So, for the first time in history, Sudbeat came to Australia. When I found out that Hernán Cattáneo, El Maestro himself, was bringing his label showcase to Sydney there was no way I would miss it. Especially after Vyrys’ report from Balance of Croatia.
The party took place at The Roundhouse. And guess what .. it’s actually round! What a sweet surprise, Sydney, that for once the name really matches the shape of the venue.
The place was completely sold out. I had to Google it .. the capacity is about 2,200 people and I swear half the crowd were Argentinians.
The crowd was a bit older, but that didn’t bother me at all. Every time I think I’m too old for raving, I just remind myself how old the DJ is 😄
When I arrived, Quivver was already behind the decks and he prepared the ground for Hernán perfectly, with the right amount of progressive. Somewhere on the dance floor, I bumped into Anthony Pappa – such a character! I thanked him again for the interview he did for us a couple of weeks ago (you can read it on rave.cz).
There’s something I really love about DJs in this scene .. you actually bump into them in the crowd. While wandering around with my camera, I ran into Quivver again. We had a quick chat and he mentioned he knows Roxy Prague, where he’s played a few times before. Small world!
After that, we moved to the afterparty at Aura Club a new venue built inside the former ARQ building at Taylor Square, right in the heart of Sydney’s LGBTQ+ district. Now reborn as a high-end club with a Funktion-One system and underground feel, Aura was also sold out (capacity around 900). The queue was wild – we waited almost an hour to get in, but made it just in time to catch the last hour of Anthony Pappa’s set. Totally worth it.
I actually saw Hernán for the first time back in 2014 in Bratislava, where he played a private party for about a hundred people. I don’t think he ever played in the Czech Republic at least not that I remember. When I saw him in Bratislava, someone in the crowd even said I looked like his daughter. So when I saw him again at the afterparty in Sydney, I really wanted to say hello. (Because, you know .. hello, daddy 😅)
When I finally took the courage and approached him, he was the one who asked me first where I’m from. And straight away he said, “Yes, I played in Prague – what’s the name of that famous club? Roxy! Yes, I played there a couple of times, but not many people came, so I stopped playing in that part of Europe.” Gotta love that honesty.
He was so sweet, genuinely warm-hearted and like I said before, what’s amazing about this scene is that you really can bump into your favourite DJs on the dance floor.
And again, when Hernán stepped behind the decks, he basically picked up right where he left off at the Roundhouse and continued showing us why he’s still the king.
Sydney, you did well again. 💜