Leading on from the awesome Deetron Sunday Session in October, Democracy backed it up with Free Yourself featuring Audiofly and Robert Babicz hosted upstairs at Bar Open. With two 4/4 headliners on the bill it was no surprise that the result was a massive night full of good tunes and a more than up for it crowd.

Getting the night’s musical proceedings underway was Travis who played a straight up techno set. Some classics smattered throughout made for a good opener and the faster tempo at an early stage in the night appeared to be enjoyed by many. As it neared time for Audiofly to step up, Travis reduced the tempo of his tunes to make way for the next act. By the time Audiofly dropped his first track, there was a rather happening dance floor with the room still filling considerably.

Audiofly went straight to work, mixing up a range of tech house sounds all held together with a consistent and fairly progressive foundation. As his set hit the halfway mark, Audiofly had the dancefloor packed as well most of the club grooving away, whether they were at the bar or around the outskirts of the dancefloor. He maintained definite direction throughout his set and a few big percussive numbers made for standout tracks amongst his selections. It was a well received set and the perfect sound for that time of night.

Robert Babicz followed with a live PA which can probably best be described as, well, awesome. He got straight into some techy tunes before stripping it back with some more minimal selections. Those on the dancefloor seemed to enjoy this change in sound and pace, particularly for the time of night and as a result, remained glued to their marks for most of it. Babicz’s ability to tie in both amazing percussion lines as well as sweeping melodic tones was in full effect. The whole time, his versatility and range was impressive as he weaved fluidly from one sound to another. Towards the end of his set, he had worked through a range of sounds and began to really take it deeper and more melodic. These sounds seemed to be padded out quite thickly and introduced a melodic and atmospheric vibe to his set. By the time his set had come to an end, he received three rounds of cheers, claps and shouts. It was an amazing set. He is truly a musician.

Local DJ Aarin F had the onerous task of closing the night after Babicz and certainly did not disappoint. His track selections were perfect – deeper and minimal percussive action all the way and he managed to keep many dancing away until close. It was definitely the standout local set of the night and made for a well suited finish to the night of quality sounds that was.

If you were one of the lucky ones down for this, you’d know just what I’m talking about. Perth having both Audiofly and Robert Babicz was an early Christmas treat in itself and definitely a sign of awesome things to come. Keep your eyes peeled for more Democracy action in the future; they sure know how to throw a damn good party.