| Release Date: | 2002-01-19 |
By Julie Costa
Used with permission from In The Mix
According to Enigma's website they are "an independent record label based in Sydney who are devoted to promoting Australian hard house/trance/techno/hard trance and progressive artists". Having said that, it seems quite fitting that they should choose Progress @ Gas to launch their Volume One CD. Still being in that festive bordering on quite merry mood since NYE, I figured attending Gas for some hard house beats had to be the best event happening around town.
Forgetting how much I enjoyed driving the last time, I decided to relive the event by dealing with road closures, detours and the joys of mid city traffic. But yes there was light at the end of the tunnel and I promptly stopped my whinging as I scored a park literally across the road - does it get any better? So, with both hands on the 12, my fellow clubber and I fronted up to Gas ready to be Progressed :-) Being the intrepid reporter that I am, I figured checking the DJ line-up before hand would probably be a good idea just so I knew what I was in for. Gas had two live acts on that night: Xenobis and Spinner's Breed who both appear on Enigma's Volume One CD. Progress regulars Mark Dynamix, Amber Savage and Yoshi also joined them throughout the course of the night. After missing out on experiencing Mark Dynamix' set previously, I was quite keen to catch him this time around.
At this stage Gas hadn't quite filled up yet with majority of the people hanging around the main bar or in the chill out area. Hey the area contained chairs/lounges and there appeared to be people chilling....
The dance floor was less than overcrowded with around 90% of the crowd being male. Thinking this was a little odd I decided to take a quick survey of the bottom floor. My quick calculations devised a 70:30 ratio of guys to girls which really, was no issue in my eyes but I figured the rest of the girls were either in the toilets or at home still getting ready. Quite confused I did what any other girl would do, I went to the bar. Two bottles of water and 8 bucks later I decided to go catch me some tunes. It was supposedly halfway through Xenobis' set (I think the DJ line up was wrong) when I heard this all too familiar 80's tune being spun on the dex. "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood filled my ears. The DJ had introduced the beat slowly then buried it amongst a little house before launching it back into the crowd. All I remember is the look on my fellow clubber's face when I was able to recite the title and artist without any prompting.
The music had now changed a little faster and the crowd was jolted back into reality. I figured we were ready to kill some time before the second floor (balcony area) opened so we retired to the rather nifty "chill out area". It was around this time we noticed two boys in blue walking amongst the crowd getting into some hard house tunes. Nice one fellas :-)
The second floor had now opened and we promptly strolled up to secure prime position on the balcony over looking the crowd below. Mark Dynamix was about to take command of the dex and by the look and feel of the crowd no one was complaining. One thing about Gas which I found quite nice was the applause to the DJ after each set. Due to the size of the venue, the more intimate feel of the audience it is more like a private party than a nightclub. Every now and then you would see photographers jump up on stage or fans go over to thank the DJ for their performance. I don't think I've seen people actually dancing on stage 1 metre away from the DJ in other clubs before. I peered over the balcony and noticed the audience had now doubled with majority of the club out on the dance floor. Mark's set was over before you knew it and I'm afraid I got rather carried away with the tunes this man was playing.
Amber was next up ready to play a tidy two hour set. One thing I will say for Amber is that she's bloody brilliant!!!! There aren't many high profile chick DJ's around (in comparison to men) and she has got to be one of the best I've seen. Gas hosted a great visual lighting display plugging Enigma records and showing cute pix for anyone not dancing to enjoy. Enigma held CD giveaways - which I didn't win - and there was a lovely girl from Enigma filming the event catching those lucky to get their mug on video. At around 4am Amber had finished her set and was met by a heap of whistles and a lot of cheers - remember that male audience? We were then graced by Enigma's second live act: Spinner's Breed. The trio have been writing both trance and club music for quite a few years with some of the tunes being played at other clubs around town. The crowd had suddenly cleared from upstairs with quite a few people moving back out onto the dance floor. The set had finished quicker than I thought as Yoshi was now commanding the dex. From my last encounter with this young lad, he was always met with a terrific response from the crowd.
I chatted to some of the Progress regulars towards the end of the evening - being the friendly club-goer that I am - and found that on the whole they were a pretty easy going crowd. I asked them what got them coming back to Gas week after week. One of them smiled, pointed and said "This is what it's all about". I walked over to where he was standing and followed his outstretched hand. I expected something spectacular, something on fire perhaps......(ok stay with me here) but instead I was left facing the crowd. I think he had a point ;-)
DJ Line-up
10.45am - 11.45am Rackus
11.45am - 12.15am Xenobis (live act)
12.15am - 1.45am Mark Dynamix
1.45am - 3.45am Amber Savage
3.45am - 4.15am Spinners Breed (live act)
4.15am - 6.00am Yoshi
ps. A HUGE thanks to Jody (the cloak room girl) for giving me a copy of the line-up as the old memory ain't what it used to be. She was such a sweetie that she signed it so I'd remember her name. hehehe
Rating: 8/10