- Part of a Reviewer’s role before any club review takes place is to have an open mind, show no bias and remain neutral until the day or night of the event. You then assimilate all your thoughts and report accordingly. However, I firmly believe there is always an exception to any rule and that exception is Sounds on Sunday.
I recently had the opportunity to meet with Promoter Daniel Burns (feature 13.01.06) to gain a better insight to the history surrounding the Greenwood Hotel and future plans. In my opinion, it is an integral part of any Sydneysiders clubbing regime and certainly one of the best day club venues whether that’s here in Australia or overseas. The Greenwood Hotel used to play court to schoolchildren but these days you will find both the courtyard and two alternate indoor areas paying homage to some of the best local and international talent on offer.
The line-ups are consistent and impressive pulling in the partygoer crowd who make the weekly pilgrimage to be in North Sydney. To name drop the elite of the elite Sounds has featured Sasha, Danny Howells, Paul Oakenfold, Touche, Crazy Penis and most recently Kaskade. Not forgetting the underlying belief to promote local talent and residencies from the likes of Shamus and John Devecchis who show just what Sydney has to offer. However, be warned if you don’t get there early you will be queuing and although the staff are friendly and professional that doesn’t mean the queue goes down any the quicker.
There is no better way to finish off a good weekend with your friends watching the sun go down at a unique venue having a few beers and dancing your little heart out and you may even make a friend or two – it’s all about the music and the good times.
So with that in mind my unbiased review was always going to be about the music.
I arrived at around 5.30 pm and was fortunate enough to be in a position to walk past the ever-growing queue. The place was already alive with the sounds of Shamus. I only managed to catch the tail end of his set, but as ever, Shamus and Sounds just have this love affair with each other and as usual ending on a high with Bob Sinclair’s “Love Generation”. This may be one of the most over played tunes of the moment but you can guarantee whomever and wherever you are, you are going to swing your pants.
Now onto the piste de resistance aka Dirty Laundry. It takes a lot these days for this Reviewer to stand up and take notice but over the last few months all I have ever heard from people is “you just have to go see these guys”. Well that’s a challenge and expectation set for me.
Dirty Laundry is DJs Dean and JJ Styles, MCs Seany B and Miss P and when not on the road, back home in Melbourne, live percussion and sax make up the six piece. Just before their live full on two hour set was to kick off; I stole a couple of minutes of precious time from Miss P and asked her why Sounds was so special. From her viewpoint it was all about the venue, the crowd and the interaction that makes DL love what they do.
As soon as Dean was behind the DJ booth, the crowd erupted. This was Dirty Laundry time. Nothing or no-one was going to make me miss this. The excitement in the air was amazing with the crowd hanging to witness the vocal talents of both Seany B and Miss P.
Dirty Laundry has a unique sound. They have the ability to get a track break it down and put it together again with their own style and create mash-ups from all the music we want and love to hear and sometimes not even admittedly so. You will witness and dance to anything from Nellie to THAT song off of Dirty Dancing to Seven Nation Army. You get the feeling that DL are really for the people. It’s not about being uber cool it’s about being Dirty. Shake off the attitude and have some fun!
Both Seany B and Miss P work extremely well together and feed off of each other superbly. Their MCing is seamless and effortless and, throughout the set, you will grow to hear Seany B interacting with the crowd and thanking each and every one of them for being part of the Dirty Crew. The energy from DL is relentless and you know when you have won over the dance floor when you happen to see the faces of the crowd just as smiley and happy beaming back at the DL guys themselves.
Sometimes it can be hard or even daunting for DJs to pick up after such a high intensity set, but with seasoned duo Illya and Toby Neal this proved no problem at all. Both are two of the best DJs that Sydney has to offer and as always, their back-to-back set was uplifting playing their usual signature funky house tunes giving way to yet another stellar performance.
My friends and I had a blinder of a day/night. Feel in love with the Dirty Boys n Gal and headed off home vowing to return. The Dirty Crew just got bigger. Sounds on Sunday and Dirty Laundry make a great association, you wont be let down, in fact you will be on such a high that you will return – mark my words!