Lee Burridge 365 Tour @ Darkbeat

Lee Burridge has been a very busy man. For the past year or so he has been globe-trotting as part of his 365 World Tour. The tour is based on a concept devised by Burridge, he wanted to experience producing and dj-ing on a global scale, planning one-to-two month residencies in locations all around the world. He has managed to immerse himself in the club scene in destinations including Ibiza, cities in the United States and most recently, Sydney. The Darkbeat and Sunny crews teamed up for this event and were fortunate enough to get him to travel down for an exclusive Melbourne show as part of this 365 World Tour.

It promised to be a very special night as Burridge's 365 concept is to turn up to venues without any idea about what he is going to play. Rather than playing the same music from place to place, Burridge's sets have been constructed around the vibe of the club and crowd on the night. I was also extremely excited to get the opportunity to see Burridge as his mixed CDs produced as part of the Global Underground and Renaissance series take pride of place in my collection.

I arrived to hear Gavin Keitel in full swing, throbbing out some deep tech house. His solid, constantly faultless style never fails to keep the crowd moving on the dance floor.

The lower two levels of Brown Alley were used for the event and this combined with low lighting around the venue helped to create an intimate, almost anonymous atmosphere.

After having a quick scan through the crowd I saw a very familiar face - to my surprise Burridge was standing near the bar having what seemed to be a casual chat and drink. I assume this was also a way for him to scope out the crowd prior to his set.

I think he must have got a bit side-tracked in the crowd as Burridge started a fair bit later than his expected time. I could tell everyone was extremely eager for him to come on as everyone was straining to see if he had come up to play.

The screen effects behind the DJ booth were a sign that he had arrived. On the display there was an image of Burridge's promo photo, his face locked in a weird grimace. This then morphed into the face of an old Asian man. The resemblance was uncanny, comical and even a bit eerie.

From the start Burridge managed to deliver exactly what he promised. There was a massive amount of crowd participation, he reacted well to everyone's cheers, letting out a massive cheeky grin when he was about to drop a massive track. He really managed to create a set that everyone was in the mood for and he maintained this for the whole four hours. In between playing some of the craziest tracks I have heard in a while and achieving seamless and creative mixing, he managed to fit in a chat, pose for a photo and hold up records into the air for the crowd to see.

In terms of musical style, all I can say is he rocked it. Like always he played a huge variation- a bit of trance, even some progressive house and a lot of heavy percussive and tribal beats. He chose numerous tracks with massive build-ups, at one point in the night there seemed to be one in every song. That technique managed to make everyone roar and bounce up and down like they were all jumping on pogo sticks.

Towards the end of his set he changed his style and laid down some chilled, funky tracks. He managed to turn this around in the last half an hour (just when everyone seemed to be settling down), by dropping some fat, crazy beats with massive bass lines. Everyone was up and at it again on the dance floor.

The music, like his personality oozed heaps of energy which reverberated thoughout the room and gave the place a fantastic atmosphere. There is nothing better than going to see a DJ who obviously loves what he does and is passionate about making his sets memorable.

Unfortunately the four hour journey had to end. Burridge's devastating set will be a hard one to match. Rollin Connection were playing next and boy they had some big boots to fill…and they Tags

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