I have to be honest and say I hadn’t been back to the Civic Underground since Progression Project ended its stint earlier this year, so needless to say I was keen to check out the club’s first international guest for its brand new regular night Civic Saturdays. If the quality of last weekend’s choice was anything to go by, it appears the promoters are working around the clock to nail down first-class talent at the moment.

Needless to say then, that the biggest pull of the night was going to be Dutchman René Amesz, especially considering that it was coming on the back of him having to cancel his plans to tour Australia last March. Not only that, the guy’s ridiculously busy right now, currently running the international gauntlet of some of the world’s hottest clubs to promote Little Mountain Rocks vol. 1, the compilation he’s just produced for fellow Dutchman Sander Kleinenberg’s label Little Mountain Recordings. It’s a first for both the label and Amesz himself. Despite knowing how busy the guy is right now, it was slightly disappointing to see he was only up for a two-hour set on Saturday night but, whatever, you take what you can get! He certainly packed in as much fun as the crowd could muster between 1am and 3am.

Up until then, clubbers were mingling in booths and quiet corners, with two or three keen and eagers on the dance floor showing their appreciation for the Sweetchilli DJs Crispin and Carlos. The sweet sounds pulsing from the Allen & Heath V6 and Ramsa SX1 get right into you, and the smooth vibrations and choice cuts being served up were nothing less than an irresistible seduction for the eager punters.

Amesz began teasing the crowd from the word ‘go’. The moment he took to the decks he worked with the crowd, taking our cue and soaking up the excitable atmosphere through cheeky grins and careful track selection. He’s got impeccable timing, introducing each new track with meticulous mixing, then working the sexy beats, weaving them through the corners of the club, building the tension on the dancefloor, making the crowd move and want more. Slowing it down, holding it and then re-dropping the beat to a relieved, re-energised room once more. It’s impeccable, and the crowd can’t get enough of it – a combination of old faves tracks from Amesz coupled with a few new ones that feature on the compilation (including Ploert and Totally Romantic) together with old-school niceness, including that old club classic Hideaway from De’Lacy.

He worked up such a good rapport with the crowd that the change in acts was instantly noticeable at the end of his set, with a fellow clubber turning to me on the dancefloor and wondering out loud why the atmosphere and music feels as though it’s skipped a beat. But the momentum is regained as the Sweetchilli boys return to the decks, spinning enjoyable tracks and in particular Oliver Huntemann’s memorable remix of the Chemical Brothers’ Do It Again.

My dancing feet couldn’t take much more past 4am, but we hung out for the first half of Linda Jenssen’s set, which made for a good sendoff as we head off into the night, satisfied with another successful Saturday evening.