Henry Saiz – Brisbane Show – Balance 032 Launch

On Friday 1 December and for the second time in 2023, Spain’s Henry Saiz played in our town, at Wonderland Brisbane for the launch of his Balance 032 Compilation. It was an intimate setting with a packed dance floor, brought to us by promoters Lemon & Lime and Wonderland Friday crew Kuća. On support were locals Tom. and Vibe Joy. We were all very happy to see Henry again so soon!

This was the Natura Sonoris record label founder’s fifth time playing in Brisbane (Meanjin) for Lemon & Lime. The first was in March 2015 at much loved Fortitude Valley institution Capulet, a club which is long gone and still remembered fondly by Brisbane’s electronic music community. The first gig Henry played in 2023 was in January upstairs at Woolly Mammoth, before it became Wonderland Brisbane.

Melbourne’s Balance Music, established in the year 2000, released Balance presents Natura Sonoris in July 2017, a compilation and mix album by Henry Saiz featuring exclusive tracks from his label. November 2023’s Balance 032 is a more personal three-disc compilation and mix album by Henry, with music he has found around the globe, as well as having laid his experienced producer hands on with new productions and remixes of his own.

Brisbane’s man about town and Lemon & Lime resident DJ Tom. was on the warmup for the night and primed the dance floor with some choice cuts of deep, minimal, organic and tech house music. His set included tracks such as The Flubbenator by Sanoi & Jake Rattler, out on YION, and the Mihai Popoviciu & Markus Homm Remix of Instant Transmission by Atish & Vridian, on Manjumasi. He also dropped two remixes by Cristina Lazic, from labels likeminded and Hungarian Hot Wax. One of the last tracks Tom. played was the Julian Wassermann Remix of Atm by Oliver Deuerling, available on East Project. 90 minutes of laidback house music had got the place ready for the next three hours featuring Henry Saiz.

Henry’s set featured the latest deep and melodic house and techno, including tunes relevant to Balance 032. His third track in was the Red Axes Remix of Got Everything by Kutiman, out on Siyal. In a nod to the local flavour, he played the Sasha Carassi Remix of With You by Melbourne legend Jamie Stevens, out on UK label Music To Die For. Things really picked up when he dropped his Darktrip Remix of This Time, This Place feat. Beki Mari, by Röyksopp. Henry’s Downtempo Egodeath Version is on the Balance album.

The man had some more new goodies for us, including the Lonya Remix of Fire In Me by Emre K. on Polyptech Noir, and the Rampa &ME Remix of More Love by Moderat & Keinemusik. There was a bit of a special moment when Henry played a new Luke Alessi track called Aqua Stars, on Rose Avenue. If you are a fan of the Donkey Kong Country games, you may recognise the melody from this tribute.

We were grooving away, and Henry dropped the Gerd Janson LA Noir Mix of Adams Hill by Tensnake, on Armada. Having lost track of time and been soaking up the atmosphere for three hours, it was nearly over. Henry had a perfect tune to finish his set with, which was the Transhuman Club Version of his production called Ghosts, released on Natura Sonoris in 2018.

How fortunate we were, to see Henry play for the second time in a year, both upstairs and downstairs at the same venue. He rocked the joint, and it was so cool of him to hang around for a while and talk to people in the crowd. Then Henry was off to play at Return to Rio in Sydney the next day, to complete his Balance 032 tour of Down Under.

We still had another 90 minutes of music and dancing in store, brought to us by Gold Coast DJ Vibe Joy. It was techno all the way to keep us going until the early morning, a perfect build after the melodic sounds of Henry Saiz. Vibe Joy’s opening track was the Timo Lissy Remix of Funny Faces by Electrypnose, on Frequency Squad Rec. She played the Oryza Remix of Get Off My Lawn by Delix & Allan Pillai, on Techgnosis Records, as well as Banter by Kaufmann (DE) on Stil Vor Talent. Clearly a fan of South African duo Miles From Mars, Vibe Joy dropped their collab with TiM TASTE called Intermission, on Subios Records, and for something different finished her set with their psy-trance remix of Era by Freedom Fighters, on Stereo Society.

It was one of the last events at Wonderland Brisbane for the Kuća brand, which brought house and techno to us for a year or so and filled a void left by clubs like Laruche, Sub Rosa and Capulet. For Lemon & Lime it was a fantastic way to see out 2023, who have since been part of Elements In The City, hosted Ferry Corsten, Ben Hemsley and Amy Wiles, as well as Paul Van Dyk and Blastoyz, and followed that with Sasha in April. Next up from Lemon & Lime is the album tour of Balance presents Dave Seaman & Quivver, at La La Land Brisbane.