So it’s that time again, where great weather, absolutely awesome food and some of the best music around combines for to create what is blatantly one of the best parties in the Sydney dance scene. Headlining the stellar lineup, peppered with artists from the drum and bass, dub, dancehall, dubstep and broken beat scenes was Melbourne’s Cubist who’s fast been making a name for himself with his unique take on dnb. You could list ‘em all, but it’d probably take you as long as it did to get a bit of food after 6pm, so there’s a lesson in that for all of you. If you want to eat without waiting, show up early, so not only can you get a feed, you can catch acts like the rad Minus, who’s impeccable taste in broken beat warmed up the courtyard nicely.

So, hitting the party ‘round 5, I grabbed a couple of pieces of delicious chicken, and a side of pasta with a wicked pesto and settled in for a few hours of cheap jug fuelled madness. Broken beat and dancehall was the order of the day, with high quality tunes being dropped by all. I actually spent a lot of time out in the courtyard this time around, which was a bit of a change for me at DNBBQ, where you’ll usually have to pry my head out of the bassbin in the main room. That wouldn’t have been possible this time, as the sound system in there was a wall of sound type affair. Not terrifyingly loud, but very heavy and clean, like a good sound system should be. It could still beat you round the gullet a little bit, though, and stayed crisp and clean all night.

Inside, I caught Emme alongside MC’s Antic and Kye, who worked very well together. Kye’s rich toasting, Antic’s tight rhymes and Emme’s flawless mixing set a high tone for the big night of dnb ahead. Back outside again for some more dub action with Melbourne’s Agency Dub Collective, then Basslines Crew absolutely killing it in the courtyard with heavy dubwise action. Cubist tore it up inside with an inspired mix of tunes from Melbourne’s finest and a smattering of international bombs, while the Southern Steppa lads, Kodama and Eli tore out the courtyard with their brand of no-holds barred dubstep. Toasty’s The Knowledge copped a rewind much to the delight of the frenzied posse down the front, and the two were followed by the very rad The Caca, a live band featuring a rather impressive theremin player, and a drummer whose skills simply cannot be tested among their number. “The Caca” indeed!

Inside again, and Murda 1 smacked it in his own inimitable style, with some bang ‘ard tearout action. It gets a bit blurry here because of the sheer jug weight consumed in the past 8 or so hours, but I remember Johnny Faith played one of the best sets of the night outside, with hip-hop, dub, and some quality dnb all pumping out of the still finely tuned system. Gein’s mashing Street Sweeper closed his set, and signalled for me that it was time to head, lest I be caught up in the gutter the next morning by the tune’s namesake.

So, time to go, but keep an eye out for the next instalment which will no doubt be coming up over the next few summer months, as they really are a quality night out which your stomach and ears will thank you for. Big ups to Foreign Dub!