Enchanted parties have a formidable reputation in Adelaide for their scale, appeal and intensity… and this year’s Winter Enchanted was arguably the best one of its kind for years. Professing to be nothing less than a bangin’ indoor rave, this year’s big one pulled acts from predominantly hard dance and dnb from as far abroad as the UK, Germany, Netherlands and Japan. With an equal reputation for inventive staging, this year’s show was right on the money, taking over the entire Le Rox complex (comprised of Night Train, Le Rox, Enigma and adjoining spaces) for five rooms of varying flavour.

While publicity for the event was a little patchy, you’d struggle to find a person in town who didn’t know this event was on. Masters of underground promotion, the Enchanted Crew delivered much more than hype, with huge sound systems in each space, good diversity of performers and wicked lighting. When you think about it, the Night Train theatre restaurant with its fantasy themed decor was calling out for an Enchanted date. Quasimodo was swinging from the rafters in the dnb room, all night long, above the sea of happy ravers.

Approaching Viva/Le Rox from the south, the line-up was still impressive at midnight. The place was shaking with bass, and the familiar array of raver-wear was on display. Security personnel (who were friendly and helpful all night) escorted a group of us around to the Enigma Bar entrance, hastening our entry, but also leaving me quite disoriented. Upstairs I found the familiar banging and funky tech of local star Banga Matt, who was pleasing a few rowdy punters. Downstairs the tunes were screeching and ravoid, and I ventured on, eager to discover how the hell the venues had been joined, routed and set up. In the main Le Rox / Club Viva space, I was immediate struck by the atmosphere the energy and selections of UK guest Alex Kidd had created. It felt just like I’d imagine an old-school garage rave would have felt, and for a Hard Dance DJ, he wasn’t afraid to break up the banging kick drum with instrumental breakdowns, sparser moments and great dynamics. The crowd had plenty to ‘woot’ about, with local MC Rudeboy toasting the crowd nicely.

In the next room, German Trance imports Stoneface and Terminal provided a gentler introduction to the night, with their multi-layered proggy tunes. Uplifting and unmistakably Euro, atmospheric pads, stuttering synths and twinkling pianos filled the air, although to the atmosphere’s detriment, so did the light from the bar. This stage proved to be the one for the contemplative listener, and never reached the peak poularity of the others, despite some fine sets from the likes of funky bangin’ tech proponent, Devious.

After Alex Kidd had given the big room his all, including some topless wooting of his own and stage acrobatics, Chris Liberator stepped in, and took the room into a darker, more industrial soundscape. The tunes got harder, and set the bar for the following acts, including return player, Paul Glazby and Japan’s Uraken. The room thinned a fair bit, showing Alex Kidd’s popularity. At this stage, things were also heating up in the other large room, with the first of the dnb internationals taking the stage.

Known for its dedicated dnb massive, Adelaide’s fans of the twisted broken beat were treated to a few keen touring DJs on top of the undeniable native talent. Inside the fibreglass castle trimmings, ShockOne was the first guest to step in, taking the turntables down a refreshing alternative to the popular dark and twisted sounds of the moment. Accompanied by the ever-talented local MC Pase, ShockOne dropped some Roni Size-esque selections and would be video-game anthems. Piano ‘breathers’ and Bukem-esque ambient tracks were met with unabashedly raw analog synth sounds and God forbid, melodies even. When ShockOne finally surrendered to the dark and nasty, that was cue for one punter, resplendent in red demonic body paint and horns to run wild. If mutant basslines and raygun sounds are good enough for Satan, then they’re okay by me.

Downstairs in the Enigma Bar foyer, past the comfy couches and wide-eyed youngsters, DJ Tactic was banging out the hardcore, to the delight of a small but receptive mob. It was good to see the local lads still working the crowds on the smaller stages. Mr S had chosen to take his crowd upstairs at Enigma on a dirty psy journey, with wind-ups, break-downs and dynamics galore. With an intensity to match the Alex Kidd set, the punters responded, while a generous supply of couches catered for those whose nights were yet to reach their zeniths.

Shortly after the crowd-pleasing Voodoo People Pendulum remix, Norway’s dnb legend Teebee took the decks. The room was charged, and first-time witnesses were in for a real treat. With the scratch-turntablism skills to match Q-Bert on a good day, Teebee arced up with an intro that made you shut up an listen. Once he locked into the rolling, dark dnb, the pace was set… with occasional scratching thrown in for spice. Teebee knew how and when to pull things back, but when BSE took over that idea went out the window. Dark and ominous was the tone in the dnb tunage for there on, and the massive struggled to keep up… war-weary after many hours of driving drum and bass.

In the Viva upstairs spaces, Odyssey was shooting off down an epic hard trance highway, while Paul Glazby had stepped up to bat in the main room. Now a familiar face for Adelaide ravers, this true master of Hard Dance’s popularity was obvious. With so much happening in the building however, the crowd was not as concentrated as it was earlier for Alex Kidd. Three a.m. whizzed by, and Mike Humphries appeared in the little upstairs room. Some enjoyable tech with a distinctly psy and tribal feel followed, and I couldn’t help feeling like his work would have sat better in a side show appearance… or better still an outdoor party at a bush doof somewhere.

Carbon-Based Live was the last of the internationals I witnessed in the main room, and you could tell these lads weren’t spinning records. Crossing the borders between euro trance and hard dance, the pairs synthetic sounds were clean and crisp, with minimal filters… but plenty of delay. By this stage the crowd was quite evenly spread through the building’s many chambers and lounges- an indication of the diverse taste of local ravers, and the extent of the superb audio catering at this year’s event.

Popular opinion on this year’s Winter Enchanted marked it as one of the finest WE’s yet- easily surpassing previous efforts at St Claire’s Rec Centre and Skate FX. A party well-planned and executed, with too much talent to squeeze into a review, it is great to see that the legacy of Enchanted raves here in SA lives on. After 7-8 years of the biggest parties on the local calendar, the Enchanted Crew are to be commended for their dedication to the local scene, and for giving thousands of Adelaideans something to rave about, year after year.