Over the last year the Brown Alley promotional teams at Darkbeat, Mixed Messages, Rock Like This and The Likes of You have collaborated to bring Melbourne some of the very best nights imaginable. Having played host to some stellar names recently, including Hernán Cattáneo, Hybrid, Chris Fortier and Lee Coombs, we were offered a killer Against The Grain label line up with breaks maestros Stanton Warriors, supported by Skool of Thought and Adsorb.

Arriving in the pouring rain sucks, but being made to wait for 40 minutes in it is rather unnecessary and something of a spoiler. That said, however, the buzz you absorb from chatting with fellow queue-ers can lift your spirits, and in this case sharing soggy cardboard boxes and umbrellas for cover was kind of fun – kind of.

Forced to leave yet another umbrella outside a venue (I think that’s about 6 this year including those left at festivals, sort it out), we were eventually able to get in about 12.30 just as Adsorb started his set in the main room. Backed by visuals of cartoon astronauts, he set it off with remixes of Azzido da Bass Doom’s Night and Deadmau5’s Ghosts ‘n Stuff. At that time there was space to move through the growing throng as they hit the floor hard. Made up of old skool and nu skool breaks fans, hoodie/cap wearing bass freaks and hardcore Stanton groupies, the show attracted a really good crowd; they were all well behaved, friendly and just out for a good night with no hassles.

We hung with Adsorb for awhile, as he made his mark on Melbourne and with some solid basslines, deciding then to check out the upstairs Blights Bar, where brother and sister duo Jane and Ben Daffy did a stellar job of pushing their own filthy sounds through the banging sound system. Much more tech and funk-inspired, they worked the room with remixes of Armand van Helden’s Funk Phenomenon and rounded out their sound with elements of dubstep and old skool breaks. The room was busy but not full, and the atmosphere, like the tunes, was dark.

Over in the Garden Bar there was more of a party mood, as JD was smashing the crammed room with modern takes on acid classics by the likes of Marky Mark ( Good Vibrations ) and some speed garage-style killers. It was all rather frantic, crushed and smoky in there so we skipped out after a short time, but it was truly going off and the crowd was excellent.

Back in the main room, halfway through Skool Of Thought’s set, it was getting extremely hot and sweaty while the temperature continued to rise. Dropping a filthy reworking of Sidney Samson’s Riverside, the room erupted and from then on the pace was just relentless, which was no bad thing.

Bang on 2.30 Stanton Warriors took over the space and there was no doubt that the boys were on form. Rub a dub vocals matched with funky riffs and some serious bass action meant the foundations were shaking, the windows were vibrating and the screaming crowd was going wild. Next, the sound went down, a voice announced “Stanton Warriors turn up da bass” and tinsel fell over the audience – cue pandemonium.

Come 4-ish we felt like a break from the endless breaks and so checked out Boogs vs Phil K as they embarked on their 3 hour match up in the Blights Bar. They took the music in a totally different direction by offering up deep, bassey house to the appreciative crowd, which served as a very suitable alternative to the non-stop action downstairs. That said, it was impossible to ignore the pull of the Warriors’ sound, so after a brief respite we went down to embark on the last leg of our Stanton experience.
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Reentering the main room we were greeted by whoops of applause as the Warriors dropped a heavy remix of DJ Mujava’s Township Funk and their own reworking of the Gus Gus classic David. As the night drew to a close, the crowd was going absolutely wild, making it clear that the night had been a massive success. We decided to leave on a high at 5ish, secure in the knowledge that though the breaks scene has been quiet for awhile, it is still very much alive and kicking bass.