The Breakbeat Block Party was the first opportunity I’d had to check out the interior of HQ since its refurbishment, rumoured to have enjoyed a multi-million dollar budget. Upgrades to lighting, décor and furniture have certainly increased the sophistication of the venue, especially in the smaller bar area. However, some expenditure on customer service training wouldn’t have gone astray on some of the bar staff we encountered. A nice touch was the addition of cameras set up behind the DJ booth and linked to TV screens on the main stage, allowing the dance-floor a bird’s eye view of what the DJ’s are up to.

Staen-1, touted as Australia’s undisputed champion of turntablism on the event flyer was on the main stage as we arrived. A gifted and enthusiastic performer, he was remarkable to watch and seemed to have an idea how to work a crowd, scoring points with the locals by dropping in some Hilltop Hoods.

The bar area off to the side of the main room featured a procession of local talent, including Patch, MPK, John Doe, David L, Shep, Dyems, Dusk and Anzac. I can’t say I paid a great deal of attention to who was playing when I spent time drinking and chatting in the bar area, although I can say their tunes provided a great backing soundtrack to the conversations being had!

Mixmaster Mike was featured surprisingly early for a main act, hitting the stage just before 11pm. I wished I’d started counting the number of individual tracks he managed to incorporate into his hour-long set – there seemed to be hundreds! Perhaps the crowd was a little dazed by his talent, as there didn’t seem to be much enthusiasm or energy out on the floor past the first few rows of the dance-floor. Admittedly, it was difficult to get into a set that featured 30 second grabs of everything from old school rap through to rock and electro, but Mike’s parting comment of “Thanks Adelaide, it’s been memorable” appeared to be tinged with just a little irony.

Krafty Kuts took to the stage next. The last time I’d seen him perform was at the outdoor Summadayze Festival in Melbourne, where his smooth breaks were supremely suited to a lazy day in the sunshine. His set flowed beautifully and allowed the crowd to lose themselves in the music a little more, which was obviously appreciated judging by the rousing applause he received.

The crowd had thinned out noticeably after Krafty Kuts finished up, at which time Fierce from the UK kicked in with some very dark and dirty drum and bass. I found the set a little monotonous for my taste, although there were a number of die-hard D’n’B fans on the floor who seemed to be enjoying it.

I was more than a little concerned that Kid Kenobi wouldn’t have much of a crowd left to play to by the time he was scheduled to start at 4am, as many of the masses had exited once the side bar closed at around 3am. We weren’t far behind them, leaving at around 3.30am, tired out from a long week at work. The Breakbeat Block Party was a showcase of turntablism which, whilst an awesome opportunity to watch some masters at work, didn’t necessarily translate into dance-floor mayhem.