- Holeandcorner felt like an ambitious venture from the start. A boat party and a warehouse bash rolled into one, the event unfurled over the course of 12 hours on Saturday, December 19th in Melbourne, featuring the likes of Petar Dundov, Scuba, Moodymann and some well-loved locals. It was a grand idea, but logistically it fell short of the mark, rendering it a somewhat haphazard but nonetheless enjoyable day out. According to the promoters, their original venue reneged on their booking at the last minute, leaving them with the less-than-ideal situation of having to spread the lineup across two of the city's smaller venues, Platform One and Roxanne, both of which lie a considerable distance from each other. To add to matters, Melbourne found itself in the midst of a heatwave that weekend, with humid days making way for wet and stormy nights.
Because of the rise in temperature, the air-conditioning was working overtime at Platform One, a former railway tunnel that is now a long, cramped nightclub. Dundov warmed things up in the afternoon, playing on CDJs despite the promise of a live show. He began with the kind of lush, melodic techno he's known for, keeping the pace up with quick, artful transitions and an increasingly heavy-hitting tracklist. He finished with a pounding techno cut and a wave to the crowd before local favourite Tornado Wallace took over, following with an eclectic and very danceable set. Not long after he'd finished, I piled into a shuttle bus and made for the night's next destination.
When I arrived at Roxanne, Late Nite Tuff Guy was playing up to the young, trendy crowd with the likes of Todd Terje's "Inspector Norse," balanced with bits of old disco and soul. It was an excellent prelude to Moodymann's second performance of the evening, a tight, adventurous set that spoke to the Detroiter's expansive and wide-ranging tastes. In amongst slices of techno and house were a Whitest Boy Alive remix I couldn't place, and Portishead's "Glory Box."
Scuba's peak-hour turn, though, was my personal highlight, even if his brand of polished techno sounded slightly out of place on the night. He played some Hotflush tracks, Paul Woolford's "Orbit" and Len Faki's remix of his own "Black On Black" among them, along with some of 2015's biggest records (Alan Fitzpatrick's "Love Siren," Tale Of Us's "Silent Space.") Before I knew it the two hours were over and Scuba was whisked away. Just before he left, he dropped Danny Hayles's "Politician Dub" and high-fived a guy in the front row.