- One of Sydney’s most loved club nights is undoubtedly Sweetchilli. With every month that rolls by, the city’s prog massive look forward to another night of upfront music, quality DJs and the now almost famous ‘chilli vibe. Regardless of the season, a healthy turnout is always guaranteed simply because of the new and established talent that they continually bring out. Combined with a roster of the best local DJs, every night results in total progressive mayhem. The recent installment of Sweetchilli at Suzi Q’s on Saturday, 17th July 2004 was no different. Headlining the night was Melbourne boy turned internationally renowned and well respected DJ, Anthony Pappa. And what an outstanding night of music it was!
Sydney’s best progressive DJ, Robbie Lowe, kicked off the night in proper style. His two-hour opening set consisted of the requisite beats and melodies that are now affiliated with his DJing. While opening sets are sometimes missed, this time round people appeared to make the effort to get to Sweetchilli early in order to support one of their favourite locals. By the time he finished, people had already been happily grooving to his beats for over an hour. Always consistent and never a disappointment, Robbie set the ground work for what would evolve into one of the best nights experienced so far this year. Up next, Trent Anthony took over the reigns and kept the crowd quite happy with a slightly funkier progressive set. While I and many others would have preferred Robbie to warm up for Anthony Pappa, he nevertheless played a very commendable set.
What can be said about Anthony Pappa other then ‘wow’! Of all the internationals that I’ve seen play at Sweetchilli, he is the only one that has solidified his reputation with the set he played. From the moment he started until the very last beat of his last track, he had the crowd eating out of his hands. His set began on a hard, driving progressive sound that was taken to a progressive breaks tip and then brought back up with those driving beats. Not having ever experienced Pappa’s DJing abilities within a club environment, I initially wasn’t sure what to expect. I think my biggest fear was that he would play a dark and repetitive progressive set, which would have ultimately lost my interest very quickly. Instead, track after track, my interest was held and at one point my anticipation for what was to come next was so high that I thought I was going to squeal like a little child. All I kept thinking during the three hours that he played was ‘this is class’. And that’s exactly what it was.
To me, he never dropped a beat and kept the flow unrelenting. From a technical perspective, his mixing was flawless and he kept things interesting with his scratching and other special effects. Overall, I found myself completely impressed as I’m sure were the rest of the ‘chilli massive. While I was lucky to be right down the front, I kept looking around many times to see other peoples’ reactions. You know you’re witnessing something special when total strangers give you the thumbs up sign or smile at you. Personally, I would have been quite content for Pappa to have played until closing but then again, that would have just been plain greedy.
Following Anthony Pappa’s successful set was always going to be a hard task but closing off the remainder of the night was left in the hands of one of Australia’s most popular DJs, Mark Dynamix. Where Pappa left off with unrelenting beats, Dynamix picked up the flow and moved the night into a more big room progressive trance sound. This went down really well with the crowd at that time of the morning. Unfortunately for me, Pappa took a lot out of me and about twenty minutes into the last set of the night, I went and sat in the back room with a few people. Considering I’d been on my feet all night, those comfy couches were a welcome relief.
As always, Sweetchilli once again put on a great night. This is, by far, the best Sweetchilli I’ve attended and judging by the number of happy faces on the night, I’m not alone in my thoughts. Congratulations to Daniel and Crispin for another successful night of bedlam and progressive mayhem. My zimmer frame bill should be coming your way shortly.
Much respect!