Friday 9th November bought about the second installment of Clarity following the successful opening party. Joining the young residents Dave Juric, Inge Marsetio, Phil Moore, Mark Stewart and Xitation were stalwarts in the Melbourne electronic scene Rollin Connection and Jamie Stevens of Infusion fame.

Bunker Lounge for the unaware isn’t the prettiest venue, but its layout allows the DJ to interact immediately with the crowd and has plenty of space to rest weary heads further down the back. The beauty of this space lies not at all in its finish but rather its intimacy: everything the DJ does seems to effect you whether on the dance floor, on the couches or at the bar.

Arriving early in the night to hear Inge Marsetio grooving along the tech-ier side of minimal was a good sign of things to come. I’m a sucker for a good snare and kick and she delivered in spades before finishing with the spacier sounds of Minologue – Space. This larger sound led well into Phil Moore’s set which strayed to the more progressive side peaking with Pier Bucci – Hay Consuelo before veering into a stronger side of European techno.

By the time Dave Juric stepped up to the decks the crowd was sizeable and the small dance floor was starting to get its first work-out; so too was the temperamental sound system. Dave with a bit of a crowd is a dangerous and all together fun prospect, and his infectious minimal-techno tracks were very well received, Marco Carola’s 4-beat mix of Ambivalent – R U OK had its second play of the night and sure enough got people moving (must be something about a deep voice and talk of drugs).

Jamie Stevens stepped onto the decks around midnight and by this stage there was a heady air of excitement. The intimacy of the space ensured that Jamie bouncing along behind the console translated to the dancing crowd who seemed to raise and shake with every breakdown. Jamie worked three CDJs consistently through the night, showing skills learnt playing live machines can easily be translated into DJ prowess. The first part of his set was a harder-edged techno than what had been played earlier but never really took itself too seriously and before long had progressed into a more melodic sound. This first 45 minutes was probably when he was at his best, coping well with intermittent sound problems, and really working everyone into a bit of a stupor. The latter part of the set bought a deeper sound that really captured the mood of the club at the time, the early hours of the morning and deep baselines seem to be a match made consistently in Melbourne.

This dark side of the minimal moon is where Rollin Connection tend to find themselves pretty often, and it wasn’t long before Jamie’s sound had been shifted into a rolling, deep, pulsating baseline. This is serious music, probably best suited to a larger club and definitely a better sound system. The beauty and intricacies that tend to develop through a Rollin set were hard to pick up in the early stages of their set, but it was almost a relief to hear some subtlety in the music after what had been a solid few hours of techno influence.

By this stage my night had run its course: not catching the end of Rollin Connection or indeed Mark Stewart or Xitation was a shame, but I was tired with a big weekend ahead.

Undoubtedly the second installment of Clarity will be deemed a success. There was good turnout of probably close to 100 through the door, and the music really was top-notch through out. The major gripe of the evening was the sound system. After being turned up to a suitable level it started to lose its bottom end sporadically, and at times the sound was quite muddy. The great attitude of the crowd ensured a fun night however, and the next installment will no doubt be as fun.