Reviewed onSunday January 22
The draconian lockout laws and awful government rules have been a blight on Sydney’s cultural growth. But every cloud has a silver lining, and the party scene that has erupted as a result of these laws has been nothing short of fantastic. Warehouse parties and a defiant club culture have developed around the periphery of the lockout zone, but we’ve also seen the advent of the day party, the perfect formula for an end-of-week shindig. Astral People’s Summer Dance series have become something of a Sunday staple around this time of the year, with a great little setting at Darlinghurst’s National Art School and a lineup of hyped local and global DJs/producers.
FBi Radio’s Andy Garvey and Lauren Hansom kicked things off with a nicely tinkered arvo set, before Sweden’s Kornél Kovács brought in his eclectic brand of beats, drawing inspiration from lounge disco to Latin funk and everything in between. Crowd favourite Roland Tings brought his distinctive dance music flavour to the stage with a spirited mix of house cuts as well as his own colourful tunes.
The sprawled set-up in the National Art School was either a complete fluke or a work of genius – the bar and seating was separate from the performance area, meaning that everyone around the stage was by no means a passive consumer, but an active participant in good times.
Berghain don Palms Trax closed out the evening with a gorgeous cut of sunset house and techno bound to put a smile on the face of even the most irritable of punters. He played a brooding set while weaving in some of his own productions including ‘Equation’ and ‘In Gold’.
We may be struggling to convince the powers that be to think rationally about how Sydney’s nightlife and music scene should operate, but where there’s a will there’s a way. Summer Dance is a shining example of this city’s spirit and a sold-out Sunday event is reflective of the huge support base for this kind of thing in the face of adversity. Long live the Summer Dance.
