Now that summer has well and truly turned up the heat in the nation’s capital it was little surprise to see sparks firing up the dancefloor at Monkey Bar recently. A venue that has been building up a strong reputation for presenting some of the most entertaining acts in the dance scene brought Malente (think The Aston Shuffle’s remix of ‘Killer Application’) to town for the weekly Rockout evening of fun.

The party started at around 9pm with local supports Tim Galvin and DJ Kiz in charge of warming up. Arriving at 10pm I was greeted with a smile from the Monkey Bar staff and took a seat by the window with a drink in hand ready to get in on the action. The punters were already keen to get things moving by this stage, and on the dancefloor the vibe was relaxed. There was an interesting mix of tracks working their way into the support set, including old school hits like ‘Can You Feel It’ proving popular. Overall, the supporting set was strong but it lacked consistency in its quality. The inclusion of a song like ‘I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll’ made me question whether I was at a dance gig or at a pub? Perhaps some of these rogue entries would’ve been more successful had the transitions been much smoother. Either way, Galvin polished off the support set with some cruising electro that set the scene for Malente.

As the clock struck midnight Malente stepped up to the decks. Having not seen him before I was immediately taken aback by his disheveled hair and sexy black and white jeans. My hope was that if those jeans were comparable to his set, then by the end of the night I should be so hot that I wanted to rip those pants off! (Look, a girl can only hope and dream). The set started off really well, as the small but intimate crowd honed in on the decks. Smiles could be seen as punters worked it on the dancefloor. I was ready to get moving and took my place up-front as Malente spun his web of electro goodness. The beats were solid and consistent and the tunes were mixed well. A highlight of the set was the added goodness of disco hit ‘That’s The Way I Like It’. It was smooth and fitted into the set easily – a very nice touch.

Although the gig was off to a great start there were a few elements that made the overall night a little underwhelming. The crowd appeared to be keen initially, then after an hour when things should have been peaking the fun just seemed to fizzle. There were a few punters who were dancing up a storm, but not enough to keep the vibe high. I felt that Malente’s set was losing direction and that it was disjointed after the first – solid – hour. Some of the patrons were a little ‘Corona fuelled’ as well, dancing immaturely next to the decks and touching the equipment. I actually noticed Malente asking these guys to stop – perhaps people who are not there for the music should reconsider attending these types of gigs!

On a whole it was a good night, but I expected a bit more from such a renowned name. Perhaps it was just bad luck – so let’s hope the next time Malente comes to Canberra things will be a bit more on track. The enjoyable parts of the night were memorable – especially those jeans…that’s the way I LIKE IT – ah huh!