Well, here we are then, 2005… And what better way to kick off a brand new year than with Sunshine People at Mulberry Farm? The Plastik tent was the place to be for all things tough, techy and tantalizing as the decks & effects would be graced by Miss Kittin, dance music veteran & legend Oliver Lieb and a legend in the making; James Zabiela, plus a host of Perth’s hottest DJ talent. Just like everyone else I could not wait to get through that gate, on the way through I could feel the intense and happy atmosphere which furthered my immense excitement!

For me, the event very nearly ended before it began as on the train I realised that my proof of age card had been left on my dressing table at home! Fortunately the door staff members were forgiving and I was allowed to pass through the gate. Feeling very much like the luckiest man in the universe I walked around, observing the pristine outdoor surrounds of the Mulberry Farm. The weather was divine; smiling faces were everywhere and the feeling that only comes with ringing in the New Year was abundant. I located the Plastik arena and sat down to a drink taking in the fantastic sounds of Perth locals Puff, Clint Wiltshire, Adam Kelly and Cee vs. Tamar.

Cee vs. Tamar picked up the pace readying the crowd for Miss Kittin. If the bodies weren’t moving the heads were nodding to some afternoon techy beats. Miss Kittin kicked off her set at 5pm much to the delight of the smallish but up for it Plastik Arena crowd. Over the years Miss Kittin has forged a name for herself with her diverse, pumping and chunky techno sound. Her career began in her country of birth, France, playing out at the well renowned Dragon Ball parties before she relocated to Geneva, Switzerland. Miss Kittin is a self confessed deck technician and risk taker who gets bored very easily listening to the same sound in a set and all of this showed as she moved through techno, techy house, breaks and even a little bit of pop. She got the crowd to its feet and bodies moving when she dropped one of dance music’s most famous anthems; The Prodigy’s “Voodoo People.”

As the sun set and the Westerly breeze brushed the picturesque surrounds, the atmosphere picked up even more. Perth really is a magical place for outdoor events and it’s fair to say that we were spoilt rotten on this day with the lush weather and the multitude of local & international talent. Miss Kittin left the decks followed by a well deserved applause and Oliver Lieb, complete with laptop, assumed control. Lieb is a true veteran of dance music and he has had works published on an enormous array of record labels. Like Miss Kittin his style is varied and strong as his influences include house, techno, trance, breaks and old school. The latter style featured prominently as the sunset graced the horizon brilliantly with orange, pink and purple.

Lieb seemed to be making light work of the laptop, never an easy task when performing live. He kept the crowd going and toes tapping (particularly to the tune of James Holden’s remix of “Planet 7” by System 7) right through until 9pm when Perth’s very own Kriece took to the turntables. It was fitting that Kriece should warm up for James Zabiela as the two are good friends and have been working on productions lately. It was at this point that I abandoned my seat on the grass and made my way to the dancefloor, front row centre. Kriece’s short stint behind the wheels of steel was fantastic as he swiftly moved through funky, percussive and bass-laden tunes right through to melodic, truancy and even more bass heavy numbers. Fantastic work Kriece!

My heart-rate doubled as I saw the man with the shoulder-length golden hair appear behind the stage. The surprisingly smallish yet nonetheless enthusiastic crowd in the Plastik arena let up an enormous cheer for the one and only James Zabiela. In the short time that James Zabiela has been playing out, he has firmly stamped his authority on the dance music sound. He entered Muzik magazine’s Bedroom Bedlam DJ competition just to have a little fun and he walked away with not only the award, but the Bedroom Bedlam of the Year award as well. Sasha then signed Zabiela to his agency, residencies all over England and Ibiza followed and the rest as they say is history.

James Zabiela has embraced the new DJ’ing technology that is now available with open arms, particularly Pioneer’s CD-J 1000 CD turntables. This equipment allows for live sampling, looping and remixing as well as all kinds of until now untold freedoms that Zabiela is revealing. Couple this with bucket loads of originality and a refusal to be pigeonholed into a named genre and you have one incredibly talented DJ. One very talented DJ who is looking set to lead dance music into a certain and strong future.

Zabiela got things going by showing us exactly what he is all about. The poor guy was starting his third set in 24 hours yet he was still grinning and looking like he was having loads of fun behind his toys. He made it all look like childs play as he whipped up the effects into the first tune of the set. I cheered, everybody cheered and then it was on for young and old! I read a nice little quote recently that said “a good DJ plays the records you love, a great DJ changes them.” This proved to be true as Zabiela added loops, effects and samples to his set. The CD-J’s allow for an incredible amount of freedom allowing for true live editing and every time Zabiela ripped up a trick, the crowd went absolutely wild! Zabiela knew exactly what he was doing and it was all in the name of enjoyment.

The set went from chunky, hard hitting breaks to techy house to electro and back again to the bass-heavy, party-oriented breaks that should really have been heard out there on the main stage. Zabiela also knows how to read his crowd and with only an hour and a half to play with and the outdoor party atmosphere being evident, he kept the tempo nice and high throughout. If only there was a way to stop 11pm’s imminent arrival as I wanted this incredible experience to go on eternally!

Unfortunately, as I’ve said so many times before, the end is nothing that can be stopped. Thank goodness human beings are equipped with this wonderful thing called “memory” as I will remember this day for a long time to come. James Zabiela took the time to do a signing session and answer questions (including how his name is pronounced; Za-bee-la, not Za-bee-lee-a) even though he was completely buggered from all that jet-setting. I walked away happily with my CD player cover signed and I said to James that his 2004 Essential Mix (my first exposure to his sound) completely blew my head off (and that was before I became aware of his prowess with the CD-J’s.)

A very, very big thankyou must go out to the event organisers, the DJ’s and Mulberry Farm for putting on what was a most sumptuous day of dance music pleasure. What a brilliant New Year’s Day, what a lovely venue and what mind blowing music!

2005: here it comes!