The big night had arrived, the one we’d all been waiting for, and by golly was I excited! I literally bounded down the stairs into Academy, wearing my recently purchased killer robot t-shirt, beer in one hand, small toy robot in the other.

I felt like a kid again, with a big grin on my face I bounced around the dancefloor, alone, like a rabbit on speed. I loved every minute of it.

Chances are you’ve seen the big flash banner advertising this event for months now, and unless you’ve been living in some kind of musical vacuum you’ll know that it included performances by Bass Kleph (Sydney breaks wizard and mixer of the recently-released InTheMix is Six CD Compilation) and James Zabiela (robot genius hailing from planet England, Renaissance poster boy, effects magician and genre pioneer).

The night took off with the usual madness from Chris Fraser and Milkbar Nick as they mashed and dashed their way through electro land, showcasing the finest in banging beats and mixing feats.

Like some crazy petrii-dish experiment the crowd multiplied and filled every crevice in sight. Soon the sea of clubbers was lapping at the stage, all waiting in anticipatory glee; I could already tell this would be a night to remember…

Moments later Bass Kleph (Stu Tyson) exploded onto the stage, wielding his Ableton-sticker-covered laptop and an assortment of midi controllers, mini-keyboards and unidentifiable gadgetry.

His crazy effects-driven intro was merely a taste of what was to come as he bounced around the stage mouthing the words to his remixes of Savage’s Swing and They Dont Know.

To be honest it took me a while to adjust to this crazy, hectic, unpredictable style of mixing. Containing more gates than a country manor and more loops than Cirque de Soleil, Stu’s performance breathed new life into the (allegedly stale) breaks genre.

Crowd favourites included his own tracks: Bonx, Wildcard and Dance with Me as well as his collaborations with partner-in-crime Nick Thayer: Feelin Kinda Strange and Fucking the Groove.

Proving beyond any doubt that his live performance is something special, Stu manipulated every aspect of his tracks to full effect. This was a truly unique set, full of energy, creativity and skill.

Before I know it Zabiela has materialised on stage (I still think he transformed into human form from a speaker stand), and the crowd around me is going ballistic.

After a crazy 10 minute effects extravaganza he unleashed his new single Weird Science. The next four hours I would be hypnotised by his flawless, seamless and magical mixing prowess.

Banging tech house, bass-heavy breaks, funky guitar riffs and non-stop excitement were all on the menu. His set bounced along at a perfect pace as well, he slowed it down, ripped it back up, but always kept it interesting.

Jay Boy Zee was wonderful to behold, his fingers danced around the plethora of mixers, effects units and laptops as he worked the crowd into a frenzy of screams. I recognised only a handful of tracks [the crowd loved Soto – Ghetto Blasta! a cool krunky funk breaks stomper, and a remix of Kate Bush – Running up that Hill (Infusion remix maybe?)].

His epic four and a half hour set contained more shades than a cluster of Chrysanthemums, but still had that distinctly Zabiela-esque vibe to it. It was banging, deep, melodic, funky, dark and progressive all at once. This man (if he is indeed human – its debatable) is truly unique – I have seen nothing like it.

His love of the music, and the crowd, is obvious – not once did the giant grin leave his face.

But my, did time fly. The night might have been coming to an end, but Zabs still had a musical ace hidden in his flux capacitor. To the screams of his adoring fans he dropped Imogen Heap – Hide and Seek (R3volve Remix) and caused a number of people to break down in tears of joy. Im not exaggerating, really.

Well done to everyone involved – every aspect of the night was done to perfection. What a way to celebrate six strong years of dance music.

Enjoy your robot Zabs, and come back soon.