- The climax of a busy weekend for progressive house lovers in Brisbane lay with the last minute news of an extended performance from the South American favourite, DJ Hernan Cattaneo. In preparation for a long night, a steady crowd climbed the stairs through Family nightclub, gathering around the upstairs bar in the Uncle room as Fergus Alexander and Magoo rolled though a back-to-back set of trademark deep house sounds. Masters of the warm-up, they hand over to Kris-Ko, who launches into a set featuring some of his recent signings to Avangardia as Dektek Records. A test pressing of his current collaboration, "Kako Dobro," got a knowing wink, before the mood deepened into rolling tribal house and a seamless handover to Cosmo Cater.
No stranger to the headline set himself, Cosmo's regard for the dark art of the warm-up set has put him on the pointy end of some of the largest progressive house acts to tour through Brisbane. With Cosmo plying a steady build, when Cattaneo arrived and surveyed the madness, he confidently announced his intention to play until 5 AM. The news ignited a fresh wave of anticipation as Cattaneo took the decks, leaping past the anticipated slow burn and exploding straight into rolling tribal and deep chugging progressive.
Even in an era of forums, file sharing and chin stroking Twitter feeds, Cattaneo keeps the trainspotters guessing with a barrage of new music. With every peak and trough, from deepening tribal to melodic swells, the arm twirls reached higher and more enthusiastic, the floor spilled up over the edges of the podiums and the strobes burst with increasing intensity. The islands of familiarity got screams of approval, as a remix of the sweet melancholy of Gui Borrato's "Take My Breath Away" soon followed a collective pause, taking a moment to recognise a smashing remix of the theme song for the television show Heroes.
Amid the mayhem on the floor, Cattaneo called Rich Curtis into the booth, with an invitation to play with him in Barcelona some time by way of apology for bumping him with the ever-extending set. As one local DJ bounced back to the floor with a grin, the morning peaked with soccer style chanting and exploding strobe light on what was, after all, otherwise a quiet Sunday night out. There was nothing quiet as Monday morning took over from what is already regarded as one of the most epic nights for the progressive house faithful.