As I walked down Alexandria St, in Fortitude Valley, my ears were pricked to the sound of music being spun and I started dancing down the street in anticipation. I arrived at 8:20pm and was greeted by the sound of hardcore being spun by one of Brisbane’s many talented local DJs, Crossfire. Crossfire’s tunes entertained the punters as they made their way through the entry gates. After saying my hellos to everyone, I moved off in search of the two arenas: Hardcore room and the Main room. It was the realm of hardcore that delved into first. Due to the night being in its early stages, the room was not that packed. This, however, did not deter Crossfire from spinning his banging hardcore (from 8pm – 9pm) to the punters getting warmed up for a night of darkness! T-Junction’s “The Rise and Fall” and Elite Forces’ “The Price of Darkness” had the people up on their feet stomping. Faces of the dancers came alight with happiness when Crossfire dropped the newly released tracks “Nothing is what it seems” by DJ Nosferatu & Endymion and DJ Lunatic & Miss Hysteria vs DJ Wicked’s “Molder”.

Meanwhile, tucked away behind the decks in the main room was another local DJ doing his thing. Parto, whose passion lies in Hard House, played in amongst the lasers until 9:30pm. As I entered the main room, the first thing I saw was lasers, and secondly the number of people in the room. For such an early set, Parto had quite a few punters up the front dancing. “Robocock” by Superfast Oz vs Project Mayhem, Narc’s “Insaneo” and the much-loved Grady G’s “Afraid of the Dark” were just some of the many tracks that Parto had pumping during his set.

Come 9pm, I made my way back into the hardcore room to catch the beginning of Flashpoint’s set. Another local DJ with a showcase of talent! The room was a little fuller as more people had moved inside. Flashpoint’s set was banging from beginning to end, particularly when tracks like Scott Brown’s “Turn the Bass Up”, Waxweazle’s “Hardcore Power (Promo Rmx)”, Stunned Guys and DJ Paul’s “Thrillseeka” and Outrage’s “Hard 2 Resist” were being spun. Flashpoint had many of those present stomping away from 9pm – 10pm and the DJ himself looked like he was having the time of his life.

Once again I entered in the realm of the main room to catch TiAmos behind the decks at 9:30pm. At 9:50pm, TiAmos and Void did a 40 minute spontaneous b2b set until TiAmos, once again, took back the reigns. For such a spontaneous decision, the guys did a fantastic job and the mixing came together well. An on the fly b2b with Void proved the smash ‘em up derby in the main room was needed prior to the much anticipated euphoric set in store next in the line up. Void mixed some of his own productions, as well as Scott Brown’s “Rhythm Machine” and Ephexis’s “Fast One” into Hixxy & Styles’ “The Theme”, Starchaser’s “Changing Everyday” and Kevin Energy’s “Crescendos of Ecstasy (05 Mix), which were played by TiAmos. Whilst Void and TiAmos tore up the main room, Erazor was ripping up the hardcore room from 10pm until 11pm. Erazor’s track selection was great and with many tracks by Deathchant, Speedfreak and Tieum being played, it was hard not to have a quick stomp with the many others still on their feet. Erazor ended his set perfectly with the dropping of Bodylotion’s “Ik Wil Hakke”.

A major decision had to be made come 11pm: Internationals in the main room, or Internationals in the hardcore room…decisions, decisions! First of all I decided to see two of the United Kingdom’s best: Darren Styles and Mark Breeze. This duo is known worldwide and as soon as people realised what the time was, the main room became jam-packed. The euphoric sounds of Styles and Breeze were heard for an electric, adrenaline pumped 2 hour b2b set. Styles and Breeze really know how to entertain their audience and the packed dancefloor was proof in itself. Space had to be fought for as the famous favourites were being spun. “You’re Shining” and “Heartbeatz” had the crowd in awe and dancing as if there was no tomorrow, not to mention Eclipse’s “24 7 (Styles & Breeze remix)”, which had very much the same effect. I could hear people gasping all around me. Impact & Effect’s “Close Your Eyes”, and other tracks like “I Start Rockin” and “The Beat Kicks” were played along with the favourites. The atmosphere of the main room was phenomenal. It was a mix of everything: the lasers, the music, the dancing…it was an amazing sight to watch and Styles & Breeze can very much be proud of themselves. They truly are world class DJs.

During Styles & Breeze, I had to sneak away to get a glimpse of the hardcore room. Despite the fact that the room was smaller, the room was literally ‘going off’. I stood at the entrance to the room and all I could see were people stomping and jumping around! Originally supposed to play from 11pm until midnight and midnight until 1am respectively, two of hardcore’s favourite DJs, hailing straight from the Netherlands, decided to do a b2b set, Dutch style! Catscan and Outblast blew the minds of punters in the room. Track selection and the energy put behind the playing of them was awesome. These two hard sound loving Dutch men dropped some of their own productions like Catscan’s “The Agency” and “The Daylight Burn” and also Catscan & Outblast’s “Stampgevaar” in amongst Korsakof’s “Separated World”, “Still Wasted” and “Power Rave, and in keeping along with the darkside theme, Armageddon Project’s “Church of Pentagram”. These two Dutch men truly know how to captivate their audience.

The 1am – 2am timeslots went to local DJs once again. Kuruption took Main room centre stage, whilst The Covenant commandeered the decks in the hardcore room. Due to the previous international acts in both arenas, the dance floors were still very much packed with punters intending dancing the night away. Kuruption never fails to keep his audience interested and this time was no different. Lost Soul’s “Bad Influence” and Pain On Creation & Nomic’s “Make Me Real” fired up the crowd and as the sounds of Oli G & Jessica’s “Miasma” escaped through the speakers, the number of dancing bodies increased and the air was filled with applause and whistles. It was pleasing to see a smile on his face proving he was enjoying the atmosphere. The hardcore room was being steered further along in its journey with the duo known as The Covenant (made up of two local DJs: Lord EK and Decipher). These two guys kept the pace fast and electric with Link’s “Headnod Delivery”, Neophyte’s “Fuzzy Muff” featuring Scott Brown and Delta 9’s “Stomp your feet”, which is what the people were certainly doing. The guys did a great set and from where I was, it seemed everyone was enjoying it.

The 2am – 3am timeslots went to Seventy-7 and CRAKT. Seventy-7’s djing is quite popular and the number of people in the main room during this man’s set was proof! Seventy-7 looked like he was having a ball, dancing away behind the decks. He knows how to work the crowd into a dancing frenzy and as he mixed his first track of the set, Ephexis’ “Double Helix” into Kuruption’s last, people swarmed the dance floor. During his set, he played his own production “Revolution”, Stormtrooper’s “Addictz” and Ephexis’ “Perpetuate” and these kept the dancing bodies moving the whole set long. Seventy-7 has a showcase of talent and every time I see him play, he plays with such vigour and with a smile.

CRAKT, during this time, was drawing those witness to his set further to the darkside. The whole hour long, CRAKT kept the pace moving at a fast rate and the stompers stomping! DJ Paul’s “Power Of The Darkside”, Dione’s “Pain and Pressure” and Endymion’s “The Core” were obvious crowd pleasers as they erupted from the speakers. Yet another local DJ blew our minds away.

From 3am-4am, the punters in the main room gave it up for yet another international in the line up. Hailing from the United States, Rob Gee was welcomed to the stage with whistles and applause. Rob Gee worked his magic with the crowd, mixing very well. Although his set was very early in the morning, people still found the energy to dance. He played the favourite, “No Women Allowed” and the popular “I Like it Loud”. Rob Gee ended off his set brilliantly with “Ecstacy you got what I need”. Whilst Rob Gee worked the main room, local DJ, 2styliztik styled the hardcore room with his hard tunes. Dyewitness’ “Brrrr”, The Viper’s “X-Terminate” and Scott Brown’s “Ice Cold”, as well as many others, had everyone slaves to the rave in the hardcore room. He stormed our minds, willing us over to the darkside and for some I think it might just have worked.

Last, but by no means the least, were the 4am-5am place getters. Rob Gee exited the stage to make way for local group, BiPolar and 2styliztik gave it up for Menace in the hardcore arena. I checked out Menace’s set first, and despite the fact that it was the last set of the day, Menace managed to convert his audience to the darkside with tracks by Cenobite, Ruffneck and H2OH. A set well played (from what I saw of it). I wandered over to the main room to see the party generators known as BiPolar. This duo really knows how to end off a party. Although there were a number of people sitting at this stage, it did not deter others from getting up and having one last dance. I recognised “Poison” by Vagabond as soon as it began and this caused many others to get up off the floor. BiPolar’s “Ready to Rumble” and Disco Brothers’ “Time still drifts (Breeze & Styles mix)” were played during this awesome closing set. Scott Brown’s “Rock you softly 05” had people lining up across the floor in front of the stage and swaying. A line of stangers enjoying the beautiful female vocals…wow is the only word I can use to describe it. And the time came for the end. BiPolar was heralded for an encore, which they gladly provided. The night ended on a high!

The atmosphere in both rooms was amazing. I spent much of the night wandering between arenas to catch all of the sets. The lasers and the eye-catching visuals behind the DJs added to the atmosphere in each room. It was great to see so many people dancing the night away, right to the very end. The DJs on the night had great stage presence, every one of them. The chillout room DJs did a great job of entertaining those people who were outside.

A big Congratulations goes out to Mayhem Productions (in conjunction with Sydney’s Powerhouse Productions) for holding such an event. Godspeed’s line up was fantastic and it was an excellent showcase of the local Brisbane talent. The night is a night definitely to be remembered!!!