D-nox & Kasey Taylor - Royal Melbourne Hotel - 12.3.2006
Author: Drew Kirby
Thursday, March 16, 2006
The main interest for me and highlight of the weekend was seeing the hottest property in Germany at the moment, dj D-nox from the highly acclaimed production duo D-nox & Beckers. The two combined have put out some of the biggest records over the last year, which have found their way into numerous dj crates, including mine, so it was going to be exciting hearing some of the old stuff amongst the more upfront fresh stuff.
The night was mild and balmy from the hot Sunday afternoon, with still a hint of that summery smell in the air you could sense that it was going to be a good vibe inside, which in hindsight turned out to be spot on. When arriving at the Royal Melbourne Hotel, I was greeted by some lovely door staff and the lad running the show, Frank. I must add, the Green Ant crew had adorned the Hotel with wonderfully coloured creations with decor scattered amongst the ceiling, and two steel towers on each side of the dj booth.
Walking through the big glass doors, the deep smooth sounds of Gavin Martin permeated through the atrium to everyone's delight. A dj that has superb taste in music, his punchy bass lines made his warm up set one of the best I have heard in a long time.
Not long before D-nox was ready to showcase his stuff, I headed up to the side room to catch Chris Meehan, who unfortunately by his standard does not play enough in Melbourne. Chris was pretty much on the money with all his tunes, a highlight was when he played the newly signed Sprout record (D-Knox's' Label) mid way through his set. It had a rather lush male vocal, but I forgot to ask for the name, probably due to my state of drunkenness at the time, or maybe because I've forgotten the name. It's definitely one to look out for though.
Heading back to the main room, what greeted me was sheer pandemonium. D-nox was very animated behind the decks, which in turn built the energy of his set perfectly. Some of the more noticeable tunes in his set were Jet Lag Slave, Ur a star, and his and Becker's remix of Che Malakita. The mixing and energy from D-nox was the key in making this party a success. I must be honest and say I had reservations early about how many would turn up, but the crowd was friendly, and up for it which is exactly what you want. The many that did turn up were treated to great music and a wonderful display from the bouncy German, who will be a huge star in 2006 no doubt.
Not to be outdone however, hometown great Kasey Taylor brought his traditional deep dirty progressive sounds back to Melbourne. He has lost none of his touch and has probably improved since his re-location overseas. I couldn't stay for long but what I heard was quality, and all in all ended my night with a buzz. Hats off to the crew involved and I can't wait for the next instalment! Tags