Sweetchilli feat. Anthony Pappa @ Civic Underground, Sydney (06/06/08)
Anthony Pappa is one of those DJs who slipped under my radar when I was clubbing on a regular basis, and only really came to my attention once I’d… well, for want of a better expression… once I’d grown up! It seems that over the past five years, Anthony has visited Sydney on a number of occasions and thanks to Proton’s fine internet radio, I know he’s delivered some of the highest quality sets you’ll ever be likely to hear. But on every occasion, I sadly managed to miss him. After a two-year hiatus from going to a club, I decided, with the blessing of my wonderful wife, that this long weekend I would make a fleeting return to Sydney’s live progressive scene. So at 8.30pm on Friday night, I pushed a newly purchased copy of the Moments release into my car’s CD player and headed into town to meet up with friends for an evening’s entertainment – Sweetchilli style!
The Civic is a venue that I’ve been to only once before, and it has impressed me no end. It’s intimate without being too cramped, the sound system is highly effective and the layout provides quite a few spots to rest those tired legs if the need arises. Plus of course it was Sweetchilli, so the crowd was always going to be friendly and (almost) on their best behaviour! I met up with some friends and headed down to the underground theatre room at the Civic around 10.30pm. The room was near empty, but there were a few people milling around outside, so we headed in to look for a spot to sit down. Daniel Crocetti was behind the mixer (well I can hardly call them decks these days can I?) and was playing some excellent minimal/tech progressive. Being a warm up DJ to a major artist is a difficult balancing act. You have to be able to engage your audience without playing completely over the top of the main act, and Daniel pulled this off with aplomb. His ability in this regard is as good as any of the progressive DJs in Sydney, with the possible exception of warmup guru Robbie Lowe. Every time I see Daniel play, I am more and more impressed by his taste in music and his ability to create the perfect warm up sets.
1am rolled around and the crowd had built up nicely, including some friendly faces that I recognised from ITM and Sweetchilli events of old. The venue wasn’t so packed you couldn’t move, but it was still busy and there was a great atmosphere and a real sense of anticipation as Anthony installed himself behind the mixer. I suppose this might be a good point in the story to talk a bit about the sort of sound Anthony is playing these days. His set that I mentioned from late 2006 is among the best I have heard in the past few years, but I was a little underwhelmed by the Moments CD as I listened to it on my way to the gig. Maybe it was my car stereo, but it sounded flat and rather too minimal for my tastes, so I was a little apprehensive about the music Anthony was actually going to play on the night. Well, I needn’t have worried!
Anthony spent the first hour of his set playing some excellent minimal/tech progressive sounds with grinding bass lines and dark rhythms, while slowly building the intensity. After the hour mark he unleashed some amazing deep progressive house sounds, complete with dark chugging bass lines complimented perfectly by tech infused melody. This was some of the most richly deep and danceable music I had heard in some time, and I was in my absolute element! And it wasn’t just me who appeared to be enjoying the music, either. Most of the assembled crowd was on the dancefloor and there appeared to be a high percentage of smiling faces as well, which is always a good sign!
By three thirty Anthony had really built up a head of steam, and I was having an absolute ball listening to his style. Then suddenly, he dropped right out of the atmospheric stream he had created and went back into a minimal phase, which really knocked me out of my stride. I waited and waited for Anthony to get back into the brilliant groove he had previously locked me into. It seemed to take an eternity for him to do this, but when he finally got back on track he virtually launched me into the stratosphere! For the next hour or so, Anthony played some of the most involving sounds I have heard for some time. Maybe it was the sound system at the venue, or maybe it was the moment – but I was having a really great time.
Eventually my friends decided to call it a night and my old legs were really beginning to see the logic in going home, so I decided it was time to wave goodbye to Sweetchilli and head out into the morning which was just over the horizon. And it seems my legs are not the only weary things in the ‘progiverse’ as Daniel and Crispin have decided that after nine years of Sweetchilli and around as many months trying their hand at a weekly event, the time has come to take a break from promoting parties. They’re planning on taking in some well deserved rest and relaxation, and will take stock of the Sweetchilli situation into the future. Regular weekly or fortnightly parties are definitely off the agenda, but they promise that irregular monthly events will most definitely be making an appearance in the future.
It seems that Anthony Pappa’s set at the Civic marked the end of an era, and I am glad I was there to witness it. It was a special end to a very special series of events. Fingers crossed that Sweetchilli lives on to write another chapter in the history of Sydney’s progressive and underground house scene.
