I can’t believe that after 8 years of some fairly serious clubbing in Melbourne, I hadn’t been to Platform 1 until last Friday night. What a fabulous venue! I arrived early and was delighted with the plush furnishings, the interesting murals and the inviting yet not overly priced bar. I was reminded of a club in London, the name of which eludes me, which was also housed in a tunnel and, if I remember correctly, had a similar killer sound system.

I gather that on Saturday nights, Platform 1 is host to the young and trendy. I wished I had “dressed to impress” in order to blend in with the decor, but high heels and miniskirts are hardly suited to a night of UK hard dance and that was what Friday night was predominantly about. The night was called Audio Violation and our hosts were the Energise crew. It has been a long time between drinks for hard house fanatics in Melbourne; almost a year in fact. But, when Energise holds a party, time is forgotten, old friends gather together and the music we love, sustains us until the next time.

Last Friday night was a little different because a couple of different genres were thrown into the mix. Ben Kakoshke, a former Frantic resident in Melbourne, reinvented himself to become Chest Rockwell. Yeah, I know. WTF! Sounds like a supporting actor in “Gone with the Wind”, doesn’t it? Anyway, Chest was playing “house”. Again, WTF! All I can say is that Ben/Chest, whoever he is, didn’t play your average house. In fact, I forgot it even was house halfway through his set. It was chunky and progressive and fast and terrific! So, actually, it was Ben Kakoshke showing us what a versatile DJ he is and reassuring us that he hasn’t gone soft in the last few years.

Next up was Will Power. Now here is an interesting character. Will is quite brilliant and yet he is relatively unknown in the mainstream Melbourne scene, perhaps because he is so diverse and underground, and therefore a little threatening in a way. I have heard Will play all kinds of sets over the years, often at house parties, and he is never the same. He can play any genre with ease but has an intensity about him that is mesmerising. He mixes tunes up, turns them around and leaves the audience, whether it be a few close friends in a loungeroom, or a few hundred punters in a club, breathless. He knows his music and very kindly listed his set-list for me on Friday night. He plans his sets but still reads the crowd and builds it up or tones it down when required. Not happy to remain static, Will’s sets have been influenced by a variety of producers but more recently he has been enthralled by the sounds of D-Nox and Beckers and his inclusion of Che Malakita in his set on Friday night is evidence of this.

Joey Haze is one of the guys behind Energise. At the beginning of the night he was nervous. After his thoroughly enjoyable set and later in the night, the nerves had been replaced by big smiles and he was able to enjoy his creation! I want to thank Joey and his crew now for bringing the UK sound back to Mebourne on a regular basis. It is what many of us look forward to for months.

I have to admit that I was surprised to see Ben Evans on the line-up. I have only ever heard him play trance and he is superb at what he does. As far as I am concerned he walks on water, but for a few reasons his set didn’t quite work this time. His love at the moment is psytrance, and he excels at it, but the punters at Energise weren’t quite ready for it or didn’t understand it, apart from myself and a few others who are committed bush doofers. However, Ben is a professional and he read the crowd well so managed to turn it around by pumping out some classic anthems.

What you need to understand about the Energise fraternity is that they are there for the hard dance and Craig Jon delivered What we had all been waiting for. Pumping, driving, relentless UK sounds including Paul Glazby’s 99.9, Floorburn and I’m Your Nightmare, Ed Real’s Desert Storm and OD404 Whizz Bang. These are they types of tunes that we remember from the Frantic days both in London and Melbourne, the music that makes us smile and remember what it was like “back in the day” and the reason why so many of us rate UK hard dance so highly.

By the time Hadyn Jay hit the decks, the crowd had dwindled a little. Some of the high-heelers had gone home to nurse their blisters and a few others had retired after a few too many boutique beers. But for the UK hard dance stalwart, there were many more tunes to be enjoyed and Haydn did not disappoint. He is another one of the Energise crew and clearly loves this music and the crowd it attracts and when he isn’t behind the decks, he is down amongst the crowd, chatting and appreciating the other DJs. A truly lovely and talented bloke.

As one ITMer said on the Energise thread: “Great sets from all, but Nikki Sig where have you been all my life!?” This brings me to the second last DJ of the night, the talented, not to forget gorgeous, Nikki Sig. I, for one, was beginning to feel weary by this stage after a lot of dancing, drinking and chatting, but the tiredness disappeared as soon as Nikki took to the decks. She is one helluva DJ and you can tell that hard house is in her blood. She had the floor jumping with such favourites as Rush on Me and Music is the Drug by Amber D, Addicted by Anne Savage & Audio Hedz, Lashed by Lisa Lashes and Check out the Sound by Technikal. I heard several people raving about her set afterwards so congratulations Nikki on an awesome performance!

The night ended with a couple of young fellows doing something a bit different. One was on the decks and the other was playing an electric guitar. It was an interesting idea and was appreciated by those of us who were still standing, although barely!

In closing, please don’t let another year go by before the next Energise. We need you! And, please use Platform 1 again – this venue rocks! Thanks again for a memorable night and good luck with your future ventures.