In the wake of the Rooftop Party, all we’ve heard is good things about how the day went and how everyone enjoyed themselves. For those unfortunate few that missed out on the day InTheMix.com.au sent down their trusty reviewer, Alianne, to cover the day. She’s done extremely well in capturing what was one of our best events to date. Special thanks to her for the kind words 🙂
The Substance crew specializes in amazing parties featuring quality tunes and lots of shenanigans, Rather than bringing in internationals, they embrace the best of Melbourne’s considerable local talent, resulting in grooving sets of a variety of different genres. Previous gigs have included Danny Bonnici at their last Terminus Rooftop party, and Mixed Substance at Brown Alley, showcasing a selection of different locals such as J-Slyde. Tonight, Melbourne’s prog legend Luke Chable would be joining some of the usual crew, along with Muska and Alison Spong, to name just a few.
It was my first time visiting the Terminus Hotel, a cosy two-storey bar in Abbotsford, and even from the outside, I could hear tunes drifting down from the rooftop, making me excited to get inside. Past a fireplace and up a flight of stairs were two rooms with a few people chilling on couches, but the main party was outside on the covered balcony. The weather forecast for the Saturday was for cold and rain, so the dancefloor was completely covered over with plastic along most of the sides too, protecting the booth. Luckily Melbourne’s notorious skies decided to grace us with sun shining onto the dance floor for a big chunk of the afternoon. Dancing in the sun, sunnies on, to deep bassy tunes was amazing!
Taran M was finishing up his set when I arrived, playing a fun and funky mix of tracks, with some remixes of commercial tracks thrown in (I think I may have heard Jay-Z and Linkin Park). Alison Spong was up next, popping her Substance cherry. She played deep progressive tracks, with some excellent melodies thrown in. Not too full on, and ideal for that point in the afternoon, when the majority of the crowd began to arrive. Her mixing was spot on and her set time was ideal, just as the crowd began to swell for the evening.
The upstairs bar, conveniently located at the back of the rooftop area, was kept busy. Their snakebite pints, pink and deadly, were a big hit! Next up came Simon Murphy, who opened with a very amusing remix of Duck Sauce’s Barbra Streisand. He was playing deeper and techier tunes, and soon had the dancefloor moving. I think I heard a D-Nox and Beckers track or two in his set; nice and progressive.
J-Slyde took over around 6pm, and took the party up another level. The sun was shining through the plastic walling behind the booth, dusting the rooftop dancefloor in golden light, as he brought out the breakbeat. A selection of slightly cheesy but oh so good tunes sent the dancefloor wild. Bouncy breaks like The Stanton Warriors’ Still Here transitioned smoothly into techy house, and back into more hip-shaking breaks. Prodigy vs Elite Force – Smack my Force Up was probably the standout tune for me, an excellent mash-up of two banging songs. I loved the placement of the booth right in front of the dance floor so we could see watch his skilful mixing. By the time his hour was up the crowd was ready to dance even more for Chable.
Luke Chable opened with Timo Mass’s Better Make Room (James Holden remix), groovy and a little bit techy, and continued with a selection of some of his classic progressive tunes: his remix of Cloud Cuckoo by Sasha bathed the crowd in melody, and he smoothly blended in several excellent tracks by James Holden, an artist who complements his own style very well. Chable’s classic remix of Dream On was a 10-minute journey through the best of melodic progressive house.
He eventually brought his set to a close but gave into the crowd, playing as an encore PQM’s You are Sleeping, sending the rooftop wild. Overall his set showcased some excellent progressive classics, but I was very disappointed he didn’t feature even one of his classic breakbeat tunes and remixes, especially Melburn, which would have been beautiful on the rooftop. His set did take the energy level down a notch from J-Slyde’s set.
Next up, Muska took the music deeper with a dancey set of rhythmic deep house and tech. The rooftop was beginning to empty out a bit now; with the onset of night it had gotten quite chilly, and despite dancing and a few scattered heat lamps I was feeling the cold. I stuck around for most of the hour, digging Muska’s selection and having a little more room on the dancefloor, but eventually decided to call it an excellent evening and take my weary self home.
Substance put on a stellar party; the crowd was wonderfully friendly, the venue was comfy and perfect for an afternoon gig, and the music was amazing throughout the night, and interestingly varied. The weather and sunshine was the icing on top of a very delicious evening.
