- Mad Racket is a Sydney institution that has weathered the ups and downs of the local scene by sticking to its guns. Its regular home is Marrickville Bowling And Recreational Club, a suburban lawn bowls club well away from the superficial glitz of the inner city, complete with 1970s copper ceiling and an old-school soundsystem. The formula is a simple one: four close friends, who also happen to be some of Sydney's best underground DJs, throw a party, joined every so often by local or international guests. The crowd brings zero attitude and a restless enthusiasm.
Marea Stamper, AKA The Black Madonna, may have only become internationally known in the past couple of years, but booking her turned enough heads to sell out the venue. Her performance was brilliant, completely justifying the turnout. Following on from short but expert sets from residents Ken Cloud, Jimmi James and Simon Caldwell, Stamper unleashed three hours of the cutting-edge, the classic and the obscure.
She played using Mad Racket's rotary mixer, which restricted her from her usual fader tricks. Instead, she focussed on the music, expressing the love and intimate knowledge she has of her records. You'd think some of the transitions would be jarring—Carol Williams's 1976 hit "Love is You" into Roman Flügel's "Sliced Africa" into KiNK's "Existence"—but they were all executed really well.
Techno (Fix's "Flash") and punk-funk (Quando Quango's "Love Tempo") both reared their heads early on. Shep Pettibone's remix of Loleatta Holloway's "Love Sensation" was full-on disco heaven, while Jamie 3:26 & Cratebug's "Hit It And Quit It" explored the blurred lines between New York disco and Detroit's Paperclip People to wicked effect. Stamper even dropped her own Joubert Singers-sampling "Exodus," before ending with a magnificent re-edit of New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle."
The dance floor was still heaving as Simon Caldwell took over again, steering the room towards emotive oddities such as Maurice Fulton's "Happy Sunday." Sydney's club scene has recently suffered blow after blow thanks to the draconian lockout laws and their fallout, but Mad Racket managed to make us forget all about that with a near-perfect party and an extraordinary guest DJ. As a friend said to me afterwards, "That was one for the ages."