Review: Pleazure

From the creators of the Every Picture Tells a Story series, comes "Pleazure". Born on the New Years Eve of 1995 and up until recently had been missing from the Melbourne party calendar. MUD (Melbourne Underground Development) is one of Australia's longest running and most respected event organisers. With over 50 events under their belt, MUD certainly knows what the punters want to see and hear.

Pleazure returned from a four year absence in the June of 1999 with another warehouse style 'doof' which blew the roof off the Bertie Street warehouse with a selection of Melbourne's finest DJ's.

Even before stepping into a MUD party, you know that you are going to be greeted with wall to wall decor, a lighting display that makes Americas 4th of July look like a candle lit dinner, and a playground that would make any raver wet themselves with excitement. Pleazure was no exception.

The Altona Sports and Leisure centre had been transformed into a Virtual Forrest. Huge 4x4 meter pictures of mushrooms butterflies and creatures filled the walls. Alien-like insects hung from the roof and psychedelic paintings covered the back.

The hip hop/breaks and funk room was surrounded by graffiti and pieces of art created by some of Melbourne's finest graffiti artists, although it was so dark in there it was hard to make out what they were up until the wee hours of the morning. The Chillout area was comprised of the usual cushions, pillows, trippy dub like tunes and the smell of dope incense created that cosy vibe.

American DJ, Thomas Michael was one of the international headliners for the night. His last Melbourne appearance saw him drop one of the Vengaboys tracks at EPTAS 16, so I did not expect much from this American cheese master. If this DJ churned the cheese barrel any harder he would have put the factory workers in Bega out of work. Even though the MUD parties are re-noun for the younger crowds, I doubt the tracks like "some where over the rainbow remix" did him any justice.

So it was off to the breaks room for me, although the room was empty for most of the night, the music did not disappoint. DJ RA and Majestic 12 both ripped up the decks with breaks, hip hop and old style tunes. Majestic 12 played some old time favourites such as James Browns "get on up", "papas delight" and other retro type tracks mixed into a techno beat. Upon trying to request a track my lovely friend approached the DJ only to find his face dripping in sweat and working those decks harder and faster than watching Ian Thorpe in fast forward. Big ups to the breaks DJ's for supplying us with the techno and music fix we needed for the night.

The only problems I had for the night was the lack of attendance, this made the party feel like it was only half full, and the loudness of the sound system. Previous complaints about using the Altona Sports centre for party's led me to believe MUD had no control over this.

As the Sun was rising and the light was beaming through the skylights, the colour and magic of the MUD wonderworld was taking shape. Scott Alert was left to fill the big shoes of Jason Midro, who is famous for his uplifting and hard hitting morning sets. Due to no surprise, Scotty came through with the goods.

Hard Kandy favourite Scott Alert pounded out his fluffy style trance and hard NRG. The only screams and whistles I heard during the night were from his set, as the crowd bounced around the dancefloor wearing their biggest smiles and pulling out their best moves. Scotty supplied us with crowd favourites such as "Thunder in Paradise- DJ Scott project remix" and "The Spice- by Arakis" (thanks for playing that for me Scott, you made my morning).

All in all, the morning really made my night worth while and the company I kept throughout the night and next day was absolutely great. Elly, Duncan, Jade and Clare- Luv you guys! :)