With the Sydney scene becoming increasingly stale this reporter finds himself digging deeper and deeper to the underground. Enter Lost Baggage, I’ve noticed this night running for a few months now, which is an eternity in club land, so I thought they must be doing something right. The chance to see phenomenal German producer Lützenkirchen (yes that is his real name) in an intimate venue sealed the deal. I hadn’t been to The Cross since I saw Ben Watt there some time ago, but I noticed the venue along with the Bunker downstairs had found its niche in promoting parties that had a rather spicy techno flavour.

I ventured into The Cross just after 12, with gorgeous Virginia Le playing to a near packed venue already. As captivated as I was by her looks, her music was what really got me. The best word to describe the set would be driving, although it didn’t really progress at all, it was generally the same slamming beat for the duration. This, it turns out, was perfect considering what was about to follow. The crowd was a bit older and there was a nice ratio of guys to girls, which was actually a bit suprising. I have been to some techno nights in the past that have been an absolute sausage fest, which isn’t very enjoyable. An equal ratio definitely creates a better atmosphere.

I ventured into the side room where Defined by Rhythm was playing some more loopy, slightly minimal, style techno, and the crowd was loving it. I couldn’t help but feel like it was missing something, though, as there wasn’t the same atmosphere so I made my way back to the main room. I walked past scuba divers, pirates and sea monkeys in the crowd, which I found rather odd, until my friend informed that each night there is a theme and for those willing to sacrifice their dignity and dress up (they save the entry fee), which I thought was pretty humorous. All in good fun I suppose.

We chilled outside where disco was the flavour on the terrace, and it was nice to get away from it all for a bit and have a chat. The mixing left a lot to be desired at times, in fact it was woeful, although the actual tunes were not so bad. I still hadn’t got my techno fix, so back into the fray we went where Virginia Le continued to smash it out. Right on 2am the man stepped up to the decks, looking ever so focused. The set continued right from where Virginia Le had left it; absolutely banging! His fingers were busy at work, twiddling knobs and flicking dials to create a sound that truly was unreal. His eyes pierced the crowd every so often, making a quick analysis, before returning to focus on his craft.

The set comprised heavily of techno, but also a bit of electro-tech crept in at times. No surprise as I’d heard he is renowned for some big electro productions over the last year or so. His set was comprised entirely of his own works, which is not a bad effort for 2 hours. The man is an absolute machine when it comes to producing, churning out a couple of tracks every week for the last year and a half. From all reports, they are of a pretty high quality too. The crowd numbers start to filter out a little bit around 3.15am, so I ventured back into the side room which was now impossible to move in. Murat had the place in an absolute frenzy! After a short but enjoyable time I went to see the final piece of Lützenkirchens set.

At 4am the man had finished a terrific set, and I noticed the numbers had thinned out a little bit more, but it’s their loss. I walked out of the venue shortly after feeling very satisfied with my Lost Baggage experience. This satisfaction quickly turned to disappointment, as I had to navigate torrential rain on my trip home. But, they can hardly be held responsible for that!