- In today's clubbing climate, it's unusual to see late-night parties in Sydney with a lineup that features more than one international guest. With clubs forced to shut no later than 3 AM, there are simply not enough hours in the evening to showcase a variety of overseas talent. Alternatively, if promoters decide to bill foreign artists in a warehouse space, they then run the risk of the event being shut down by the authorities. Vibe Positive, though, managed to pull off a warehouse party last weekend, hosting Legowelt, Lipelis and Australian expat Steele Bonus in Sydney's Inner West.
The crowd was understandably excited as they made their way to the venue. The raised stage was set up in the loading dock of the warehouse, affording plenty of space to dance below. The high ceilings made you feel like you were at an outdoor gig. A healthy amount of smoke and lasers kept things interesting as the crowd filtered in to the sounds of locals Andy Garvey and Bobby Vibe Positive.
Lipelis was an easy highlight. He began at midnight, expertly entertaining the floor with a set that favoured electro rhythms over four-to-the-floor beats. Uplifting and driving piano melodies kept the crowd engaged early and then, in the last hour, he switched to acid, which went down just as well.
Acid appeared to be the flavour of the night, with almost all of Legowelt's live set built around 303 lines. From the outset, he established an intensity that immediately translated to the dance floor, as people lost themselves in the bubbly grooves. By the time Steele Bonus started, around 3 AM, the party was in full swing. The Sydney native opted to slow things down significantly to give people a chance to catch their breath. Then, he took the crowd on a journey fuelled by the kind of abstract club music that he's becoming increasingly known for.
The only drawback of the night was that the space was too big. The high ceilings meant that it gradually became harder for the building to contain the sound within. Someone in the crowd mentioned to me that a party at the same venue a couple weeks before had attracted police attention due to the size of the soundsystem. It's possible that Vibe Positive didn't want to take this risk, sacrificing both volume and clarity of sound—particularly in the low end—so that the party could go ahead. It's an unfortunate trade off that's emblematic of the situation Sydney finds itself in at the moment.