For DnB fans, the hotly anticipated arrival of some of UK’s biggest acts to Melbourne meant that the cup weekend was going to be about more than just losing money on a horse race.

The event hosted was hosted by Roxanne Parlour in Chinatown. The bill resembled that of a festival rather than a clubnight, with the likes of Commix, Randall, Calyx and Teebee and many more artists set to play. With three rooms, two dedicated to DnB and one to Dub, and around 25 artists I was expecting this event to be too big too handle, even for a venue as large as Roxanne.

Although doors opened at 10, the night only got into action well after midnight when the majority of the crowd spilled in. They were young and old, with many English and Kiwi accents catching my ear. Most importantly there was no ego in the room- people simply wanted to dance and party, which made for an unpretentious and enthusiastic vibe.

Soon enough the punters were itching for some hard-hitting drum and bass. With his traditionally purist drum and bass sound, Randall got the d-floor heated up. Accompanied by his fellow Londoner MC Lowqui, he delivered rolling, clear, deep basslines with no distortions. These lingered underneath high snare and bassdrum pops that were around 180 bpm. Textbook DnB at its best. Unfortunately at times the sound system couldn’t carry the weight of his tracks, leaving it a bit hollow. In spite of this, the old-school DnB man did his job in transporting people away from the bar and their idle chit-chat and onto the dance floor.

Inside the back room of Roxanne Commix was playing through a far superior sound system. Now the crowd had grown exponentially to a perfect point where it became packed but not like sardines. Commix, with his more melodic, ambient yet still bassy sound it became clear to me that this night was to offer a smorgasbord of different DnB styles. Also accompanied by MC Lowqui, the both created an energy that got the crowd very mobile and had me drawn right up to the speakers. Playing for two hours their energy did not lapse (neither did the crowds), making it one of the highlights of the evening.

Following this set, the Norwegian and South Londoner, TeeBee and Calyx were dishing out their deep bass tones in the main room. Their ominous and distorted tones were shaking the pillars of the third storey nightclub.
Despite this I was drawn into the back room for TC, who I was very curious to see live. Being MC-ed by his fellow Bristol man MC Jakes, he played the most energetic and bouncing set of the night. Tracks like Jump and Wheres my Money sucked the inhibition out of the room and got the carefree crowd spilling their drinks. Although completely satisfied by the set I was exhausted by the end of it, as he played a lot faster than I expected (at least 190 bpm… at least). Going into the early hours of 5 am, the set climaxed and the crowd’s enthusiasm didn’t wane.

For a city that isn’t used to such a big-name line up of DnB, it felt like a slice of London had been served into Melbourne for one night only. Hopefully it’s not the last.