- When a guy like Christopher Lawrence makes his way to Australian shores I for one try to make sure that I don’t miss is. As one of the pioneers of the progressive techno/trance scene, he is fully deserving of the accolades he regularly receives. One such accolade was his recent voting as the “Number one US trance dj,” and it is his unique style that makes him stand out from the rest of the pack. I had never seen him live before, but figured that if his ‘Around the World’ compilation cd, released last year, was anything to go by then I would be in for a treat! I wasn’t wrong.
Sublime was the venue, a club night that I must admit I rarely frequent, but when the big names such as Lawrence are on the bill the Sublime crew definitely know how to put on a good show. And so it was that after a few warm up bevvies that I made my way down the already quite busy home nightclub, gratefully skipping the line which was, though far from massive, larger than I anticipated.
With Lawrence not due to commence his set until 3am (which I felt was a little too late for a headline act) I decided to spend the preceding hours soaking up tunes on the terrace and in the Beat-Fix room, where Elroy and Kid Kenobi were showcasing all things breakbeat, while Kate Monroe and Craig Obey kept things on the funkier side on the famous home terrace, or the ‘Cargo’ room as it is so termed. One of Sublime's main strengths is its ability to showcase a number of different genres on the same night, something that is fairly rare in Sydney’s party scene. It may not be a club of groundbreaking music, but when you simply look at how many people have such great nights there week in and week out you know they are doing something right, and at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about.
With 3am fast approaching I made sure I took up my spot near the front of the main room dancefloor before Lawrence had started his set. He was following on from Jumping Jack, who had been pumping out his trademark hard trance, and I was instantly impressed at how smoothly he made the transition into his own set, which was no easy task given his own rather different style. His opening track was pumping and though it was slightly harder than I expected he was definitely playing to the crowd well and wasted no time in getting them into it. His set progressed from hard edged tech to prog trance and then on to trance towards the end, but he stayed well clear of female vocals and cheesy synths, this was trance as it should be, with not an ounce of cheese in sight! Only couple of tracks I could identify were m.o.r.p.h – maximum overdrive and his closing track: euphonic – sahara, which was the perfect finish to one of the most enjoyable sets I have heard in a long time.
There aren’t a huge amount of international acts that I have left thinking that I just have to see again, but this was certainly one of them. Thankyou Sublime for bringing this guy out, the pleasure was all mine�