Working our way towards the infamous Kings Cross where it’s become an unwritten rule that the festivities begin only after at the stroke midnight, it was no surprise to see the infamous Bayswater Road a buzzing hive of activity. Males, females and often combinations of the two spilling out onto the street as if there was no club big enough to hold the massive crowd. And there we found the focal point of this hysteria the weekly event aptly named Wham!.
Situated across the road from Hugos and next door to Candys Apartment and Le Panic, the World Bar has earned itself a reputation as solid as the aforementioned venues, the venue originally being known as a favourite for backpackers, attracting those from all corners of the Earth. Since those early days it ’s grown into an institution for locals and backpackers alike, with hundreds of people raising the infamous alcoholic teapots to the heavens while grooving along to the variety of music (electronic or otherwise) on offer from some of Sydney’s best.
Guarding the gateway to the night to be was Ken and Vanessa, doing a fantastic job of ensuring all those looking on in envy would indeed have their turn, and doing their absolute best to ensure the line was moving at a considerable pace. Upon entry, it became clear that Wham! was set up to cater to all types of people and music alike. Teapots in hand, we into the back room of the bar, or ‘club’ area if you will. Our eardrums bouncing to the banging deep house blasting out of the crisp sound system, I was almost surprised to find that the artist behind the decks was none other than Brendan Fing of Bang Gang crew fame. Having only heard him a long, long time ago, back when electro mashup was the flavour of the month, it was great to see that DJs these days can progress with the times and change their style to suit the preference of the occassion. Although a lover of electro and deep house alike, I’ll readily admit it takes a higher level of technical mastery to play deep house, and to play it well; and Brendan Fing was playing it to a tee.
On the Terrace, Daigo was taking the path of a more commercial set, filled with recognisable tracks, serving those who were moreso enjoying their alcoholic teapots as opposed to tearing up the fabric of a dancefloor. We then decided to make our way upstairs to hear what Husky and Iilya had to offer. And offer it did. What filled our ears for the next hour or so was a genre rarely heard around Sydney, but one that should be promoted far and wide as it’s the perfect blend of bass and melody that creates a musical environment like no other. Chicago-style funky and jackin’ house, reminiscent of the likes of Derrick Carter in his prime, has always been a favourite of the dancefloor enthusiast, and before this night, I hadn’t had the pleasure of hearing such beats on a proper sound system since the party season of 2005/06. The brilliant track selection included funky samples from the old school hip hop era of Spoonie Gee and other disco/funk tracks, combined with their technical wizardry meant the only reason people had to stop dancing was to make their way to the bar or bathroom; and only then momentarily. It was soon clear that the pair behind the decks knew exactly what they were doing.
Back down to the Terrace level, perhaps the highlight of the night occurred. A hip hop medley for the ages had the dancefloor erupting in sing along vocals and screams, with samples from Notorious BIG’s Juicy, Snoop’s Drop It Like It’s Hot, Fugees Ooh La La La, Blackstreet’s No Diggity, Snow’s Informer and 2pac’s California Love, all expertly mixed and deviated with the use of equalisers (so so so rare in hip hop these days) by Adam Bozzetto who proved to be a very unexpected but thoroughly enjoyable part of the night. We finished our night in the back club area of the nightspot, with James Taylor thrashing out a hard hitting mix of deep house and tech, with MC Losty at times jumping on the mic with some quality vocals.
Overall, it was extremely clear that each and every room was vastly different in its own right, but each as enjoyable as the other, telling the Saturday night crowd that there is something here for absolutely everyone, from commercial music lovers to music enthusiasts alike – World Bar have recruited both in spades. Although Wham!’s mantra may be “Mild mannered frivolity that you probably won’t remember!”, no number of teapots could make me forget the great night I’d just had.
BrendenFing says...
Um - i am not from Bang Gang - Sorry to ruin the party. Neither was i playing deep house. But whatever i was playing i did it well i guess. Thanks for the big ups homie! ha ha. I guess the teapots were in full effect at that stage!
sammyk says...
You're not? Sorry mate, honest misconception. Well then whatever you were playing went down well, I thought deep house, maybe you thought tech? The lines get blurred sometimes...
BrendenFing says...
ha ha yeah, was playing some tech stuff, and some bigger house music. Thank you for your compliments either way.!
kidMC says...
hehe bang gang brenden
dleklas says...
z0mg worst review... what a battler!