Three weeks ago the Escoba started a new Breaks and Hip-Hop night 2breaky4U, starring Armee from Downsyde, Fdel and Philly Tha Kid (Winner of the West Aussie final of the V DJ awards). I went on down to check out the funky tunes and the range of shooters.

The layout of the Escoba is one of its many fine points. Just past the door you come out into a lounge area, complete with tables, stools and couches. The layout and décor here provide a comfortable; slightly classy and retro 80’s feel. The bar, which runs along one side, is well lit and well stocked.

The dance-floor is set at the back of the establishment and, as a result, at no time is it used as a walkway for people walking to the bar or toilets. The speakers face inwards over the dance-floor, so the bass-lines are pumping when you are dancing but don’t drown out conversation in the lounge. There are also plenty of fans to keep you cool while dancing.

I wish more of our bigger clubs showed the forethought and planning shown here.

First up on the decks at 9 was Philly tha Kid. The place was pretty empty being fairly early. Philly played some funky and upbeat breaks with some nice rolling bass-lines, including a breaks remix of Yo Neck, Yo Back, The Soul of Man remix of Let it Roll, and Vital Signs.

As DJ Fdel came on at 10, the venue was beginning to fill up. Fdel dropped the pace a bit as he started a pumping hip-hop set. The dance floor remained empty for a while, but more and more heads started to nod along to the music. Some nice subdued scratching brought smiles to a couple of punters faces. Gradually the funkiness of Fdel’s set increased and a small crowd formed on the dance floor. After a few Ray Charles I decided to join them.

Fdel started to drop a few breaks tracks like Tricka Technology in with the hip hop and the dance floor filled up. Fdel played through till 12:30 and as his set was coming to a close the crowd thinned a bit as some punters moved on to other locations.

Armee came on and started with a bit of hip hop, then moved into some Latin style DnB with some frenzied but laid back scratching, including DJ Marky’s LK. After a while though, the dance floor cleared, many of the punters deciding to sit down rather than give the Running Man a go. Armee switched back to hip hop and a touch of breaks and brought the crowd back on side, showing some good improvisation and crowd reading skills.

At about 2 Philly Tha Kid came back on and started rolling out the breaks again. Playing to a moderate dance floor, he dropped some nice funky tunes including a remix of What’s your flavour, Doug Lazy’s Let it roll and a remix of Hot in Here. After half an hour of dancing, the week and the start of a flu caught up with me and it was time for this reviewer to call it a night. As I left there was still a small crowd left sitting back enjoying the tunes.

All in all, I had a good Friday night. Friendly staff, nice bar layout and most importantly excellent laid back tunes, made it quite an enjoyable and relaxing experience. I also enjoyed the shooters. I look forward to many more Fridays at the Escoba.