The Likes of You pres. SOS 'Balance 013' Launch @ Colonial Hotel, Melbourne (12/04/08)

There are gigs you go to, and then there are aural experiences that leave you tingling long after the last beat is played. The SOS live experience is definitely of the latter. The “occasional dance music super group” – made up of Alternative Route’s Desyn Masiello, Sex on Wax’s Omid 16 B and Deeper Substance’s Demi – was always going to have high expectations to live up to. Individually these DJs are at the top of their game, and one had to wonder if combining forces might dilute what is normally a very refined sound.

Of course, this hypothesising is a moot point for anybody who has heard their BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix, which has been doing the rounds, and the recently released ‘Balance 013’ compilation. It has left fans of progressive absolutely breathless. The CD was the reason they were in town, and after a few listens it’s safe to say I ventured to this gig with high expectations. I got there to see Melbourne’s own Virgina Le spinning a progressive-laced sound to a small gathering crowd. Virginia has been the consummate professional at every gig I’ve seen her play, and she didn’t disappoint tonight. She bounced with enthusiasm and was clearly enjoying what she was doing behind the massive setup.

After a last minute shake-up of the set times, Gavin Keitel took to the platform and built on the good work already done by Virginia. He played a solid set and held his composure given the impatience of the burgeoning crowd – it was getting very shove-shove just before 1.30am! Something should be said about the setup; it’s not every day you see five CDJs, a laptop, three mixers, two MIDI controllers, a drum machine and God-knows-what-else, all together for the same show. When SOS finally arrived just after 1.30am it was hardly a graceful entrance. Cords were flung everywhere, cables shoved into plugs, and equipment was positioned. It was far from pretty, but none of that mattered after their opening beat.

I wasn’t sure what to expect, and had no idea how they would go about ‘what they do’. But, each member seemed to have his own mandate for the evening. Desyn took the role of taskmaster; cueing up tracks, overseeing what was next and ensuring the music was constantly flowing. Demi was the ever-reliable stalwart, manning one, two or three mixers as needed, and doing it all with a smile on his face. The last of the trio was a showman above all else; Omid 16 B was a man possessed. If there was a breakdown, he was the one behind the buildup. If there was noise, he was the man doing the thrashing. And when there were drums… There was literally DRUMS. Omid cut loose on that machine, thrashing it and building up the crowd’s complete and utter delight.

The synchronisation between the trio was outstanding. These guys weren’t robots, they were constantly coaching each other through, nodding, grinning and tweaking each other’s mixers as needed. They also interacted with the crowd, accepting praise between beats and genuinely looking like they wanted to be there. It was a refreshing change from some internationals and their holier-than-thou attitude. The music itself was a real treat, melding melodic interludes and percussive progressive beats. It was a lot less houseey compared to their Essential Mix, and to a lesser extent the ‘Balance 013’ CD. But, the crowd seemed to relish the relentlessness of it all. Many a time a knowing smile was exchanged simply acknowledging the brilliance of what we were experiencing.

The stand out for me was hearing one of the monsters from the Balance release, the SOS edit of *The Cure’s * Lullabye , in all it’s broken down glory. I didn’t recognise any other tracks until the close, which saw one Desyn’s signatures given a run; Bastian’s Game Over. But, the nature of the music was such that hearing what you recognised was secondary to the enjoyment of hearing fresh and exciting new music. After an epic four hours, with most of the crowd still there, SOS finished to rapturous applause at around 5.30am. Full credit must go to Rollin Connection who managed to reinvigorate a dancefloor that was ready to finish with techy and chugging prog.

What a night it was. Thanks to the Likes of You for helping bring out these talented internationals, it’s parties like this that remind you of what it’s really like to be a dance music lover.