When I first started getting into the dance music scene, I really didn’t know much about the genre. I had come from a background of rock, grunge and punk, I knew I liked this electronic stuff, but I never really knew who I was listening to. One particular track many years ago attracted my attention like no other.  I had heard it several times on the radio and in different venues, and it just grabbed my head every time. I wandered around for days with that track running through my head. That track was Dirty Vegas’ – Days Go By.  It didn’t take long before I gave into that tune and purchased the entire album.  From that point on, I listened to everything and anything by Dirty Vegas I could get my hands on. Naturally when I heard that Paul Harris was visiting Brisbane again and that there was an opening for someone to review the event, I grovelled for the opportunity to go along.

The Family is one venue that never fails to impress me. The sound is great, the lighting is stunning and it’s always immaculately clean and comfortable. When I first arrived on the night the venue was rather quiet and I worried briefly that it would be just the Saturday night hook-up crowd in attendance and not the adoring mass that a superstar like Paul Harris deserves. However, when Harris made it up to the decks the dance floor erupted, I was reassured that the crowd would do the performance justice.

In an amazingly stunning 3.5 hour set, Paul Harris did what every DJ intends to do, but so few actually manage. He took the crowd on a journey and most firmly rocked the house. Paul Harris is an artist who has reached the highest points of his art, and continues to climb. Track after track, and performance after performance, Paul continues to show his fans why he has been pulling crowds since he was a teenager.

Watching Paul play, or trying to get an in-focus photo of the man is tiring! He just doesn’t stand still, and that energy really translates through his music. His infectious grin and obvious skill really made him a pleasure to watch. Through his entire set he had a perpetual ‘little boy with the best toy ever’ expression on his face as he worked the crowd over with banging bass lines and a distinctly eclectic track selection. The sheer performer’s delight on his face ran in close competition with the insanity on the dance floor when he dropped Days go By, which was certainly the highlight of the evening. I stand truly in awe of the skill of any man who can make Gwen Stefani’s Holla Back Girl not just bearable, but also outright enjoyable.

Watching Paul Harris play on the night was truly the moment that I hope reminded every clubber at Family why they love his music so much. The energy, passion and unbridled fun that comes out in Harris’ music is what drove me to still go out on a Saturday night after almost 10 hours spent working on my feet, just to see one of my favourite DJs. I can only express my utmost sympathy for anyone who missed out.