Overdrive was one of several high profile, well publicized and equally anticipated gigs scheduled for Adelaide between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. This particular gig was geared more towards pleasing the rave crowd, with Enchanted veterans returning for a night of Techno and Hard styles. Drawn more to the former than the latter, it was a mixed crowd that attracted a modest die-hard crowd of techno fans, and an ample supply of Hard Dance and Hard House devotees.

I was eager to see local live techno act Fenetik debut as a three-piece, and made it to Earth in time to see most of their set. Only scheduled to play for thirty minutes, the duo welcomed to the stage Mark (of fellow live act Supaphatass). Triggering sounds and playing beats from behind his Roland V-Drums, he expanded their sound nicely. Playing at a slightly slower bpm than the ‘underground party techno’ acts to follow, the trio played a set that showed a range of moods from dark and minimal to funky and fruity. With three musical minds all shaping the movement of the set, it always showed a sense of motion. While the dance floor at this stage was sparsely populated, several Wetmusik followers paid their personal respects to the Fenetik lads before welcoming the traveling duo.

While some ravers treated the Techno area as a ‘chill out’ area (sitting along its walls), motion was one thing the downstairs stage was never short of. Following the likes of locals Damage, Cheeky B, JoSH, Quantum and Submission came a very animated ‘decks & FX’  performance by Organ Donors. Hailing from the UK, they were bouncing crazily to their tunes, and certainly needed no hype MC assistance to amp the crowd. The crowd had built up dramatically, and the flambuoyant ravers and glo-stick toting Hard House stompers had plenty to look forward to yet. Organ Donors seemed to revel in the cheesiness of it all, and the happy hard vibe was high.

Meanwhile, the Wetmusik duo was upstairs playing tracks back to back, smoking coolly and holding poker faces. Their beats built up the floor with some busier, harder tech than Fenetik, with a few deviations that occasionally seemed a bit too abrupt and inconsistent for my tastes. The set’s movements pleased the diehard fans, while I found myself starting to fade due to no fault of the performers. The music was certainly moving into Overdrive, and the UK’s Ignition Technician promised to take it up another notch after two hours of Wetmusik’s busy dance floor techno selections.

After an hour of mad partying courtesy of Organ Donors downstairs, Captain Tinrib took over the helm with his laptop and keyboard driven live set. Keeping it simple and bangin’ Tinrib performed with less lunacy than I had expected, having seen pictures of him wearing fish hats and pirate vests, gesturing wildly. A glowing banner informed the crowd that they were being ‘tinribized’ and the happy ravers were loving every minute of the fast, four-on-the-floor tunes. It was a veritable stompfest and the crowd had grown yet again since my last excursion below deck.

Picking up where Wetmusik left off, Ignition Technician played gritty hard techno, and the small crowd were still right into it. Suffering symptoms of ‘the season of over-indulgence’, I didn’t last long enough to catch his Enchanted rematch with Devious at three, or subsequent acts Fatal Dose and Banga Matt. The speed and intensity of the music in both areas were drawing closer over the two stages now, with the Techno stage offering more complexity of sound than the Hard House below. Having read nothing but rave reviews of Andy Farley, the remaining international guest downstairs, I will have to wait til next time to witness the UK’s ‘uncrowned king of hard dance’.

There’s no doubting Overdrive’s direction or intention- this was meant to be a banger of a night and for those in good form after Christmas, it was. The continuing popularity of Hard Dance and Hard House in Adelaide cannot be argued, and by comparison, the lesser turnout at the Techno stage was a little disappointing. Well done to Freestyle Entertainment, System 6 and Antidote for pleasing the ravers and bringing Techno to town for a very intense night.

Click here for photos from the gig…