The night was Slinky. Location, the golden coastline of Surfers Paradise at Fever nightclub. Expectations were on a dead average. The music was set to blow the roof but the energy of the crowd was yet to be seen. Getting to the door at 9 o’clock found the area still fairly empty with most of the punters still downing their last few drinks at the many meat markets lining the streets. Getting cosy inside the funky house music began to set the scene nicely with a steady stream of eager clubbers grooving away in anticipation of what was to come. The night continued on consistently as the house turned a little sinister with a stab of trance thrown in for good measure.

By around 11 the place was buzzing with an assortment of groovers, posers and bug eyed ravers. As the pace of the music began to increase, the dance floor slowly began to fill as people tried to get in as much dancing as they could before the room inevitably crammed itself full to capacity. When Dave Lea finally hit the decks at 12, the room was at boiling point. The people wanted Slinky, and they wanted it then and there. Dave Lea was a DJ from whom I knew nothing of what to expect aside from the fact he was a trance pioneer. The set built itself up from slow uplifting trance classics to some banging new hard trance tracks.

As we saw the place continue to fill, the expectation was made that numbers inside would start to steady out. This was not to be as more and more people began cramming into the place and the dance floor began going crazy. The energy inside was something that from a Gold Coast perspective had to be witnessed to be believed. Smiling faces, bouncing heads and some amazing dancers made it obvious this was one night the coast would never forget, and yet still one that was hardly over.

Nearing the end of his explosive set, Dave Lea knew he had the crowd worked and decided to crank up the power a little more. The sound inside the club was deafening, on every build many on the dance floor could do nothing more then stand and feel the music grow inside them.

The peak reached when ‘Bulgarian’ was dropped and by that time everyone was becoming anxious to see whether or not the mistress Lisa Lashes could top such an amazing set as delivered by Dave Lea. As Lisa was due to start this question would soon be answered.

No sooner than the first few tracks of her set, we knew there was no other DJ that could even come close. Song after song of the most explosive hard trance and hard house mashings were delivered and fever’s foundations began to relocate themselves in a million different directions. The podiums were crammed; the dance floor going literally insane, even the punters congregating the bars couldn’t help themselves.

As the lazers played on the ecstatic faces of those below, Lisa’s smile never left her face. This was what she played for, and this is why we had come.

The set moved from its hard trance origins to hard house designs as Lisa jammed in a fellow Tidy Girl (Anne Savage’s) latest track ‘Hellraiser’. Even at this stage the crowd was going as nuts as ever. Psycho hard house was the best way to describe the sound and the looks on many faces mirrored this perfectly.

Lisa’s peak came when the classy Guyver track ‘Differences’ was dropped. Never before on the coast have clubbers from so many backgrounds been able to embrace a song in this way. Arms in the air and cheers rising from every corner, looking to my left a fellow clubber screamed “it’s a club night rave!!!” Something that had previously been only dreamed of by locals.

As Lisa closed her set everyone began collapsing in search of any seating available to rest their bodies, replenish their water supplies and discuss the topic of recoveries.

Once Lisa’s set finished, closure was universally made as to whether or not she was the best the world has to offer in the hard trance/hard house scene. The answer was undoubtedly yes!

Overall the night was the best I have ever witnessed on the coast and comes close to topping the best club night ever. Dave Lea far exceeded expectations and perfectly worked in the club for Lisa’s arrival. From that point, Lisa took what Dave Lea had created and simply built on it to complete an amazing night out.

If you missed the night, make it a priority to catch these DJ’s at a later date, class act all the way.