With the anticipated Final Tour of LAB4, along with the return of Proteus to Brisbane, the Mayhem and Mystique Promotions teams warned us to strap ourselves in and hold tight for the night of all nights for the truly hard dance calendar event of the year. With their unrivalled warehouse rave productions, Mayhem have lead the way in their uncompromised production and dedication to providing a truly mind-blowing experience from the moment you walk in the door! Teaming up with the established and proven organisers of the Transmission events – Mystique Promotions – we were assured the latest and greatest in all aspects of production to ensure LAB4’s last ever Brisbane performance would have us exclaiming “That was the best night of my life!” My, oh my, they indeed certainly delivered!

Making my way down Alexandria Street as I approached the entry to where this single-room staged gig would be, I was immediately welcomed with the very familiar ‘carnival’ feel I had experienced so many times before. The UV décor of awesome proportions was already visible at the ticket booth entry, complimented by the additional decorative visuals adorning the beverage bar, the handful of brightly-lit raver clothing and fashion accessory stalls, not to mention the many heavily glow-stick wearing punters. Amongst the sea of revellers gathered and frolicking outside the ‘main’ room, everything from colourful and varied styles of ‘phatties’, to midriff tops and hot-pants with leg covering ‘fluffy pink bits’ – amongst other colours, even a naughty nurses outfit, the outfit spectacle contributed to the fun and not-so serious nature of a carnival party.

It was a perfect night in every sense of the word: the night skies were spectacularly sparkly, with a comfortable and moderate temperature that gave respite from the hot and at times stifling atmosphere within inside the party room. With plenty of seating in a variety of dimly to brightly-lit areas, the pleasant outdoor ambience allowed for comfortable downtime and ease of socialising, as our heated and sweaty bodies were able to cool without the fear of teeth-chattering that often accompanies shivering in the adjustment of uncomfortable Celsius extremes.

Familiar with the surrounds of where to relieve and re-hydrate – non-alcoholic on this occasion being a 16+ event – it was time to venture inside from where the beats were blasting and get amongst the ravers who had been hotting up the floors a few hours before my arrival. Oh my goodness! Kuruption at the helm was well and truly cranking the floor as he delivered his energetic journey of trance core complete with uplifting to brutal hardcore. Bursting onto the scene since his first ‘proper’ gig only 18 months ago, Kuruption has deserved his regular billing amongst the hard dance stalwarts of the Brisbane massive; a fair achievement in a region that demands healthy competition amongst the many DJs of this ilk.

As my body was begging for me to let go and bop-to-the-beat, I was captivated by the unbelievable makeshift dance city with its awesome inclusions of this uncompromised production. The entire inside walls of the warehouse, from ceiling to floor was lined with heavy-duty black plastic curtains – an ingenious idea to absorb the sound waves that blasted from the massive speakers positioned not just at the front, but also midway of the room. For a warehouse accommodating an insanely powerful sound system, I’ve never heard better acoustics! The stage was flush against the back wall with just enough easy room passage behind for the DJs to move freely before stepping up to the decks set-up. Segregated into front and back, with the DJ console to the rear (but in full view from close-up on the floor), the electronic equipment and associated weaponry of the two live acts was already in position to each side of the stage front, titivated with their respective banners.

Kasey back-to-back with Yaisu belted out an excellent and solid happy hard set, that drew more punters in to the room, as they were bestowed the honour of spinning right before the Finnish featured International stepped up to the stage boards. At many a party previously, I’ve never been enticed to stay and experience the happy hard or real freeform style of hard dance; tonight was really different, I liked the sound, and strangely enough found a way to enjoy expressing my like through dance that didn’t look as though I was performing some sort of high-energy aerobic-dance moves.

Continuing to be engrossed by the internal layout of this dance city, complete with split-level raised ‘dance stages’ in the back-half middle of the room, that at this time were predominantly used as a communal seating area, I realised just how powerful an atmosphere had been created with the dedication to decorative detail. Hanging from the balustrades above, directly in the centre of the room and both left to right were two hanging mobiles each with 3 mirrored 3D stars. Further along on the most outer railings were the biggest round mirrored disco balls I believe I’d ever seen – whether permanent fittings in a club or otherwise. So strategically positioned were these ornaments that the most incredible lighting rig, complete with 6 amazingly powerful multicolour lasers, provided an awesome kaleidoscopic vision of wonderful colour; not to mention all controlled by no doubt a seasoned and very experienced lighting expert.

The clock had well and truly ticked into the first hour of Sunday morning, as the excitement and enthusiasm in the crowd started to build as the outside resting ravers moved indoors and the dance floor space closed in right up close to the stage. I was fortunate to see and greet, for me, the most anticipated act of the night before he went on stage, the Worlds No.1 Hard Dance DJ two years in a row, none other than Proteus. Totally shaken after having welcomed his return, and in return receiving a massive big hug, I was overcome with the most amazing rush of adrenaline as I took my place front centre in the final seconds of Yaisu ensuring his presence would not be forgotten, before allowing Proteus to take charge. A true showman in every sense of the word, this time Proteus wearing a long-sleeved black jacket-shirt, appeared with a full-faced silver Pierrot-style (without the cute paint) solid mask, as though leaving something to the imagination!
A larger than life “here I am” opener, Proteus cranked the tunes right from the outset as he pulled in the crowds energy, only to deliver it back forthwith. It was not long before his shirt was removed from his body and flung to the floor, with the mask peeled from his head at twelve minutes in. The row of coloured lights above and the spotlights from the sides were not brought into full effect here as they were for his first Brisbane visit, but this was the intention, because while it didn’t seem so at the time, he was not the lead act of the night. With more of a trancey and melodic style to his set this time around, still delivering an unbelievable high-energy, fast and furious hard dance performance, I really enjoyed the flow of tunes Proteus delivered on this occasion.
Absolutely caning the floorboards of the stage beneath his feet, with his tight-as-possible you have-to-see-to-believe mixing and mastery of the entire outfit, he did not skip a beat as he flicked his long Rasta-locks, performed high kicks to the ceiling, and threw himself around like a hopping bundle of madness. Occasionally racing up to the front of stage, cautiously positioning himself on a strategically positioned trestle table, Proteus rose above the stage, pumping the air as though filling himself up with volumes of oxygen, before bowing gracefully before us with a ‘namaste-like’ prayer pose to the higher charka of his head.
An absolute Master of his craft, placing the headphones to his ears only intermittently when loading a new track either into one of the two CDJs or onto either turntables, yet again his performance tore the roof off, as he annihilated the Richter scale with his explosive antics behind the decks. No doubt Proteus has made his make here in Brisbane, and will return many times yet for harder dance destroying shows!

With a hard act to follow, Brisbane’s hard dance darling and now most popular hard house female DJ in Australia, Miss Tracy showed us why her position in the dance music industry continues to strengthen. No stranger to gracing the decks at many a rave, I personally thought Miss Tracy on this occasion ‘played it safe’ with her set. With a massive pitch adjust and mild nature of her performance, the energy that had been built previous to her hour time-slot naturally dissipated. The crowd thinned from the dance area, and many took this time to break, grab some fluids, and cool-down ready for the live acts’ onslaught that was to follow for the next couple of hours.

Ready to up the anti again, two of Brisbane’s well known DJ’s in hardcore maniac Seventy-7 and underground live breaks fanatic Whispa, joined forces in their ever-popular Clerics of Anarchy (C.O.A.) outfit. With explosive energy and a furious pace these two amazingly talented dynamos pushed the boundaries of freeform and hardcore as they whipped the dance floor into an uncontrollable frenzy as they played live belting out their unique sound and performance style. Dancing from the side, as they delivered 100% of pure hardcore destruction, Proteus was also rocking in sheer awe of these young production geniuses, and gave kudos to the boys exclaiming in all sincerity they are “Fucking Awesome!” With an upcoming trip to the land of the Finns, with their energetic and rapidly growing progression in the world of hard dance, C.O.A. are most definitely destined to become Australia’s No.1 live hardcore act, and no doubt a much sought after International import. Look out World, here come C.O.A., the next big thing in live dance acts!

Well the time had come to farewell the guys for whom this outstanding organised event was the sole purpose, Adam and Lez, the duo that are LAB4. I’ve seen these guys so many times, the last exactly 2 years ago at an annual Global Carnival in Victoria, but honestly I had never stayed for their entire show on any occasion previously. Not this, one of their Last Ever performances, certainly the last Brisbane would be privy to, ahead of them deciding its time to call it a day. Having performed solidly for 12 years, holding the Worlds No.1 Live Dance Act (Hard Dance Awards) multiple times spanning numerous years, they’ve had a hectic schedule with their Farewell Tour already enduring 2 months that will span through until NYE. This year has been majorly hectic for LAB4 with finalising their None of Us Are Saints album, extra planning, rehearsing and production work for big shows they’ve performed in Japan and their base in the UK; but like the true professionals they are, continue to throw down the gauntlet and push forth in completing their task in unwavering fashion.

Obviously this very last time was real special, and LAB4 did not disappoint ensuring they took us an emotional journey for a performance we would never forget. Progressing nicely picking us up gently, these seemingly mad and bad boys of the hard dance world, gradually built the energy of their show with many classic and fresh tunes. With their unique blend of freeform, hard trance, and NRG, they had nicely brewed the dance floor hot-pot without allowing it to boil and spill over too soon. Their antics behind their weaponry were particularly mild on this night, though Adam continues to force his tongue out of his mouth down to touch his chin, with his bad-boy snarl, showing us just another of his unique talents.

With about 20 minutes to go, they turned up the temperature, popping the top off of what they had created amongst us, with the words of You Are The Perfect Drug, we all erupted. Proteus was even forced to come from the side of stage, dancing hard alongside us right there in front of the boys, rocking as hard as he plays. An incredibly emotional journey was this hour, the boys knew it, they delivered it, and we received it. With their own tribute to a fantastic career, LAB4 certainly went out on a high; it didn’t finish with the clubbing of keyboards or smashing of synthesizers as experienced the night previous, but we were left with an immense happiness and disbelief at the same time.

As Parto finished the night on with the closing set, LAB4 came down to the floor, signing anything and everything upon request, posing for photographs, accepting thanks, and generally getting amongst their beloved fans, as we tried to accept we may never seen them as we know them, ever again, as they take a new journey in life!

An absolutely superb production, that Harley and Dave, the respective heads of Mayhem and Mystique Promotions, and their teams should be particularly proud of themselves; it really was “The best hard dance night of my life!”