The renovations of Academy and the introduction of the Friction crew’s Back Alley Disco (known otherwise as B.A.D.) have dramatically changed the venue on Friday nights. Friction have been responsible for bringing many special acts to Canberra, and the changes to its preferred venue have caused a bit of a stir amongst the dance music community.
But before I talk about the launch of B.A.D., I’ll tell you a bit about my impressions of the renovated Academy, which I’d also got a chance to check out on Thursday night. The Candybar was strikingly different. It’s easier to have a conversation and relax, as it is more open and has more seating. There is a velvet red curtain covering the glass that looks over the main room, which separates the Candybar further as a different venue from the main room. To the left of the entrance to the Candy Bar there is a DJ booth that provides lots of potential for good times in the smaller part of the venue. However, the Candybar was hosting a Academy members party on Friday and was not part of the B.A.D. experience.
The most impressive changes in the main room were giant mirror balls and the led light panels hanging from two sides of the ceiling. The giant mirror balls are a bit of a love hate thing, but they are certainly awesome when the laser is shot towards them and bounces off in many directions. On the Thursday night previous (but not on the Friday launch) they had two bright lights shining on the mirror balls, which made the mainroom a little too bright. As far as music goes, I was greeted to the refreshed Academy on Thursdays by the not-so-adventurous tunes such as Love Don’t Let Me Go, It’s Too late, Hey Boy Hey Girl and Smack My Bitch Up. Sure, Thursdays have been about entertaining the masses, but I would have hoped that in the month while Academy was closed the DJ that was playing could have thought about taking the dancefloor beyond 2006 and the current charts on the opening night. Although in all fairness, the club was packed and most people seemed to be having a good time even though they were paying full-priced drinks on a Thursday.
But when I was heading to the launch of B.A.D. on Friday night, I had much higher expectations for the adventurousness of the music policy and did not know what to expect for the setup. The first thing I noticed when entering B.A.D. was that there was no line out the front in front of the flickering sign. This was a surprising contrast to the massive line the light before. Inside the décor had been enhanced by banners hanging from the roof and fluro signs. I spoke to several punters who thought the signs were a bit tacky and unnecessary, but feelings about the banners were mixed. They’ve got a lot of potential to add a vibe to the evening, especially if they change them to suit particular nights and trends.
The DJ booth was located on a stage to the right of the lower dance floor. A huge LED fairy-light curtain blocked off the main stage and the theater screen, which is usually used to display the visuals of VJ Jim. These two changes were the highlights of the setup. The curtain gave the venue a much more intimate vibe, and the location of the booth made the DJ more accessible for punters. If you want to get a further feel for the setup, check out the photos by Klips in the inthemix gallery.
The music at B.A.D was an improvement on what I heard on the Thursday, but it was nothing too amazing. The club had hundreds less people in it than the night before. Sean Kelly and Jeff Drake played solid opening sets as always. I had not heard Steve Lind before, and I thought his set was even more impressive than the headliner. He played a hot combination of electro house and pop with tracks such as Roman Pushkin’s Fat Bottom Girls, Chemical Brothers – Hey Boy Hey Girl, Federico Franchi – Cream, Justice’s We Are your Friends, Kanye West’s Stronger, Daft Punk – One More Time, Riot in Belgium – La Musique and Dave Spoon’s remix of Dizzee Rascal – Flex. He also dropped a mix of Enur’s – Calabria which seems to have re-surged on the airwaves and in clubs recently; it features the horns used in Destination Calabria and vocals from the Danish reggae star Natasja who tragically died in a car accident last year. His tracks weren’t cutting edge, but they were perfect to get the crowd warmed up. His mixing was tight and he showed a lot of enthusiasm which flowed onto the dance floor.
International guest Sinden seemed to be unenthusiastic and lacking energy behind the booth, which contrasted with Steve Lind’s high-energy track selection and enthusiasm. Tracks that Sinden played early on include Herve – Cheap Thrills and his very own Beeper (which he played twice in the set). His own mix of Sesa – Like This Like That brought a lot of energy of the floor and was followed by some more adventurous tunes that I had not heard before. About halfway through the set the crowd was dwindling and he played Dave Spoon’s remix of Flex, and that remix of Enur ft. Natasja – Calabria that was played in the set preceding him. A low point in the set was a mix of Reel 2 Real – I Like To Move which sounded too similar to the over-commercialised ring tone Crazy Frog – I Like To Move It. The cheddar train of tunes changed tracks as favorites such as Aerodynamic, Smack My Bitch Up and Jump Around were played.
I left early into Aston Shuffle’s set so I can’t really comment on it. I’m sure it was excellent, but I would really like to see one of the Shuffle boys do a set other than close so those of us who work on Saturdays can appreciate it a bit more. Overall the music on Friday was not as adventurous as I had expected it would be, however the night was still a lot of fun. Sinden’s set was far from flawless and not very innovative, and would not have impressed some music connoisseurs. However his tunes were high energy, fun and great party music.
All the supporting DJs played solid sets and showed more enthusiasm for their performance than the international guest. Most punters would have really enjoyed the show; it’s a pity that not enough of them came out to check it out. I’d highly recommend taking a look at the new setup and fun times at B.A.D. at Academy on Friday nights. Hook N Sling, Potbelleez and Muscles will be coming up soon.
