I haven’t seen a gig promoter capture their entire existing audience quite like this! Before I delve into the details I would like now to proclaim myself ITM’s almost-official Modular event correspondent; a title not earned without dedication, commitment, killer instinct and lots of money spent on booze. Modular events may be glorious, but I (try to) never glorify them – actually they always end up becoming atrocious examples of hedonistic over-indulgence. This particular one was the biggest of them all.

I’d guess maybe around 6,000 Modular/Ksubi people were there (a rough estimation). Based on a calculation that about 3,500 of the crowd tonight were female, you could argue that equates to about 10,000 hours of time spent grooming and pampering for this one gig? Aside from the stats, the Modular phenomenon was absolutely overwhelming. This party was the ultimate indicator of how much this scene has grown over the last two years. Having raised The Presets and Wolfmother, and a growing list of the most promising/scenester bands, Modular has gone from strength to strength.

Unfortunately it took me forever to get to Fox Studios, but I walked straight into the beginning of the New Young Pony Club. Undoubtedly an experience I will never forget – I was time warped into the ‘heavy metal concert’ from Wayne’s World. The Forum at Fox was pretty much spilling people over the balconies from three levels onto its massive dance floor in response to the romping set from NYPC and their wild lead singer Tahita Bulmer. The band were loving playing in this arena and they looked hot. Particularly so the cute girl on keys and backing vocals and the amazing drummer.

It was already messy outside. Girls were starting to wish they hadn’t worn heels. Guys were starting to get sleazy. Oh yeah, it was a fairground, so there were sideshow games like the clowns and knocking over bottles for cheap prizes. I could hear Riot In Belgium playing in the club tent so we went to check out what was going on. I don’t think the DJs compared to the atmosphere inside, but the music was cool and the dance floor was full. Cut Copy had DJed an hour earlier, which I was disappointed to miss – they never fail to bring an original collection of tunes. Unfortunately the DJs that followed – although their music was pretty good – were… well, samey. It could have been any other Bang Gang-ish DJ in Sydney (actually they were probably genuine Bang Gang DJs). I really think the electro/electroclash thing has had its day, and I think technoclash and a more minimal style of music is starting to emerge. And maybe that could be the eventual downfall of this scene – that it’s not moving in front of the times, more so it’s revelling in it and not concerning itself with breaking new ground. Apart from that, I did dance for almost forty-five minutes, so it was entertaining enough!

Back in the arena, The Bumblebeez were warming up. I thought their outfits were a bit silly, their music very raw and not really tasteful, and the band acted a little arrogant on stage. Half the crowd seemed to like them, but the rest didn’t seem to be too excited by the thrash rock played by guys in baggy, daggy jumpsuits. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood after dancing to the DJs outside. I haven’t heard much of their recorded stuff, so I won’t cast further judgment. The Klaxons followed with a more upbeat set, but could not achieve the same crowd response as New Young Pony Club, or as described in the animated crowd reports of Van She’s set (who I am also devastated to have missed!)

On that note, there seemed to be a slight bit of resentment within the crowd about the order of bands and the promotion of the party. The Vendettas’ fans would only have known the band were playing through word of mouth, and Van She and NYPC would have much better suited the later slots. It didn’t get everyone down, but it would have made the event unforgettable compared to just amazing. In between the Bumblebeez and The Klaxons the DJ tent experienced a full on pub-like testosterone-fuelled chant along to Kernkraft 400’s ‘Zombie Nation’. Whoa! It was quite weird! Following The Klaxons in the arena were the Modular DJs who drove an enthusiastic crowd for the next ninety minutes, and treated us to another spin of Zombie Nation. These guys ended the night really well and the entire dance floor was truly exhausted by the time the lights came on.

Maybe something could have been done about the line up, but the gig was a cracker. I am still overwhelmed by the amount of people and the frivolous party atmosphere so unique to Modular events. Has it grown that much since The Avalanches were signed in 1991? Seems so! Now they are truly directing fashion, and don’t these parties show it.