Well well well.. Melbourne's new restriction changes has now brought dancefloors back for good in the club/event scene in Melbourne, but to be completely honest it was like it never left. With this edition of our current trending section I have decided to showcase what I have been up too the past month! & also whats up next for the people of Melbourne?
Black Market VIC
I was lucky enough to be invited to a private doof out near Wensleydale by the fellas at Black Market, it was a seriously insane weekend with a lineup full of local talent! I got to meet a lot of new people and catch up with those I haven't seen since this whole COVID stuff has taken a break. I really think that this stuff is great thing for the community & the boys @Black Market want to make this a public thing in the next following years.
The lineup @Black Market the lineup consisted of!
Reece & Riley
Josh Guzz
Lucas Ek
Billy Marlais
Jono
Lachlan Darmanin
FAR-OUT
Lachy Fahy + James Scholes
6 Litres + Maratus
Turbo Noons + CULLEN
OOTS
& One of Stewi Mags latest DJ selections TrakBurn
The boys put in a lot of effort to get Black Market to run the way it was & I really hope the boys stick at it next year and make it a public thing to the whole community because I reckon it will be such a good turnout!
Below you will see a few videos I took well more than a few I'd say...
OOTS dominating 1-2am SAT
6 Litres & Maratus throwing the hammer down 11-12pm SAT
FAR-OUT closing out with some 145+ 3-4am FRIDAY
TrakBurn hammering the dfloor with some 2000's trance! 2-3am SAT
And a special treat after Saturday was closed off by a 5am kick ons set sorted by Turbo Noon who played a clinic of Psy.
You can also find them on Instagram @BlackMarketVIc
My CICADA gig @New Guernica was nuts!
I was lucky enough to be invited by the Cicada team & brothers @Lucas Boston & @Maison Bell to play at their most recent CICADA monthly event! I got to play upstairs alongside some talented heat such as one of Stewi Mags most recent DJ's Form1Lane & also Mistr Dean! I also on the night was supporting the likes of Suki, OOTS & another Stewi Mag DJ Sryup-E just to name a few! Overall it was a great success of an event by the team and I had a lot of fun bumping up probably my favorite crowd to date!! Below are some of my favorite moments with pics also captured by the don himself @charlietraynor. I have also been playing at a few clubs recently such as the likes of MyAeon & Cocktails and Techno as well so if you see me around don't forget to say hey!
Secret Location Parties/Doofs!! & what do I think of this for the communityy?
On the 18th of Feb I attended a secret location doof/party hosted by those in the Melbourne area, who invites pretty much everyone who is following them on Instagram one post of a location for about 30 minutes - an hour and then it's deleted so you always have to be quick! This party had DJs such as Kaysteng, DJ Ali & Omran, Nite Fleit & those from Norway @ute recordings or Accelerationsim!! It was such an insane night with a turnout over 300+.
I think for the community that this a huge thing until the police decided to shut this stuff down, it gives those people the chance who haven't experienced something like this before to not only experience it but be apart of such fun community! I also think this gives those a chance who can't catch up with people from other areas etc, with these things happening it gives more and more people ideas on having their own and finding new locations!
Then on the 19th i attended another secret location party in an underground area of Melbourne still in the cbd though, the turnout wasn't as good but the music and location was just as sick! This was ran by the people at Filter Naarm and I have spoken to them and there is exciting things coming for the future!
WARG FT. NASTIA, REBEKAH, SHDW & OBSCURE SHAPE & MICKEY NOX
Well well well... Warg came out with a heater of an event on the 19th Feb with the current dance floor restrictions being removed the day before & they also had 3 Internationals on the lineup making this a smack bang event for the Warg team & I can tell you it was a success of a day!
Nastia with a perfect time & a perfect hard techno/synth set full of high energy & emotion seriously brought the crowd in, I think Nastia is a better night time DJ but she definitely proved me wrong for the second time now! That she definitely suits the daytime slots!
Shdw & Obscure Shape I didn't get to see much of due to me attending the event abit late but i got to see them for at least half and was a perfect warm up for Nastia in my eyes! Bringing out some records a long the way as well!
Mickey Nox being the only non international headliner on this event & also warming up for Rebekah to me honestly I think that put a lot of pressure on him but also could've made him more excited because he really did smash it! Playing some of his unreleased stuff along with tracks that bring that hard banging kick you can only hear through proper good speakers!
Rebekah was seriously insane, closing the night with such an amazing not only set but also light show Warg did a great job with getting great speakers, lights & lazers for the show, but Rebekah honestly had the best set in my eyes playing my type of techno ( hard & fast ). It was such an insane night & I would like to thank the Warg team for inviting me to this!
What is coming up for not only the Melbourne community but myself as well!
Melbourne has some very exciting festivals/events happening over the next couple of months & I hope to be at every single one of these or hopefully even playing in the future! Below will be a list of events & festivals located around the Melbourne area!
Pitch Music & Arts Festival 2022 ( Labor Day Long Weekend )
We all know that very soon a first sold out Pitch Festival located in the Grampians will be taking place! Yes I will be attending this & I hope to see many people there, but this weekend is one of my favorites because you always get to decide the artists you want to see & making the hard decisions if 2 artists are playing at the same time etc. Personally for me I have a few on my bucket list that might be the same as everyone.. Tred, Laura King, Matrixxman, Skin on Skin just to name a few! I really hope they fix the Pitch Black stage setup this year other than that, WHAT A WEEKEND!
Strawberry Fields Festival ( Late March & First week of April )
Yes if you didn't know already Strawberry will be separated into 2 different weekends, due to the old NSW COVID restrictions.Now that NSW has opened thier restrictions back up they still haven't changed it to one whole weekend which is resulted into a lot of tixel resales. Strawberry is a great festival as i attended in 2019 & will be attending weekend 1 this year! I just think people are disappointed with the out come, hoping to see everyone there still though.
SHELTER Festival ( April 3rd )
Ah I have been dying to share with you guys that I will be supporting 2 INSANE European headliners by the names of UMEK & Teenage Mutants at Shelter Festival on April 3rd I will be playing b2b with one of Stewi Mags up & coming DJs Chris Widmar. Shelter will be at Sea-works located in Williamstown holding a capacity of 4,000 people! The fellas at Lucky Entertainment, Faces of Group & Post Meridem Events have done a great job with planning everything to go ahead for this festival, they have also just announced they have added a second stage by the name of " The Rave Cave" to this along with a bunch of stacked artists! I am seriously that keen for such a huge day & to people able to meet some of my favorite DJs that I am sharing this event with such as Rory Marshall, Bella Claxton, Willem, Lucas Boston just to name a few.
Main Stage Lineup
Dyso
Diffa
Ebony Willis
Jayden Eddy
Josh Heywood
Mitch Lockhart
North Barton
SKRAM
Phil Napoli ( Dr. Phil )
Rory Marshall
The Journey
YANZO
& the dons
UMEK
Teenage Mutants
Rave Cave Lineup
A-Well
Bella Claxton
Denim SKRT
Lucas Boston
Misse
OOTS
Stewi
Upper 90
Widmaar
Willem
Yancy
As a an artist I feel like going to these events are super important to the community! We also have the Smalltown Bridge Rave ran by Novel hosting Stephan Bodzin, Ben Klock & Gerad Janson & I'm sure a ton of clubs will be running insane events further & further along the year! I hope to see you out there Melbourne!