Darkbeat & Beck's Fusion pres. Tiefschwarz & Ben Watt @ Dark Alley, Melbourne (01/03/08)
It was an unseasonably cold and windy February evening, but unsurprisingly this didn’t seem to affect the eagerness of Melbourne’s electronic music enthusiasts. Saturday night saw two of the most prominent and well-respected names in dance music, the UK’s Ben Watt and Germany’s Tiefschwarz take to the stage. With such quality artists on the bill, a healthy turnout was always going to be inevitable.
I arrived at Brown Alley just after midnight, and after a seamless and quick entry I made my way down the spiral staircase to the sounds of Melbourne local boy Mike Callander . Well respected within the scene, he had well and truly incited energy from the crowd with his deep selection of tech-house, with a familiar track being Spirit Catcher’s Sweet Deal . And as the first international stepped up to the decks, the club was thriving; the keen crowd cheered and photographed Ben Watt as he took to the decks. The selection for the night was fresh deep house, one track that caught my attention was a remix of an old rave favourite I Need Your Loving (Like the Sunshine). But it was probably Tracey in My Room , featuring vocals from his partner Tracey Thorn that really caught the attention and accolade from the crowd.
Up next was Ali, one half of Berlin DJ/producer duo Tiefschwarz. Any disappointment fuelled by missing member Basti was diminished, with Ali proving that he didn’t need his brother and musical partner by his side to deliver and overtly impress the Melbourne crowd. The German name translating to ‘deep black’ in English appropriately suites the description of the music served at Brown Alley. The track selection for the evening was spot on and consisted of dark, grimy, edgy minimalist tech. The sounds took me back to some of my clubbing experiences in Europe, and it was a great treat to hear such quality tunes in Melbourne. The progression of the music was always edgy with a slight groovy punch to it ensuring that no one in the crowd could possibly stand still – the crowd was by his side throughout the set.
Unfortunately, tiredness got the better of me and I left straight after Tiefschwarz’s set meaning that I missed out on witnessing any of Phil K’s performance – but I’ve heard from friends that he also absolutely killed it and delivered quality on the night. overall, the venue really complimented the darkness of the music. The original brickwork and the slight bunker feeling of Brown Alley added to the dark and edgy feel, the general production for the night was top-notch and the crowd was well behaved and up for a great time.
Overall, the vibe during the night was positive and energetic much kudos to the Darkbeat crew for bringing two highly regarded artists to our shores. Hopefully there will be many more parties like this to come!
DANCINGDI says...
Add to that fantastic lighting videos etc.! It's not something I normally pay much attention to, but it was so good I couldn't help but register it . Really well produced show!! Good one guys!!
Miss Mish says...
Amazing Lighting - seriously some of the best I've seen...made for a real treat:-) Found Watt a bit "slow and low" for my personal taste and just felt he wasn't as "in tune" with the vibe of the room or the crowd as I've seen other performers be, consequently most of the people I was with and others we kept meeting (often outside) felt the same way - but hey it's about variety and others seemed to enjoy it enough. Tiefschwarz (ALI) was excellent...really built the set and the crowd like a true professional..the room responded appropriately and personally this saved the night for me. Yes Well done Dark Beat for gettting the guys over:-) Cheers
adw55 says...
It was one of the best venue set ups I've ever seen Brown Alley done up in. Pitch dark, fantastic lights and sound. My god, I nearly cried when Watt dropped Tracey In My Room...