Saturday 10th of March and Queensland’s very first Future Music Festival entertains tens of thousands of punters at a brand new festival venue, Doomben Racecourse.

Basically a renamed & branded version of the previously well loved Two Tribes festivals, FMF brought to Brisbane quite possibly the greatest musical line-up a dance music festival in our state has ever seen with 22 internationals, over 8 different genre’s of music, represented for one very special day.

With a lot of Brisbane punters snubbing the Good Vibrations festival due to a venue shift from Brisbane’s beloved Riverside to the Gold Coast’s Doug Jennings Park; Future Music Festival represented Brisbane’s first big dance festival of the year.

With the previously aforementioned long list of quality international headliners playing at a first time festival venue, FMF was never going to have any trouble in selling itself.

The festival promised so much, as did the promoters, and one of those promises was broken without even getting in the gate as the promise of pass outs was denied. This was much to the disappointed of a few of our group as they had left camera’s and other essentials in the car.

Into the festival and walking around the lush green grasses of the race track I was taken aback by the somewhat stuck in a time warp fashion sense of some of the young gurners; with Wham!-esque fluro clothing left right and centre; obviously the fad for this particular 3 months of the year.

We made a beeline for the Future Main Stage to see the latest Dutch superstar Sander Van Doorn. Starting the set with his traditional mixture of slamming tech & electro house, from the middle of his set onwards he then started sliding into his customary trance sounds. Tiesto – Flight 643, SO Project – Direct Dizko, Jamaster A – Bells of Tiananmen (Airbase Remix) and Kyau vs Albert – Are You Fine; were all highlights of what was a brilliant debut set for the man from Eindhoven.

While I was grooving away to the sounds of SvD, over at the Family Stage, TV Rock (Grant Smillie & Ivan Gough) were delighting the crowd with an array of MOS-styled house/electro-house anthems; the highlight being TV Rock Vs. The Dukes Of Windsor – The Others (Original Mix). Meanwhile at the Ten Pound Crew stage Rex The Dog followed the Stafford Brothers and played a solid set with Duotech – Adyra and Prototype the standouts. Earlier local favourite and TPC Director Aniki, opened his stage with a punchy set whose ‘crunchy’ sound decimated the handful of people present. Queensland’s most well traveled export, The Stafford Brothers lead into Rex The Dog and as per usual drew a solid crowd delivering a knockout performance with The Automatic – Monster (Zombie Dog’s Remix) the personal highlight.

Following Rex The Dog was the incredibly impressive live showing from The Egg, their worldwide smash hit Walking Away predictably the highlight. At the same time German playboy Tom Novy tore shreds off the Famous stage and showed the full range of his latest album ‘Superstar’ with a super impressive hour and half, topped off by his smash hit single; Your Body.

This was all happening unbeknown to me as I was too busy getting utterly weak at the knees through the electro house goodness of Felix Da Housecat. Electro House seems to be the ‘in’ genre in the dance community of late, especially for those MOS loving graduates who seem to think this is a ‘progression’ in their dance music enlightenment; which it probably kind of is. Too many acts however claim to electro-house these days without actually delivering it; Felix is definitely not one of these.

Opening up with his very own Silver Screen Shower Screen and Felix the entertainer had the crowd in the palm of his hand. His hour and a half set was jam-packed with everything that is good and proper about electro house and was filled with new unnamed recognizable with a few ole Felix favourites like Motor – Sweatbox and Zoot Woman – Grey Day (Paper Faces Remix) thrown in for good measure.

It was during this set though that one of the major problems that would plagued the festival for its entirety, the level of sound, really came showing through. Playing tough slamming electro is one of the genre’s of music that relies of deep heavy bass more than most, and too often the winding buildups for explosive kick-ins were let down by the poor sound & bass levels. Theories and rumours run would run amuck both during and post-festival, as to why the levels were so low.

Back to the music and the festival at hand and one stage that clearly wasn’t affected by the tight sound restrictions was the Global Underground room at the top of the grandstand. At first glance it was described by a punter as a shitty RSL function room with a DJ; but upon greater exposure was really the pick of the stages for the duration of the day. Opened by arguably one of Brisbane’s best (and most respected) DJ in Cosmo Cater, playing b2b with the aptly-and-incredibly-talented-but-is-still-better-at-playing-trance-than-prog-n-breaks DJ, Mike Redfern, the GU room was full for the duration of the day and this was representative of the quality of music produced from start to finish. Mid afternoon and the first international to grace the GU room, Serge Santiago, was playing some really driving twisted stuff – cranking it out at the end to lead into what those present said was the best performance of the day, courtesy of French mastermind Joachim Garraud.

Now Joachim needs a new paragraph all to himself, such was the grandeur of his performance. I personally didn’t see his set but I knew IMMEDIATELY I had missed something very, very, very special as all those that I saw afterwards that I trust as being ‘in the know’ with a true depth of dance music knowledge had only one thing to say “Did you see Joachim” with a facial expression as if they had just seen God. Luckily the 21st century has brought us YouTube and I (and you) can catch some of the CRAZY antics of this French genius with these highlights.

*Daft Punk – Technologic followed by Fredrico Franci – Cream*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJVKX8Dx-Ko&mode=related&search

*Meet Her At The Love Parade (Keytar)*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYvawcSQ6BM&NR

*Mason – Exceeder (Keytar)*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVGcma4r2ys&mode=related&search

His Keytar performance was one for the ages, and is something that will not be lost in the memories (especially of those present) for a very, very long time. My personal favourite is his performances of Mason – Exceeder, but have a look for yourself and you be the judge. One thing’s for sure I will make sure never to miss him if he ever graces our shores again.

Pushing on and over at the Ten Pound Crew stage yet again and DJ Falcon, Dirty South and Princess Superstar all put in solid house and electro-house performances for the MOS loving faithful. DJ Falcon dropping the seamlessly timeless Born Slippy was not to be expected but still went down a treat, while Aussie boy wonder Dirty South produced yet another gratifying performance with Blur – Song 2, The Killers – Mr Brightside (Acapella) and Scenario Rock – Skitzo Dancer (Justice Remix) the highlights.

To the Famous stage and progressive ginger legend Nick Warren churned out an hour n half of driving progress goodness, with Neptune and Non Verbal Language in GU 030 Paris Style some highlights, as was the Roger Martinez stuff.

I haven’t touched the Air Recordings stage yet, but that’s because I spent all of 5 minutes in there for the day but this wasn’t because of the lack of quality. Ali B & JDS are breakbeat heavyweights in their own right and LTJ Bukem & Conrad are royalty in the Drum n Bass scene, just that those particular genres of music aren’t my kettle of fish. For what I saw when I did momentarily pop my head in a couple of times it was like a party within a party with the same regular faces prominent throughout the day. Much like its brother stage on the same level Global Underground, the Air Recordings stage was able to fulfill the bass and sound requirements you’d expect at a festival and not be raped into piss-weak bass & sound levels like scene on the outside stages.

Back to the main stage and Carl Cox warm-up DJ, Jon Rundell, punched out what I thought was a super impressive 45 minute set that in parts, particularly the last 15 mins, nearly upstaged the big man himself.

While myself like the rest of the flock were at Coxy, those that know their minimal saw Oliver Huntemann play on the TPC stage. Oliver, a late inclusion to the Brisbane show, destroyed the crowd with some minimal goodness. Oliver playing 37 Degrees was the highlight for one ITM punter that was present.

6pm and Carl Cox, one of the world’s most recognizable figures in the dance community made his way onto the Future stage and proceeded to punch out, or try at least, to punch out a slamming array of tech house and techno. Just like Felix though Coxy’s sound is one that is heavily reliant on big bass and through no fault of his own, the sound restrictions for mine, just killed his performance.

Disgruntled by the lack of sound and bass for Coxy I made my way first to the Famous stage and then to the GU stage. Famous first and Fedde Le Grand played a solid set that left a lot of MOS fluro kids bemused as to why he didn’t play his signature anthem, Put Your Hands Up For Detroit. In a day where basically all the internationals signed off, started or peaked their sets with their signature anthems, it was peculiar that Fedde chose not to. He did however play Jaymo & Hauswerks – Don’t Stop (Gutterpunk Mix) and Red Hot Chil Peppers – By The Way (Rene Amesz & Peter Gelderblom’s Remix), which both went down a treat. Check YouTube for the video clipping of the Chilli Peppers track and how NOT to sign along to it.

Moving along and back into the GU stage for what was THE biggest surprise of the day. *Chris Lake*’s Changes has been one of the biggest house anthems in 2006 and I was certain I’d move into the room and onto the dancefloor to hear a fluffy and uplifting selection of house music, much like his production single Changes. What I received was vastly different, and all for the better as he delivered 2 hours of absolutely SLAMMING tech-house, which went down an absof**kenlute treat. Finishing finally with Changes and the place absolutely erupted, the RSL styled rooms roof nearly came off as those present showered CL with praise and emotion, one of the true highlights of the day.

With 8pm on the rocket clock it was back to the Future main stage to see one of my all time heroes Ferry Corsten, perform for the final two hours. Back in the late 90’s when trance was king worldwide, Ferry took himself to superstardom with an array of trance productions through his various guises, in particular System F, Gouryella and Veracocha. Responsible for some of trance music’s finest ever productions, Ferry is a true superstar and this was the first time I’d finally get to see this Dutch superstar in person.

While lately Ferry through his live sets and his latest album, L.E.F. has taken his sound, like most international trance artists, on a more electro tangent; it was clear from the outset that this set would very much be a trip down memory lane as an array of classics were heard throughout. Opening with Rui Da Silva’s timeless classic Touch Me brought the crowd into raptures. Shortly into the set and the 2006 Sean Tyas Remix of Robert Miles – Children came flooding through the speakers for one of the most loved up moments in Brisbane festival history. Following this System F – Out of the Blue took the trance fans present into absolute euphoria, which was only a taste of what was to come. His guise as Gouryella with Tijs Verwest (aka Tiesto) and the self titled track Gouryella really sent shivers down the spine. The new singles off the album weren’t missed as L.E.F. took things up a notch, but it was Fire that really made the most impact. Finishing off with his classic Punk was a true moment for the ages as the crowd sung along to the riffs of the trance single. There was time for just one more with an encore of his own Rock Your Body.

Over on the other stages Josh Wink was closing the Ten Pound Crew with one of the most destructing performances Brisvegas has ever seen. By this stage there was only a small handful of punters present but those there were in for a treat as his classic Higher State of Consciousness finished the festival for the TPC crew.

Up in the GU room and Sebastian Leger took the punters through a 2 hour electro house journey and was noticeably more impressive than his lackluster performances on the Gold Coast last year. Finishing with his remix of What Comes Around Goes Around was a really nice touch and yet another highlight for the day.

In wrapping up the festival it could be broken down to a

Artists / Music on display 10/10
As previously aforementioned this lineup internationally wise was just about, if not, the greatest QLD has ever seen. It’s a testament to Future Entertainment that they not only brought the full list to QLD but also, at the request of local Brisbane punters, added Oliver Huntemann to the line-up. The music reflected the quality of the line-up and that was not restricted to the internationals as the inter-state artists provided an array of highlights throughout the day and our locals showed once again why we have some of the nation’s best talent at our very finger tips.

The programming was spot on with only Sander van Doorn possibly being one that would’ve been better suited to a later time slot.

Sound 5/10
Spending probably 80% of my day at the main stage where the sound was most greatly affected. Felix, Coxy, Ferry got raped with the sound. When you are standing at the front of the dance floor and can hear people’s conversations behind you and not have to talk over the music to talk to people next to you and you know there was issues. Hopefully will be addressed for v. 2 next year. In saying that the sound was fine in the GU & Air rooms.

Vibe 7/10
Nobody was teeing off or really dancing hard in the main or outer stages and I think this was a reflection on the levels of the bass and sound as inside in the GU & Air rooms people were tearing it apart as heavy bass lines and louder sounds ripped through their body, making them move.

Venue 9/10
So refreshing to be partying in a brand new venue. The toilets were clean and easily accessible the entire day and the bars etc. for what I saw, had short lines for the entire day. I would love more festivals to be held at Doomben, just obviously the sound issues need to be sorted. Getting to and from the festival in terms of driving was easy and by all reports the public transport was smooth sailing.

Overall there’s room for improvement, but show me a festival that nailed it in their first year? The sound issues have to be addressed and if not then maybe Doomben has seen it’s only Future Music Festival and a new location is needed.

People have cried and whinged about the sound issues this year but have a look at QLD’s biggest and best dance music festival, Summafieldayze, and it’s problems first year as opposed to now. Future know what they are doing, they live for this stuff and no doubt will address problems and rectify for a bigger and better Future Music Festival v.2 next year.

If the sound issues cant’ be sorted and with the problems at Southbank, RNA, Riverside and Doug Jennings Park, surely Parklands Showgrounds on the Gold Coast is the only logical place for the future of ALL dance music festivals in Queensland?

But with Future bringing so much goddamn talent to town for FMF, there’s no doubt I’ll be front n centre next year, bring it on…