After a relatively short hiatus, the Brisbane In the Mix social institution that is the Sunday Roast came back with a vengeance sporting both a new venue and incredibly talented international DJ. Cap that with a dose of sunshine, a gentle breeze, an open veranda, obligatory cheap drinks . . . . I think the wise can see where this is going.

For those as unfamiliar with the Sunday Roast as I was prior to my first; it was quite clearly conceived as an opportunity for the disparate elements of the Brisbane dance scene to meet, find a good chat or three and cap off their respective weekends with a proper dosage of quality tunes. It previously had it’s home at Birdee Num Num which a good proportion of Roast regulars seem to have grown quite fond of for it’s expansiveness which is of course conducive to the time honored fashion of getting a good group discussion going. Any expectation that the Empire’s Middle Bar would be a lesser venue were quickly quashed.

Housed in the cocktail bar at it’s far end was a pair of whopping RCF speakers coupled with suitably silly sub-bass cabinets and a trestle table with little more than a mixer, two turntables and two CDJs. The space of the cocktail bar matched the effective simplicity of the makeshift DJ booth; it’s usual expanse of couches cleared for a dance floor ably ventilated by every door and window lining the veranda being opened. This helped effect of feeling at a friends house party rather than a club event; a friend who conveniently enough keeps a well stocked bar, an ear bludgeoning sound system and lets you in for free whilst practically drip feeding you vodka red bulls at little impact to your weekend wearied wallet.

That would mean absolutely nothing without some class A entertainment however, and true to form the promoter delivered. Speaking of which though I only caught the peaking end his set, Sunday Roast promoter Ian Nearhos also spins a good progressive house tune or two which given the early hour he did to a room enamored more with getting to the bottom of a glass and having a good old chat. A mostly expected and predictable situation that showed no signs of effecting his apparent predilection for a good banging track which certainly appealed to a couple of punters not put off by a sparse dance floor.

Quietly mixing on from Ian was Fergus Alexander who over the course of a few tracks brought the vibe to deeper territories before bringing it all straight back up to a fiery crescendo. The man knows how to build a floor and the stream of friends coming to give a big gushing pat on the back certainly confirmed it. Fergus flawlessly traversed a track list containing underground tech house bombs such as the Gui Boratto remix of the amazing Baboul Hair Cuttin by Agoria and the similarly fantastic Mr. Decay again by Gui but this time remixed by recent Brisbane visitor Robert Babicz. A personal favourite had to be a play of David K’s Karadise, a incredibly sexy deep house cut. A brilliantly programmed set and definitely one of the best seen from Fergus Alexander.

Not to be outshone, the indomitable Lee Burridge manned the decks to justified and intense yells. Given I’d only heard his 24:7 compilation for Global Underground and not a shred of his club performances I went in with no preconceived notion of what to expect. What I got was a whole lot more than my time worth, as Burridge is without a shadow of doubt the most charismatic, affable and professional DJ I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. Being a DJ on a scene typically populated by a large proportion of serious po faced blokes; it was a refreshing change to meet one happy to play it up behind the decks for a happy snap who doesn’t guard the knowledge of his record bag like a wounded two thousand year old dragon with chronic arthritis.

To boot Burridge has a precise yet dirty mixing style which combines the typical eons long segues favoured by most progressive DJs with the percussive volume stabs and swells of a techno DJ. His programming matched his mixing. The set started deep and minimal yet ebbed and flowed into much more banging regions of house and techno. A couple of big standout tunes were Ribcage by Dubfire, Below by Reboot, an unreleased Nic Faniculli track dropped in the last hour and the head cracking Model 8 by Lemon 8. Burridge capped off his set quite surprisingly with the Armand Van Helden remix of Tori Amo’s Professional Widow. A night most definitely well spent!

Alas the night ends here for my review if you want to know why then read up on Deadmau5 at Kink the previous night (mischief afoot). ‘Till next time, au revoir!