the sub bass to the top end.

I’ve personally never seen the Burdekin so packed, so the boys have obviously tapped into a niche market. Either that, or the Minties on arrival were laced with crack. Which may also explain the sighting of a past Big Brother contestant amongst the punters. And the dude lively dancing around with no shoes.

It was nearing the end of our night, so it was decided to head to the breaks room to see JBY finish things off. One of the first tracks upon entering the room was a remix of The Prodigy’s Firestarter (or it very well could have been the original). It was at this point that I fully realised how much the extra PA systems came into play – my loins were quivering from the massive bass lines. Word on the street was that JBY is a big fan of Marine Parade, so naturally I’d worn two pairs of pants in case any accidents occurred. When he dropped the Adam Freeland remix of The Doors Hello I Love You, everyone (including me) went mental, screaming HELLO at the top of their lungs. Who knew breaks and DnB fans could still be so polite whilst in the throes of a really awesome song? I little while later, the breaks remix of Faithless’ Insomnia was played, which I personally felt was a tad unnecessary. The dance floor was practically overflowing, so there was no need for a gimmicky, ‘dance floor filler’ track.

Eventually goodbyes were said and the rain outside was braved. The crowd through the door apparently reached over 500 during the course of the night, and the party didn’t finish up until around 5:30am. For only their second party this was a massive achievement, considering how difficult it seems to start up and run a successful club night in the unforgiving Sydney music scene. Bring on the next one!