After the successful launch of Darkbeat’s Local Sessions 001 with Gavin Keitel, it was a perfect setting for the inthemix50 : 2010 tour to continue. Both entities have showcased some highly talented local acts at least for over eight years. As the Australian dance scene’s most important annual event, Melbourne’s second inthemix50 party came with Local Sessions 002. The buzz surrounding the three hour set of Melbourne DJ Phil K was unavoidable.

From the top floor of Brown Alley at the Colonial Hotel, the low ceiling gave the party an underground vibe. A bit of camouflage netting added to the dark and dirty feel, redeemed by a slew of multi-coloured lasers. Actually, it was a fantastic space for the event and the numbers, with the outside garden bar, was a great balance to the main room. Fresh locals rDJ and Luke Ellis started the night off with the first couple of slots in the garden bar after winning the Darkbeat submit-a-set competition. Ben Royal and Alam made sure the outside area stayed populated with some great tunes from midnight until 2:30am, I was very happy with the tunes I heard from these fellas, and very nearly forgot there was a party inside. Newly announced resident Lister Cooray brought a versus set with Jon Beta for the next two hours after that, bringing in some deep grooving tracks. These guys had to be pleased with a 3 hour headline act with a set time like this. I was concerned that the punters would drop off but there wasn’t too much of an exodus inside; it was more of a continuous flow. Warming up before the big one, Rollin Connection started to smoulder, and then turned the heat up – exactly how it should be done. The room had gathered enough momentum so that by the end of the set, they had well and truly got the room moving.

True to expectations, Phil K’s set can be described as “absolutely mental”, as he brought a diverse set and ended up with a few dropped jaws. The room was quite full as Phil started off with a guitar based track, and thereby indicating he wasn’t going to play anything run-of-the-mill. He played plenty of epic unexpected new tracks that boosted the dance floor, and a few classics that brought massive smiles and more noise to the room. A wild, layered set with everything from breaks and prog, to a bit of disco and even acapellas, he really kept me on my toes. The set just got bigger and bigger, with a killer final hour that was a struggle to tear myself away from. I gave up even trying to write down track names and simply enjoyed the sound.

Two weeks down and two ridiculously large weeks to go, the inthemix50 tour really is showcasing the best of the best in dance music all around the country.