- This was always going to be an unusual event. They were billed as Kosheen, but Substance and Decoder were only doing DJ sets. While Substance and Decoder met via the drum n bass scene in the UK before Kosheen was formed, recent interviews with them had revealed they didn’t play much d’n’b in their sets. For fans of Kosheen this was no drama. They’d come to Room to witness the people behind of one the biggest recent dance crossover tracks of our time “Hide U”. For Melbourne’s drum n bass fans, the night was a bit of a bind, being put together by the well-established drum n bass events crew Groovetherapy, but with a headliner either regarded as commercial or who might not play drum n bass. There was only ever going to be one way to find out how this night would pan out, and that was to be there.
I arrived a little after midnight to find a rather packed club with a very mixed crowd, something that delights me in the potential for crossing over different scenes. The people were generally in fine spirits as well, and ready to party on this Easter Sunday night. I’d missed Ben Shephard’s warm-up set, but 1neLC had the party in full swing now as I dodged silver banners hanging from the ceiling to search for the dj booth. It was not front and centre as usual, but this time off to the side, giving the place a much cosier vibe for the party. 1neLC was keeping it on the light side of drum n bass for the start of the evening. The Hawthorn kids, and the Melbourne drum n bass community who had been brave enough to front at Room, were digging the local’s set, dancing their arses off. He even dropped some Kosheen to get everyone excited for the headliners, and induce some singing amongst the punters.
Meanwhile the frontroom of Room was moving to a more seductive d’n’b pace, chilled and slow as DJ Woz did his thing and MC Ming did hers, with that slow singing and occasional rhyme. Too slow for me when 1neLC had my heart racing to a faster beat in the mainroom. I knew I’d be heading back to this room and its new 70’s Saturday Night Fever disco dancing floor later!
With much excitement from the d’n’b heads Ruxspin took the stage and then took the whole party up a gear. Suddenly we’d gone from lighter melodic sounds to a much darker and harder d’n’b, and it felt good! The sound system was up to the job as well which was a sweet relief when you’re in for a night of drum’n’bass. Perhaps it was a bit fast for the Hawthorn kids as Ruxspin pushed the bpm counter through the roof, but some held on the for the ride, while the d’n’b massive were whistling in appreciation of their favourites and going ballistic on the drop!
About 2 am Decoder and Substance were settled in the back of dj booth and checking the scene. While Ruxspin brought his set to a huge climax we were all hyped for the internationals, and then….. they slowly spun his record down, and dropped the needle on some BREAKS. Yep, the rumours I heard pre-gig about Decoder and Substance being fans of djing breaks was true. While the floor cleared of d’n’b people as we went to search for our friends, a seat and a drink, the rest of the crowd were excited to see the guys behind some of their favorite songs. The set moved from breaks through to some progressive house, back to breaks and then even onto a little bit of D’n’B as they dropped one of their own songs. Hearing these guys play breaks was more than I could handle when they had created other songs I liked more, so I sought some solace in Brewster B.
True to form Brewster was cranking it out with some classy breaks tunes in the frontroom that lifted the heart after hearing older tunes in the mainroom. I’m mostly definitely biased, but while the mainroom was rocking to breaks I knew that Melbourne’s locals with their finger on the pulse, Brewster B and Lynt, were right here playing it in frontroom (and refuge for many of the d’n’b heads). It was here I remained most of the night while Kosheen did their dj thing (that foray of their’s into deep prog house had done my head in!)
Once Kosheen had pleased the regular punters it was time for the d’n’b to resume in the mainroom. Unfortunately I think Kosheen had gone over time, as I witnessed the shortest set I’d ever seen by my favourite local d’n’b dj, Motive, before he was joined in the dj booth by Trooper. Between the two of them they brought the party home nicely for the people who hadn’t exited after Kosheen’s set, with plenty of latin tunes, tough stuff and recent favourites to keep us dancing until it was time to call it quits. While many of the d’n’b majority were upset by Kosheen’s set, I think for the rest of the people there they enjoyed it and also had a rather wild and exciting foray into d’n’b in Melbourne. There’s nothing like mixing it all up between scenes to keep us on our toes. Let me end by saying …..God bless the locals for being reliably solid!