Courtesy of the Bass Drop crew, Sydney now has a new drum n’ bass night at Favela in Kings Cross to keep the feet warm through winter. And based on last night’s inaugural event, the outlook looks good. The special opening night guests were Hospital Records signings Mistabishi and Sigma, alongside local support from Victim, Linkin, Vertigo and Element MC across two rooms.

Favela is not known for drum n’ bass nights, so it was with some interest that I made my way into the venue to check out the UK visitors. Victim laid down an impressively varied dubstep set downstairs, which set the mood for the venue and night well. Sadly, the disparity between the sound systems on levels one and two seemed to have sent the majority of punters to the drum n’ bass action upstairs in the main room, which is a shame as he was playing some serious beats and bass.

That said, the Funktion One sound system upstairs was well set up for the event, particularly given the relatively small size of the main dance floor area. The crowd quickly took full advantage of the sunken dance floor, with the large bass bins positioned directly below the DJ booth, and the crush increased steadily from 10PM onwards. The local DJs played a solid warm up set, steadily building the beat pressure towards the main acts.

First up from the international visitors was the relative newcomer, Mistabishi, who has been generating excitement on the UK scene with his recent longplayer Drop for Hospital Records. As he jumped on the decks just before midnight, he kept to this ethos and started with a dubstep tune to ease the eager fans into the mood – before a swift detour into drum n’ bass after the opening tune’s first drop. Mista kept this mood and steadily built on it, with the midweek crowd responsive to every change – not to mention an eager response to each tune that he dropped. It was an impressive set from the diminutive DJ and set up Sigma well.

Sigma have been increasing their profile over the past two years, notably with their remix of Roni Size’s Music Box in 2008. Unfortunately, the mid week working morning meant an exit by 1am and I had to bow out before the second headliner hit the stage. However, all reports have been that the DMC skills of the Sigma half that took the stage were in full effect. I missed out!

To sum up, an impressive debut for the Bass Drop night. It bodes well for their forthcoming gig with London Elektricity. Midweek working massive, book that Thursday off now!