After starting out this series of events at the old Yeltza bar in Fitzroy, the On The Sauce crew continued their monthly series of events in the relaxing confines of The Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood. The concept: quality electronic music provided by rotating DJs and guest locals and internationals accompanied by a two-course meal (meat or vegetarian) cooked up by chef Travis Welch.

I arrived at about 8.30 and the place was already packed with punters enjoying a meal and drinks. The venue was a good size with a couple of bars, a large outdoor courtyard and dancefloor. As I kicked back an enjoyed a tasty dinner DJ Aaron Smiles was proving the sounds and he once again proved that he knows how to play to any audience, spinning a cruisy downtempo set that worked perfectly with the meal. Next up was Paul Abad who picked things up a bit and got some butts on the dancefloor with a set of deep rolling minimal beats. At around 11.30 expectation was building and most of the crowd could be found around the dancefloor as one half of the Strom Brothers from Antix (NZ) spun a DJ set. Antix are no strangers to Australia having toured almost every summer and never fail to disappoint with their atmospheric progressive sounds. This time whilst a progressive flavour remained the more recent minimal and techno influence crept in with tunes such as Gui Borratto’s Mr Decay. It’s interesting to see how much the progressive sound has developed over the last couple of years, with many artists previously aligned with the more psychedelic sounds now moving into minimal techno territory.

The crowd lapped up the sounds on offer and there were smiles all round from the DJ and punters alike. Personally I wanted a bit more drive and wouldn’t have minded a bit more oomph to the set. Nevertheless those in for the long haul got just that with a storming closing set from Gavin Martin. As he’s been doing for quite a few years now, Gavin managed to steal the show with a hard edged set of driving acid tinged techno, tweaking the minds of the remaining faithful and closing off the night in style.

Overall a top night with a very friendly mixed crowd and great relaxed staff. Its great to be able to go out and enjoy some quality tunes and food without being forced onto a sweaty dancefloor and having your hearing impaired. The flexibility of the night with the pace and volume picking up over time allows for anyone to get from the night what they want. Be it a low key Sunday night dinner or a big night on the floor that your after it looks like your well sorted by this monthly event. Bring on the next one I say.