As Saturday reared its ugly face yet again a whole day of hard manual labour stood between me and my monthly dosage of 2-Step & UK Garage at the Dendy bar. Somehow though, the thought of listening to insanely delicious bass for many an hour deep into the early morn pulled me through the long day. Before I knew it a couple of friends and I were all standing outside the Dendy bar, in the significantly chillier midnight atmosphere that has been developing of the recent weeks.
It was good to see Premium back at the Dendy; due to the initial venue, Spi Bar losing its licence. For some reason, probably because all other Premium’s except one were held here, it just felt right that the event was back in the old venue. We entered the Dendy to a familiar, yet slightly different setup compared to previous events. A nice assortment of chill out couches were present, scattered around the room with a mass of people all facing towards a large screen broadcasting the FA cup. Unfortunately, Dabnes the guest for the evening was on between 11:00 -12:00 and hence we did not get to hear any of the set, which was unfortunate. This immense loss can be rectified simply by checking out the new weekly garage night in Sydney called ‘Dub’ where Dabnes is going to be one of the regulars.
We chilled to the sounds of Garage Pressure coming from the concealed dance floor while relaxing on the comfy couches in the main seating area, watching the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Arsenal. We got to the half time mark and the funky yet solid set seemed to draw us away towards the dance floor … needless to say we never found out the final score. Soon it was Emme’s turn to hit us with a barrage of smooth 2-step sounds, surprising the crowd with 2-step remixes of ‘Where’s Your Head At’ and ‘Yo Diggity’. As usual Emme pumped out a quality set which was a balanced mixture of massive tunes and obscurities.
Sheen was next to hit the decks, and without a problem he stepped up the intensity yet again as the tracks got harder, and the dance floor fuller with the help of MC’s Antic and Tanzi. Delivering tracks like my personal favourite ‘True – Soulo’ and even an old skool mix of “I got the power’; his set as usual was relentless and precise in its sound. Q45 was next to keep the crowd amused, whipping out an array of crowd pleasers including the new remix by Farj – Tsunami which was as hard as it was simple with a bass line you cannot sit still to. Paul Fraser finished up the festivities with a final assault on all the hardcore garage lovers left in the venue to wrap up another successful Premium night.
The communal vibe as usual was fantastic, with Premium being one of the only events left where all the DJ’s hang around and mingle the entire night. The people and staff on the night were friendly, the music was 100% quality all the way, and it only costs $15 to come along and get a piece of the action. On the way out I was just one of many to score a copy of the latest premium CD, by DJ Sheen featuring the cream of the UK underground. This is available to download if you missed out on getting one at the Premium website at www.dj.com.au/premium.
