When walking into any party slapped with the “electro” tag, you have to be alert. Especially if it’s a Boobytrap. (You might know Boobytrap in its previous incarnation as Ripdoff at the Flinders Hotel in Surry Hills.)

Unlike the Panic Zone parties whose closing night was hosted by Boobytrap in August, this is not so much a purist’s night out:

“a cutting edge Friday night providing an eclectic mix of music, art and entertainment for Sydney’s culturally sophisticated nite clubber.”

All the eclectica was dealt out in the main room, which was decorated with a truly eclectic mix of cut-outs hung from the ceiling. (Suzie Q’s second room was closed for the night.)

Ming D was buzzing about making his trademark final adjustments to the party set-up, one hour after doors had opened. And Boobytrap’s lineage is visible in the other faces I recognise in the crowd from the Foo Man Chunes parties.

As I enter, N-Zed is playing classic-style electro-pop to an almost-empty dancefloor, as everyone is still sitting around and chatting. My friends and I also head straight for the nearest couch. But when The Artificial Arm’s Welcome To Planet Funk is dropped, sidkid is mobilised. Only a few months old, this is one heck of a track that could be mistaken for a new B(if)tek number. At this point the dancefloor slowly starts to fill.

Next up, Chop Stuey adds synth-pop to the mix, already hinting at the night’s headliner from the UK. It’s around 1.00a.m., but things are still rather relaxed.

Then the serial dancefloor destroyer, Dave Slade, appears at the decks. Slade mixes fairly quickly between the tracks and pushes the BPMs up a few notches. This set has more heavy electro than what he normally plays, with tracks like the Anthony Rother remixes of Sven Väth from a few years ago.

This is when the Attack of the Graph Paper Men took place. Four or five intoxicated men, probably having just walked off Oxford St, suddenly blunder to the front of the dancefloor. Strikingly, they are all wearing white collared shirts with lines in a grid and the strong blacklight gives them a blinding glow.

Touring from the UK, DMX Krew (Edward Upton) starts his set by getting the crowd’s attention with an Eye Of The Tiger live remix. He makes ample use of the vocoder during the early tracks and gets a good response from the floor. The pace is well below the peak that Slade reached immediately before, so everyone is almost starting again.

A good part of a Boobytrap party is hip-hop, and DMX seems to be obliging with a mini set of electro hip-hop. I feel transported to the early 1980s when the lines between electro and hip-hop were blurred, not least because the Roland TB synthesisers were loved by all.

DMX then takes a turn to what I can only describe as ‘slow jungle’. The live set is now beginning to look like a brief history of electronic dance music, as we’re heading towards the birth of the rave scene.

But these are only references: DMX played many numbers which were not danceable at all, so he was obviously not there to play a non-stop dancefloor set. He also played some tracks like Bad Sector II from his latest release The Collapse Of The Wave Function.

DMX almost stole his own show by cutting out all synths and just beatboxing. Although he says he is increasingly disappointed by his singing voice, he should be proud of his beatboxing skillz: he was simultaneously doing beats, bassline, and vocals to a pleasantly surprised audience.

Introducing himself with a heavily processed “I AM SACK-ONE” was Sydney producer Saqun (Richard Baron). Again, the pace had dropped from the previous performer, so it was another abrupt break in the rhythm. Totally immersed in the character of a musical robot, Saqun physically represented the dark, multi-textured, industrial electro he was programming live. It was an extremely powerful and layered set, with many abstract themes and arresting effects. However, it was a bit too challenging and at times overpowering for the dancefloor, and many retreated to those couches.

So it was the job of #51 (Andy C) to ease the crowd back on to the floor and end the night. His set had elements of hip-hop and guitar-driven electro. Being alert paid off: I heard practically every variation of electro in this Boobytrap.