- The Metro nightclub in Melbourne is definitely my favorite venue when it comes to big gigs, and tonight was no exception with Deep Dish playing a sell out 5hr show. While this reviewer hasn’t had much of a life lately due to upcoming exams, the temptation was just too much, and deciding to live life on the edge for a night, I put on my dancing shoes and snuck out for a couple of hours for this one.
Arriving at some point past midnight, I joined the queue outside and got in without much trouble. The main room was packed but not overly, there was still enough room to move around. Luke Bowditch was just playing the last few tracks in his set before handing over the wheels of steel to Ali and Sharam.
The duo didn’t waste much time with filler tracks and got the party going underway by launching into prog house with a touch of tribal. Deep Dish’s new track “Say Hello” was played early on, with remix credits of this version going to Spanish duo Chus and Ceballos. A bootleg of Flashdance was also played and it was a CDR that has been making the circles in this year’s Miami WMC. Titled “Deep Dish vs. Dire Straits – Money for Nothing”, it features the Dire Straits classic over Flashdance. Nicely done!
I couldn’t say much about the second to third hour as I wasn’t particularly impressed by what they were playing. Coming to expect their signature silky smooth house sound with melodic undertones, what Ali was playing for most part instead was a dirty, bass heavy kind of house which didn’t do it for me as I tried to get into the start and stop staccato beats.
Getting bored, I sauntered off through the cavernous club to find my friends who were running the Private Function side room upstairs. Local boys Dean Milson followed by Sasha Petrovic were doing a fine job of getting the party at the top floor off with a barrage of quality progressive house.
By the time I got back into the main room, things were finally heating up with Sharam taking over the decks and caning out the more dance floor friendly tracks. Diamond Life followed by the Luke Chable remix of You Are Sleeping by PQM were dished out followed by what I reckoned was the longest mix and reprise of Deep Dish’s - Say Hello with the “You Gotta Believe” acapella from Fierce Ruling Diva thrown into the breakdown for good measure. If by anything, I’d say the redeeming moments of the gig for me was the last hour and a half where the music was exactly what I wanted to hear, with Sharam obviously having a bit of fun too dancing behind the decks.
Ali and Sharam were still playing close to 7am when I decided to call it quits, listen to my tired and battered body and drag myself home. Overall, it was good, but with this being the 4th time I’ve seen Deep Dish play, based on previous performances, I felt that they were holding something back and could have done better.