- Sweetchilli returned for another monthly session of no-fuss straight up progressive music with the lineup containing the likes of Ben Korbel Vs Trent Anthony, Robbie Lowe, Mark Dynamix and Jilbert.
It was slow to warm up at first with people not streaming through the door until at least 12.30.
When we got there at 11.30 (it opened at 10), myself and two other people seemed to be the only ones enjoying Ben Korbel’s mixing in the Sweetchilli Room and everyone else inside the second room, the Playtime room, were just chilling.
I heard more of Ben Korbel’s playing than that of Trent Anthony’s, possibly because we spent a chunk of time outside in the Playtime room, or maybe Anthony played earlier when the bar first opened.
Jilbert was playing some funky house in the Playtime room, and his mixing was flawless, I’ve never actually heard of Jilbert up until now, but he was extremely impressive, especially when it came till about 1am (half an hour before he was to finish); I think he warmed that room up quite successfully and I hope he gets some more Sydney exposure, he definitely deserves some.
After Jilbert’s set we went back into the main room to hear some of Sweetchilli’s quality progressive music. Sweetchilli’s banner above the decks read “proper progressive”, and that pretty much set the scene for what we were to soon hear.
Robbie Lowe was next on the decks at 1.30, and after a few minor technical glitches with the swap-over he got the music going.
A couple of times the record bumped and then one of his records had a scratch and he had to get rid of it, but hey, no one really cared, it was easy come easy go here.
Robbie Lowe has a positively different progressive style to that of Korbel and it was a style liked very well. The Sweetchilli room was beginning to get quite packed, which was good.
Nothing would have made it worse had there not been enough people there to witness some of Sydney’s finest progressive, a lot which you don’t hear much anymore.
I don’t know how to describe Lowe’s style in comparison to Korbel’s, it’s less percussive than Korbel’s, but not as dark, a bit more smoother perhaps; hell I won’t even try to dissect it, but definitely worth a listening to if you get the chance.
Sweetchilli is a great monthly gig to showcase some of Sydney’s finest progressive DJs, but I think post New Years Eve exhaustion and spending could be why the Dendy didn’t grab a capacity-packed crowd like you’d expect it would for a monthly event such as this.