A massive line up, a great venue and even better location; all necessary ingredients for a good party. Carnivale on NYE offered this and more!

I had never been to the St Kilda Sea Baths before, but upon making my way there I found the location really is second to none when compared to other places in Melbourne. Perched right on the St Kilda foreshore, the Sea Baths is an open space with a restaurant, pool and gym attached. Upon entering the party, you walk into an amazing roofless space, perfect for the warm night. It was very well laid out, with plenty of room to boogie and more outdoor areas to chill out.

For most of the night I located myself in the side room. First up was Elektra. I have spoken a few times about Elektra, as I really like what she plays and how she plays it. Her mixing is always spot on and the flow of her sets are great. Next up was Simon Sleiker and Heath Myers. I had actually just seen Simon play for the first time a couple of days earlier, so I was chuffed that I saw him play again so soon. Playing a versus set with Heath, their sound was a bit dirtier and chunkier than Elektra, but oh so wicked. I loved it.

The man with the afro – Luke McD – appeared, and took over the decks playing to a room that was well packed out by now. Set highlights included Underworld ‘Rez’ and Nick Fanciulli’s massive new bomb of a track, ‘Lucky Heather’. Luke also managed to differentiate himself from other DJs on the night by adding scratches to the mix throughout his set. At this point I went for a little wander to check out the main room. The large dancefloor was full but it was still easy to move around in. It seemed as though they had sold just the right amount of tickets, which is a welcome relief and quite different to some other events I have been to. Top marks to the promoters.

The only issue I had with the main room, and this was probably due to the no roof thing, was that the sound tended to disappear. It was no big deal, but it probably reduced the atmosphere on that stage somewhat. That being said, there was a real social feeling out there, so it seemed to balance out. I wandered back to the smaller side room to catch Alex Mckenzie and Drew K. This was real fun and the crowd responded accordingly! During their set I also ventured out to the beach to see in the New Year, we enjoyed the fireworks and then ventured back inside to continue dancing.

When I ventured back in the side room was rocking even harder, and Drew K had just dropped The Similou ‘All This Love’. What these two did really well was feed off each other and the crowd. It was just so much fun. They played a sound that was a combination of prog, house and electro, but it was never cheesy – well maybe All This Love – but it was all so much fun. Alex made great use of the effects on the Pioneer mixer too!

I didn’t get to see out the remainder of the night unfortunetly, but it was one of the best parties I had been to all year and a great way to end 2006. It is such a great venue and I hope that it is used more regularly. Props to the orgainisers and promoters, all staff were friendly and the bar service was quick, although there wasn’t enough toilets for the amount of people. O carnivale era um partido terrível!