For someone who has been clubbing for many years now, I find it surprising that I have not come across a party at the Arthouse that I have been compelled to attend. Call it prejudice, but I always had the feeling that the patrons at the Arthouse where not your typical ‘music loving’ punter. Both the sexes were glammed up to the nines and dressed to impressed – in anything from Von Dutch and Zoo York tees, to Fedora hats (which are the new trucker caps for 2005) and skirts so short you would have to rename the mini to a ‘brazillian’.

I went into this party not having any expectations of the venue, attending crowd, promoter or the DJ line-up - apart from having seen Moguai at Fuzzy’s 360 last July – so this review lacks any comparison between past Kink and Arthouse events, moreover it’s a commentary on the night as a stand alone event.

With a crowd still left queuing outside, I entered the venue  hoping that it would be a sell out, which it was by 3am! I was blown away by the immaculate quality of the venue’s finishes, barely there ‘mood’ lighting and ample size. I couldn’t help notice this was perfect for those punters deep in the middle of getting frisky during the night.

The volume of the sound system was quite ordinary to say the least, I was hoping to not be able to hear myself speak. Sydney clubs in general have this overall quality, which I do not prefer. I like to be emersed in music on a dancefloor and not be subject to about 7 different conversations going on around me.

Nonetheless, Shamus ended his midnight shift on a high note that left Mr Phil Fuldner up on the decks next. Within the first ten minutes of his set the crowd warmed to Fuldner’s musical style, which was a selection of hard, pumping house that definitely raised the crowds hands in the air.

Fuldner certainly wasn’t what I expected. Having known his previous release The Final (Captain Futures Theme) I was expecting a more melodic, slightly trancey feel from his music. Fuldner played mostly banging upfront house, which the crowd seemed to enjoy, however I think that the fact that crowd filled to capacity when he dropped well known tunes like Pump Up The Jam – Technotronic spoke millions of what the crowd was like.

Fuldner battled early on with the capacity of the sound system, having some issues with gain and vibrations knocking the turntables on a couple of tunes, but this was soon rectified. All in all the set was a little uninspiring, with barely a build-up or breakdown to set the mood of the crowd. His mixing was spot on, but it came off as a little dull and repetitive.

It was strictly standing room only by the time Moguai was up on stage making his appearance. However, this didn’t stop the cowd from showing their appreciation of the tunes that he delighted them with. Dropping such club hits as “U Know Y” and “Freak”, for the first time in the night I felt the crowd react to music in an appreciative way.

Moguai’s sound was consistent throughout, with his Hybrid-esque mix of breaky and electro beats with guitars melding there way together for a fairly tight mix. Some punters though may have found it a little slow, compared to the more up -front and banging nature of Fuldner – but if you ask this reporter, Moguai was the goods on the night, having whipped the crowd into a frenzy on more than one occasion.

The constant traffic in the main room left a lot to be desired, with more seeming to be posing than dancing - a stark contrast to the appreciation and pure joy expressed by the punters in the side room who were being taught a lesson in breaks phatness from Defcon 1.

The ‘Broken-Beats’ room was like an oven – (flashback to the Rooftop at Kings Cross 1996) perfect for celebrity spotting Beau Brady  Home and Away (stars are clubbers too you know!) and going completely mental for Defcon1. It was great to hear a variety of music at such a party. We were trying to see “Where our heads were at?” while listening to some freestyle rhyming by the female MC counterpart. Does it get any better? Yes – as I boogied to a vocal breaks remix of Armand Van Helden’s ”My, my, my” and some funky Freestylers tunes.

Defcon1 did really go that extra step to also include some reggae and rasta styles, with tracks that were way to cool for skool! If I was blind-folded and taken from room to room, I would never say that I was at the same party. The difference between the two was vast to say the least. The broke-n-beats room seemed to attract the type of clubber that understood the music they were dancing to, I guess a testament to Sydney’s penchant for breaks these days.

Later in the night Soto rocked the decks with something that isn’t heard that regularly in a club “Underworld’s - Erasure of Love” and some tribal breaks with a house twist just to mix it up. They sent the dancefloor beserk and made evident that the Sydney scene has demonstrated that by having many music styles at an event, you can satisfy a wide variety of punters.

For those of you who have yet to experience KINK events, you can attend with confidence that you will hear varied music by more than competent DJs. As I mentioned, the status of the venue attracts a certain type of clientele – but if you’re easy going you’ll have a ball.