Nights like this are why we go clubbing. I’m not talking about those rare blue-moon experiences that are remembered forever, like seeing Underworld up-close and personal at Melbourne’s Metro earlier this year or [insert your own personal epiphany]. I’m talking about the times when good friends, great DJs and excellent music come together to produce an awesome night that leaves you happily exhausted and eager for the next chance to go out. New irregular club night Sixtyfour aims to bring the fun back to clubbing, and with UK progressive house legend Nick Warren at Gas supported by a host of top locals they definitely started with a blast.
It began ominously enough, however, with a sloooow queue that wasn’t justified by the number of punters we discovered when we eventually got inside at 11.30pm. Listening to the chatter while waiting it became clear more than a few had managed to obtain 2-for-1 or freebie tickets at the last minute, and at least one guy simply gave up trying to sell his spare. The need for these gifts was somewhat surprising given the reputation of the headline act and the amount of promotion the event had received, but whatever methods were used, Gas was comfortably full by 1am. Phil Smart and (Sugar) Ray Good had the task of priming us for the night, and while it took some time their high quality mix certainly did the trick. By 12.50am the dancefloor was packed with people bouncing to energetic tech house and the occasional harder track, while a steady stream of late arrivals continued to fill the back of the room in anticipation.
Spot on 1am Nick Warren is in the booth, which is decorated with half a dozen vertical “bars” that echo the jailhouse theme of the publicity material, and launching into Layo and Bushwacka’s Let The Good Times Roll followed by a handful of breakbeat tunes to start his set. It’s been widely written that NW knows how to read a crowd, but on this night it seemed he wanted to lead it instead, like he was following a carefully planned script. For the first hour or so he adopted a very measured routine playing steadily-paced tracks for about ten minutes, then dropping one or two big thumping numbers to make the crowd go off, then back down again. This escaped being repetitive through excellent track selection, with songs like Timo Maas’ Help Me, Vector’s Rise and Sasha & JXL’s Beauty Never Fades aired during this time, and the crowd responded on cue every time. It was not until almost 2.30am that he hit a more sustained rhythm and held it, frequently moving away from prog house and into trance territory right up to the end of his set.
Whatever your thoughts on his range of genres and mixing ability (and the forum comments afterwards suggest views are diverse), as a fun crowd-oriented DJ Nick Warren is simply superb. His obvious enjoyment was infectious and throughout his excursions into tech house, breakbeat, trance, whatever, the dancefloor just kept going off and the balcony rail and staircase were always full. Conversations with friends and strangers afterwards confirmed the consensus was that we’d witnessed a stunning set, and most left very happy after the closing tracks of a wickedly mashed-up version of Eminem’s Nobody Listens to Techno and Sasha’s Bloodlock. Left immediately, that is. The instant Nick Warren departed to an ovation the crowd almost halved, taking with it the magical feeling that had filled the room for almost three hours. Ben Korbel and Trent Anthony played a blistering two hour set until close, but to an ever-dwindling room that never regained the energy or vibe achieved earlier.
Sixtyfour’s promoters have a number of other nights lined up in coming months. Based on the opener, they’re sure to be worth catching.
