- It was around midnight when I got to Room with a few friends. Standing in the line, it was a quick wait before the door staff ushered us inside. Having recently been closed for renovations, I was curious to see what changes has been made to the club. Perhaps in line with the ‘Renaissance’ theme of the night, heavy red curtains/tapestry were hanging from the ceilings from some parts of the room and the far side if the floor near the cloak room was set up a peculiar display of an old dining table complete with antique chairs and wine goblets, as if it were a museum display. In the middle of the dance floor, there was a triangular podium of sorts which some of the early clubbers have taken to dancing on to grab a good spot in the crowded main room.
Sean Quinn was mixing up a storm in the main room. Throwing down progressive and break tracks, some highlights included Infusion – “Girls Can Be Cruel”, Aalacho – “Satellites”. The crowd energetically lapped it all up, also eagerly waiting for the headline act to appear. A quick duck into the side room sees Dean Millson playing some funky breaks tunes to punters taking a breather from the hustle and bustle of the main floor. At just about 1am, I made my way back into the main room to hear Sean Quinn mix in Quivver – “Space Manouvres Pt 3” before stepping down from the decks.
Hernan Cattaneo was up next and I was already wondering what he would continue with considering that Sean Quinn left him with such a big track to follow up on. Surprisingly, he let the track finish playing and Future Entertainment’s Head Honcho; Mark James picked up the mike and introduced the crowd to the Renaissance Master. Hernan Cattaneo was sporting a T-Shirt with Melbourne's own INFUSION written on the front, a rather cool design i'd love to get my hands on if available!
The starting track he laid down was dramatic to say the least, slow percussive beats with spacey breakdowns before the tempo went up a few notches and erupted into pounding bass lines! The crowd cheered as the party got into full swing. Hernan Cattaneo had perfect pacing and programming as he played a variation of deep house and progressive tracks that built up and down on each other, making it an interesting set to listen to. A few tracks that were in his Renaissance album were also played. Some train spotting I did identified these tracks: Hernan Cattaneo & Dean Coleman – “Behind the Music”, Casa Flava – “Homa”, Luke Chable Presents Quest – “The Shepperd”, Josh Wink – “Oakish”, Sigur Ros vs. Innerstate – “Svefn G Englar”.
All through the night, 3 projection screens flanking the stage saw the Renaissance logo flashed with different backdrops. I felt though that points that could be improved in the main room would be the sound system, which sounded inadequate in most spots, unless you were standing facing the console in the middle of the dance floor. Also, the air conditioning was poor, making it rather uncomfortable trying to dance in a heady mix of sweat and smoke.
Standing deep in concentration with the lights from the decks illuminating his chiseled face as he mixed in track after track, Hernan flawlessly mixed in track after track of the 4/4 beat, pausing to sign autographs and take the occasional photo when punters approaching the DJ booth. Playing past his slotted time of 5am, he continued to throw in classics like Underworld – “Cowgirl” and a breaks remix of Freefall feat Jan Johnston’s – “Skydive” which got many of the crowd singing along to it.
In all it was a really enjoyable night, I had my craving for quality deep house and progressive house tunes satisfied, in a set that was tastefully pieced together with Renaissance’s new man, Hernan Cattaneo!