Sweetchilli has had many faces over its eight year history. From super-secret underground fave tucked oh-so-deliciously away at the Dendy in Martin Place to its partnership in crime with mega-club night Famous at Home on Saturdays, we’ve certainly seen many different iterations of the brand. Friday saw the launch of Sweetchilli’s latest venture which plans to build upon the success of their presence at Famous by also running a weekly event. Drawing on Sydney’s most dependable performers for the launch, the night promised sets from Robbie Lowe, Daniel Crocetti, Carlos Zarate and special guest Mark Murphy.

We arrived just in time to hear the end of Daniel Crocetti’s set, a finely tuned assortment of deep offerings finishing on what my companion and I thought sounded like Deadmau5’s _Not Exactly_… Although the DJ in question later confessed that he couldn’t be sure if this was the particular tune, so caught up in the excitement of the new night was he.

And it appeared he wasn’t alone: the club was seriously packed full of revellers wanting to catch a headstart on the long weekend by treating themselves to a rich selection of quality music. Make no mistake: like a fine whiskey, Sweetchilli has aged magnificently and the tunes on offer are strictly for adult connoisseurs, drawing sighs of relief from my companions who’ve grown weary of chasing the latest vapid trends.

Carlos Zarate was next up to the plate and quickly made full use of the Civic Theatre’s sound system, arguably one of the best on offer across Sydney venues large and small, teasing the crowd by mixing up subtle notes of deep house funk blended with more pulsating minimal constructions. If I have a criticism, it’s that that at times the hypnotic to groove ratio was skewed a little towards the former, and with a crowd so psyched up for the endless weekend ahead (as exemplified by their reaction to tunes of a more booty-shakin’ variety), some of the deeper stuff could perhaps have been shelved for a later date. But by later in the night, Zarate understood that there were people there who were yearning for something with a more anthemic vibe and he upped the ante with a series of more vocally and melodically inclined tracks, all tinged with the unmistakeable smoothness of Zarate’s deck control.

In future weeks, we will apparently be treated to a rave-themed night (does the entry fee come with free glow sticks, I wonder?), no doubt following on from the huge success of May’s prog retrospective. If this kind of thinking is anything to go by, and the enthusiastic turnout of Sydney’s Chilli-heads continues, then the boys are surely onto another winner.