Last weekend’s event had been eagerly awaited for some time by dance music fans in Croatia. In its seventh year, Valkana Beach has become the largest event of its kind in Croatia and brings in international visitors for the most part from neighbouring Italy, Slovenia and Austria, although there were also people from as far afield as the UK. The international flavour of the crowd was also matched by the line-up behind the decks, with a fine mix of djs from the region (amongst them Petar Dundov, Umek, Marko Nastic) and big-name internationals along the lines of Richie Hawtin, Sven Vath, Sister Bliss and… Infusion! Since leaving Australia in February, I had been very keen to see these guys after the success of Legacy last year. Who would have thought that our paths would cross in Croatia? All of this came together to create a heady mixture of excitement and anticipation as I crossed the gates on the Friday evening.

Upon arriving I tried to orient myself in the Monvi Centre, which I had visited the previous night for a pre-party featuring Terry Francis. I could hardly believe how the venue had changed in 24 hours. It was almost unrecognisable: there were three principal stages, the main one featuring techno, an open-air amphitheatre featuring progressive and finally a club section for house. There was also a chill-out room, where breaks and drum’n’bass were being played. One could go so far as to say that a veritable smorgasbord was on offer, proof that Valkana Beach was directly competing with bigger-name festivals in Western Europe such as SonneMondeStern and was determined not to disappoint.

After briefly checking out the main stage, I headed over to the amphitheatre, just in time for some fine funky progressive sounds from Circulation. By this stage we were reaching the peak time for the night and I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of a painful crush of people that you usually get at events this size. From there we headed towards the main stage to catch some of local hero Petar Dundov’s set. It was a perfect example of why this part of the world is quickly becoming known for its techno: a percussive sound with fluid mixing, Dundov obviously knew what the crowd was up for and gave it to them. The set finished with much cheering and it was a fantastic introduction for the man I had spent the night waiting to see: Richie Hawtin.

On each of the previous two occasions I’ve seen him, Mr. Hawtin has more than lived up to the reputation that precedes him, thus I was a little disappointed to see the beginning of his set plagued with technical difficulties. He had to change decks several times in the first half-hour as a team of technicians fiendishly scurried at the front of the stage in a race against time. But Richie wasn’t flustered; he soon regained control and delivered some of the finest techno I had heard in ages. After that inauspicious beginning, it turned out to be a very well structured set building slowly and getting harder and harder until Hawtin had played several key tracks such as John Starlight’s ‘Blood Angels’ (which is quickly becoming THE track of the European summer) and T. Raumschmiere’s ‘Musick’.

On a side note, the main stage featured one of the most bass-heavy sound systems I’ve seen at a techno party and it sounded absolutely incredible – the music just seems to take on a completely different dimension at those levels, as those into their bush doofs would know. In a similar fashion to those parties, it was great seeing the sunrise and Richie finished off his set on a high as a beautiful day was breaking. The crowd just continued to cheer upon the completion of the set and you could hear strains of ‘Richie! Richie!’ in that unmistakeable Slavic accent. The man himself emerged out the front to shake hands with his acolytes, and I must congratulate him on his new look: gone are the squarish glasses and shining bald noggin of days of old, replaced by a smart blonde hair-do which will undoubtedly impress the ladies.

After that sort of opening night, it was going to be difficult for the closing night to match up, but the line-up definitely looked promising: Sister Bliss, Infusion, Oxia, Valentino, Umek and finally Sven Vath. To begin with we were greeted by the sounds of Oxia, who had just begun his set and seemed to be doing a pretty good job of it, but we were allured to the more spacious confines of the progressive amphitheatre by Sister Bliss. Now, I will say that I was slightly disappointed with her set at Welcome 2003, but this time around I was far more impressed: a very varied set, nicely negotiating that fine funky boundary between house and breaks, moving into more progressive territory towards the end. Sudha also accompanied her on live percussion which added a nice element to the set. The way the crowd went wild as she finished up with a breaks remix of ‘Insomnia’ will definitely be remembered as one of the moments of the festival.

As a proud little Aussie, I could hardly wait for Infusion to take the stage. It is great to see what were ‘local’ acts a couple of years ago making it big overseas, especially when they’re as a good bunch of blokes as these guys. They have had a fully packed schedule during this European tour and this was their last date prior to returning back home to a chilly Melbourne winter. It was a beautiful set that captured the essence of the Infusion sound. Just saying ‘sound’ doesn’t seem to give it justice considering how eclectic and well-integrated their music is, spanning progressive, electro and breaks in a very unique mix. The Croatian crowd was quite receptive and I think had been well won over by the time infusion finished with Legacy and I was dancing wildly to the side of the stage. It was once again a moment that will live on in my memory and that of many others, thanks guys!

The fact that Sister Bliss had run overtime meant that I had missed Umek and that Sven Vath had already started by the time I had managed to make it to the main stage. After Richie Hawtin’s blinder of a set the night before, Vath had some big shoes to fill. It was a feat which he achieved admirably and in style. It was quite hard grinding techno at times, with many an electro bassline to be had. A great sound which I think is really stating to come to the fore in Europe through labels such as Kobayashi and Kompakt. The festival finished up with an ecstatic Sven Vath shaking his booty in front of the stage and his dancing was giving many of the punters up front a run for their money. It was a perfect ending for what had been a very enjoyable festival. And then Valkana Beach faded into another crazy European summer, leaving many thinking ‘next year, next year’.