I had been eagerly anticipating this party all week, strolling around honing my trainspotting skills through repeated listens to Colder’s Again and Cut Copy’s Bright Like Neon Love. Imagine my anguish then, when through a combination of the prolonged intricacies of female hair styling and a record breakingly slow taxi ride I managed to arrive at Evolution so fashionably late that not only were the Presets finished, but Colder had also already played and departed!

Once the shock and disappointment had worn off there was plenty of time to check out the crowd and wiggle our way into a prime location as Cut Copy’s gear was being set up – something of a novelty for this usually guitar phobic clubber. Eventually I found myself a space with a view wedged between a tall dread, a south-of-the-river von dutch girl and a guy who was really feeling the music. Which was pretty much a neat summary of the entire crowd filling the dance floor.

People were starting to get a bit antsy by the time a roar went up upon Cut Copy’s entrance. Of course all was forgotten as soon as the opening strains of “That Was Just a Dream” sounded out and the floor was quickly transformed into a sea of bobbing smiles (except for my neighbour who became a kung-fu fighting octopus). The set started off on a rocky note, with guitar-heavy renditions of “Zap Zap” and “Future”. Then after a quick shout out to rev up the crowd the beats began to dominate sending the crowd wild with a cover of “Rendezvous” and their own fantastic “Going Nowhere”. With the crowd worked up to a slather the set was closed on an absolutely frantic note which included a spot of crowd surfing and a whole lotta pogoing.

After a thunderous farewell and a lengthy period of milling and chatting while the stage was cleared the Avalanches were ready to take to the stage. While the boys behind the decks made a fairly unassuming beeline to their decks and began warming up the crowd any idea that this was going to be just another dj set was blown out of the water by the joyous riot of colour, movement and excitement that followed.

WOW! The Avalanches sure knew what they were doing when they formulated the Brains nightclub show. Everything about the African percussionists, from the vibrant costumes and frenetic tribal drumming to the wild African/booty/who-knows-but-it-looked-great dancing screamed energy and fun. Blending perfectly with the warm mix of tribal, funk and dancehall blasting out the speakers the performance was as infectious as Ebola, not that anyone was resisting. The next ninety minutes went by in an all too brief blur of high steppin’ hilarity as our blissful dancing was punctuated by frequent laughter at the onstage circus. Without a doubt easily the most enjoyable dance I’ve had in recent memory.

On the taxi ride home (thankfully much shorter this time) I was still buzzing with the warm glow of a fantastic night out. Even had the Avalanches failed to fire Cut Copy’s performance would have made for a decent night out, but nothing had prepared me for the hilarious, energetic non-stop, pure and simple Fun (note the capital f) that the Brains show unleashed. I returned home with only two complaints; the ache in my legs, signalling a fine night out and the regret that I hadn’t heard “Crazy Love”.