Friday night at The Met featuring Tom Novy was billed as a “*Decadent*” night, so therefore anticipated a spectacle somewhat previously unseen in Brisbane from this international name. The hurried efforts of me and my loyal faction to arrive early was unnecessary, as when we got to the entrance – in spite of there being no-one at either line – we still endured a wait for entry.
Once inside we tottered through Bamboo to find the club slowly waking up. Echoing through the main room were tracks in the theme of the night. In the shadow of the ever reliable visuals was rookie Met resident Andee Priddle . This was my first encounter with Priddle, so I scurried upstairs to get a bird’s eye view of him doing his thing. To my amazement, Priddle was mixing with vinyl. I’m not sure if this was because the required tracks had not yet made to his CD collection, or he genuinely preferred to mix it up ‘old school’, but it was impressive nonetheless! His set was a perfect foreword to the main event, spinning timeless tunes from the likes of Groove Armada and Daft Punk, filling the floor with a solid crowd. He even managed to convince one of my friends to hit the dancefloor in her eight-hour old boots – a decision her feet soon regretted, but not her ears.
Attention was focused on the main floor where the crowd created space to watch a sailor ascend, twirling acrobatically in long cloth. This coincided with dancers clad as dominatrix and in police uniforms negotiating the club; a nice touch which certainly make for a interesting clubbing experience. As the sailor approached the end of his routine, a male voice thundered through the speakers seeking the attention of the crowd; and sure enough we were quickly shifting focus to Novy who had appeared on stage. Despite the quiet entrance, Novy quickly got tracks booming and reminded people of his pedigree by playing the chorus of ‘Your Body’ over the top of the first few numbers.
The floor was modestly filled with fans reacting positively to his efforts, and in Carl Cox style he tended to use the mic to amp everyone up at intervals. The first hour of his set had the crowd grow slightly, with more people eagerly jiving to the beat. It was clear that Novy, in particular, was ignoring the theme, insistent on playing his selected set. It was a brave move given the expectations of the audience, yet I was keen to hear what new tracks he had coming out of Germany. As the set progressed it seemed to, well… not progress at all.
He continued to play a pretty stagnant form of (electro) house, where he mixed filler after filler. It made it difficult to tell if he had put a new track on. The crowd became unexcited and jaded with the lack of direction towards the end, and by his set’s finish Novy only had the front floor sprinkled with people. His scheduled finish time came and went, and I was anticipating a big finish for both our sakes. But, it just seemed to go on, as if Novy was simply experimenting with tracks in his own lounge room.
With such an exciting concept and featuring such a dependable international name, it was disappointing that the theme of the night wasn’t carried through. It meant Novy started on the back foot, and it was a position he unfortunately struggled to improve on.
