Evolution NYE @ The Venue, Salamanca (31/12/02)
Reported by Tristan Wednesday, January 1 2003
Carefully avoiding the underage drinkers and general pleb population any New Years Eve attracts to the docks, upon waltzing on in to the courtyard, clearly a large amount of work had gone into Evolution NYE. With an almost army of helpers, combined with a night which brings out the worst in notorious Hobart late attendees, upon arrival there were strange dynamics aplenty in the courtyard. Also with local DJ Havier playing Tim Deluxe, I didn?t really know where to look.
Things soon picked up though when the main room, was opened. Martyn Allen commenced the musical workout shortly into 2003. Playing his familiar brand of tough big room prog such as Trancesetters ? Roaches (Peace Division Mix). He soon moved through taking up his position on the boundary between progressive house and trance. To say the crowd took a while to get going was understating it and when Martyn Allen was playing to a crowd of five, expectations for the night were lower than Christina Aguilera?s hipsters.
Once again people baffled me, as despite there being a decent sized crowd there, the majority were either outside chilling or dancing to the local DJ. Some of the problem may have been due to both rooms having a similar music policy, in effect competing with each other. Talk centred on closing one area but Evolution were already on the case. When Martyn Allen?s first set finished they moved him down into the courtyard and slowed things down leaving Marty Butler to take things up a notch or two upstairs.
Showing an irrational enthusiasm for harder sounds perhaps only matched by that for another martin, the venue soon filled up for Marty Butler giving poor Martyn Allen a complex and leaving him to wonder what he was doing wrong. Upstairs though, the pace was feverish. Keeping it nice and hard the crowd appreciated Who Da Funk ? Shiny Disco balls (Hard House Mix). Varying the tempo, Butler went on to include the Brothers In Rhythm mix of Placebo - Passive Aggressive and Lost Tribe ? Gamemaster. ?Twas a good and hard set brought down only by power cut outs and blatantly obvious pitch returns.
With upstairs now banging, Martyn Allen almost sprinted up the stairs when Marty Allen finished his first set. Having to play far harder than he started was a challenge he relished supplying his loyal followers with a tasty supplies from a new box. Playing hard house, trance and hard trance, it was compulsory for the Marco V Mix of Café Del Mar - Energy 52 to be played. By the time Marty Butler returned to play the event out, the long night had taken it?s toll and bed was calling louder than the beats were.
If the measure of any event series is whether problems are rectified and continuos improvements are made, then Jason and Ben have a bright future. At it?s peak there would have been around 3 times as many people as attended Evolution 1, showing things are indeed starting to happen for Evolution Productions. The setup was lavish with attention to detail accompanied by extravagant foresight and problems were rectified through initiative and adaptation. It?s always comforting to know promoters are one step ahead of you during the night and here they were two if not three steps ahead. A top night and fitting finale to 2002.
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