For the first time in many years I escaped the craziness that is new years Sydney style and made my way to the sublime surrounds of a bush party experience.

After a ninety minute journey along highways, byways and eventually dirt tracks we came upon the party. We made our initial reconnaissance and chose a spot for our base camp for the night. After setting up our shanty it was time to kick back and enjoy the tunes.

Our position gave us prime listening location for the Tampered stage. They started out with some hip hop sounds before moving into more recognisable Tampered type techno territory. Some of the stages were still being set up at this point and the crowd seemed small due to the large area the site covered. The other stages began to crank up just as the Tampered guys began to suffer some power problems of their own with several breakdowns occuring before they got it sorted.

The breakdown at Tampered allowed us to experience the Lethal Rhythm drum and bass without even having to move from our spot. From the other direction the strains of Love Shack by the B52’s drifted past proving that this party was definately not taking itself to seriously.

As the Tampered stage kicked back into life we were treated to a bootyfied version of Missy Elliot’s Work it which got the dance floor up and moving in that area.

New Years seemed to sneak up and before you knew it, it was over. Their were a few isolated fire works and a bit of a countdown but I missed most of that while on the search for the rest of our group. In the post new year period the party really kicked off with packed dance floors across all areas at the Tampered stage. DJ Assaults Ass & Titties got a run as it inevitably does at a Tampered party.

At this point I took a walk down to the Coded stage where Tom Haze was pulling out a set of dirty mind destroying technoid beats that was perfectly in tune with my current mood, taking me up and down with perfect sychronicity. Some of this may have been attributed to the sloping dancefloor which made for some interesting moves as you tried to maintain your footing without ending up somewhere down the hill.

The 2am wander allowed me to take in the smooth tech sounds from Tampered as well as the range of others from hardcore through drum and bass to the brightly lit mash up tent which was playing anything they wanted to from ACDC to weird electronica and everthing in between.

We made the pilgrimage down the hill to the chill stage which had the appearance of a pyschodelic army camp among the high voltage power poles which was also playing an eclectic mix but more on the electronic side.

By 4am the pace had picked up all around. We made our way back to the Coded stage to see Marshall’s set which was more on the minimal side, a highlight being The Bells by Jeff Mills, one of my favourite tracks of all time. I did not hear it personally but was assured by one of my many correspondents on the night that it went off.

As the sky began to lighten we got our first look at our surrounds and fully realised why outdoor parties are so damn good. You can feel the progress of the party through the dark night then as the sun comes up the tunes become brighter and happier and you can experiance the wonder of a dance floor in full flight. Out in the bush, dance music seems to be in its natural element despite what seems to be an obvious contradicition. The bass is pure and seems to come up out of the ground to envelop you. There are no horrible reverbs, rattles or other problems encountered at indoor venues.

After sun up our diverse group of first timers and more experienced doofers packed up camp, had our last dance to the sounds of Hps and made our way home. Very dusty but extremely satisfied.

Huge thanks to all those involved from Tampered, Coded, Lethal Rhythm, Prohibited Projects and all the other crews, as it was a memorable new years which we hope to repeat again and done for the love of the music not to cash in on the new years hype. Also big props to all who attended as there was a really happy, friendly vibe through out the night. Once again the unity and strength of the Sydney underground shone through.