We rocked up to Atlantic Southwharf about 1:30pm, guided from Spencer St station by the distant beats flowing across the Yarra. The layout for Sunshine People was a long rectangle, rooms back to back with lots of umbrellas and seating running along the water edge. The crowd were extremely friendly, relaxed, diverse and loving the social occasion.

I opened my boogie account for 2007 to the housy, electro and funkier tunes of Emily Clark. A little rain threatened but it wasn’t enough to keep the growing crowd away. Sunshine People had a good selection of internationals, but a local, Ben Cromack caught my eye and we wandered in half way through his set. Loved the stack of ITMers showing support for one of their faves. After Ben it was time for Eric Powell, who slotted in nicely. For the next half hour we stayed with a growing crowd, and there was a sense that people were now finishing their socialising and getting ready to hook into the tunes.

We wandered outside and it was now hot, sunny and packed. I’d heard ticket sales for this event were down, but there must have been a thousand walk ups as it was dense and rocking – particularly to Damian Laird outside. Next up was Hellraiser, arguably one of the most distinctive acts in hard dance in Oz. The bass was so hard and heavy that the roof was shaking outside as we walked into the Pharmacy arena. The crowd was going nuts with Hellraiser up front taking his entertaining and mixing very seriously. I might be getting old, but 145+ BPM is more a 4:30am proposition, but clearly he’s loved enough to rock hard at 4:30pm with Hellraiser going bezerk and the faithful following.

Following was a slightly more sedate BK – a famed international who started a little more tribal with strong percussive themes, getting a little funkier as he went along. It was fresh and I really got into it as the room packed further and the dance floor vibe began to blossom. I dug his tune selection and stayed for an hour. Needing a break, we wandered into Alumbra and headed upstairs to the blissfully comfortable seats overlooking DJ Iz, watching boats go by on the Yarra. A nice interlude from the madness in the main rooms. But Mr Cox was looming, so it was back for a bit of Ninth Insight and then, although somewhat belatedly, the main man.

The room was packed, and it reminded me of the chaotic Boiler Room at the Big Day Out. Carl is such a solid entertainer – working the mic every few tracks, working the crowd, really connecting to deliver a fantastic couple of hours. There were very few breaks through his set which, without losing the harder edge, was melodic and a little electro with lots of drive and groove. I began to lose myself just a tad, and after 6 hours out was feeling the pinch. We wandered to catch Mike Callender – another local fave – but competing against a massive international he had a pretty small crowd. The few that were there were really enjoying it, as was Mikey.

With dwindling energy, we shuffled in for the remainder of Carl Cox. Being up the front was no longer an option as it was so hot, so mid way back was ideal with a gentle breeze blowing through the opened up venue – just awesome. As a dance venue, I fell in love with the long, high ceilinged sheds with the DJ as a central focus. The big room sound did justice to the solid soundtrack laid down by one of the worlds most successful DJ producers. Had Mr Cox started on time we would have seen him out, but I was knackered, so it was time to get on the train and head home with ears ringing and legs aching, but absolutely elated from a great day out.

Congratulations to Hardware and everyone else who contributed to Sunshine People. Apart from the inevitable dunny shortage it was seamless, professional and a hell of a lot of fun. I’ve done a few big celebrations, and this one stacked up as well as any other party I’ve attended on a New Years Day. The massive crowd was just fantastic – a group who were there to enjoy the day rather than be there to be seen. These are the people I love to party with – the dance music purists who love the tunes more than the hype. Looking forward to more Sunshine People at the wharves in 2008!