I’m not a big techno fan by any stretch of the imagination, I’m definitely more of a rock guy. I went to the Royal Melbourne Hotel‘s Bang! night two weeks earlier, with a cover band playing the likes of Green Day and Blink 182, so when I went to see techno DJ Max Cooper strut his stuff on the turntable, I knew I might as well have been in a whole other nightclub. Not only was the music obviously belonged to a whole other genre, but the crowd and vibe of the place was so different.
I got there at 11pm, an hour after doors opened, thinking if Max Cooper’s as popular as he was made out to be that there would be a long queue, risking my chances of getting in. He’s from the UK and it was a ticketed event, so he’s obviously got fans Down Under. Not only did I get in pretty much straight away, but the club didn’t have that many people, the dance floor was a big empty space with folks scattered around the club. Everyone’s obviously come here to see Max, and sure enough, in the half hour before his midnight start, many peeps flocked into the club.
When I think techno music, I think fast, loud doosh doosh music pumping through speaking to the point of being deafening. Hopes were not high at first with the DJs before Max playing generic, annoying and headache inducing tunes with no rhythm. I felt I was going to be in for a long night, with Max’s set being an epic four hours! Fortunately, Max Cooper’s tunes were far more smoother and mellow than I expected. Far slower than what I expected at least.
Despite the typical techno crowd you’d expect at any club (with one guy even asking me for eckies), but they didn’t seem that pumped up, despite the enthusiastic dancing and odd cheer. But there was no real engagement with the audience from Max, except raising his hands a few times to incite cheering. But having said that, this party’s about the tunes and the pumping bass. It’s lyricless songs are about the journey of the body and the soul, the feeling the music gives you. You could argue that’s what music in general is supposed to do, but without lyrics to distract you from the beats.
The only real criticism I have is that if you’re near the entrance to the next room, you could hear music in other room. That should not happen in a nightclub! Granted, it’s the lack of space between the two rooms that caused this problem and it was (probably) unavoidable, but still!
I never intended to stay the whole 4 hour set (had to bloody work the next morning!), but the heavy rain prevented me from leaving when I initially wanted to, so I got to enjoy more of Max’s set in the dry club. With hypnotic tunes blazing away, entrancing these ravers, Max Cooper really is a DJ deserving of international intrigue surrounding him and his beats.
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