Mark James @ The Bedroom, Gold Coast (20/01/08)
With Surfers Paradise swamped around lunchtime with Big Day Out commuters, I wondered how many would make it back to see Mark James at The Bedroom after midnight. Personally, I’d never caught him before so I slid down to the club for what turned out to be a journey back and forth through dance music history. House mixes abounded that broke the boundaries of what I thought was weird, but they all worked. Run to You by Bryan Adams if you can believe that, Smack My Bitch Up by The Prodigy, Gossip Folks by Missy Elliot, I Just Can’t Get Enough by DJ Antoine, Bring the Noise by Public Enemy remixed and a swag of other old favourites.
The standout track of the night was the sweetest remix of The Bomb by The Bucketheads which went into a mix of, believe it or not, a house remix of the original Land Downunder by Men at Work. Mark James brought his unique style to The Bedroom and everyone I talked to said it was a nice change from the electro doing the rounds at the moment. Another very old reworking Mark played was of the original When Will I Be Famous by Bros. Not many BDO people had enough mustard to keep going and they missed out on a massive set from Mark.
The Bedroom had a good Sunday night crowd and the club was at 70 per cent capacity when I left just after 3am. Not a bad crowd for a Sunday night in Surfers. Residents Joey Mojo and Gerry Morales funked the crowd with opening and closing sets which never disappoint punters.
