You've got to hand it to the Renaissance crew for their consistent deliverance of quality parties and stellar rotating DJs. Last week's night was no exception at The Cross. They brought down stalwart Sander Kleinenberg to rock the place down to result in one of the best times I'd had so far this year.
There was a long queue outside and people weren't allowed entry by 1am as it was packed inside. Some of my mates were still left outside. I didn't get a chance to hear Phil K play because Sander had taken over the reigns by then. I did check out the other room where Rob Da Bank and Chris Coco were playing a mash up of funk, disco and some electro in the likes of New Order and Depeche Mode. After a while, I managed to squeeze my way through a bopping crowd to make my way to the main room.
With his new Renaissance 'Everybody' compilation released to worldwide acclaim under his belt, Sander showed he's the man of invention as he helmed the decks for a good 5 hours. The man responsible for rocket progressive track 'My Lexicon' played a brilliant and tight set that night. His playing was a departure from the stuff I was used to hear him play before. His music direction has changed and he has definitely progressed forward and reinvented himself completely. Beautiful melodies and soaring euphoric sounds could be heard on riding house and tribal beats. He created such a blissful atmosphere that I wished we were out in an open field instead of in the confines of a club. If that is the new progressive, bring it on! I loved it, the sexy and sensuous vocals, the atmospheric elements, the breakdowns that were timed perfectly, sometimes creating a poignant feeling to the listeners and other times making us wait in anticipation for the track to rise again. And none could have brought us on this epic journey better than Sander. He had us raising our hands in the air. There was none of that dark sound that progressive DJs are known for. He even dropped Outkast's Hey Ya towards the end that had us all doing the rump shaker. Much respect! The night ended too soon but it was already 6am and we pleaded for Sander to play one last track and he obliged willingly. It has been quite a while that a DJ's set went by so quickly for me. Kudos had to be given to Renaissance for an amazing night in a beautiful club with a top notch DJ.