Adelaide Cup long weekend saw what can only be described as a redefining moment our dance scene. The nation-sweeping Future Music Festival hit our city in style bringing with it acts and genres that have seldom dominated shows of large scale here previously. The festival was laden with internationally recognised talent from the house, trance, techno and progressive facets along with the locally well-established drum and bass genre. The event was witnessed by approximately five thousand of Adelaide’s keenest party-goers.

Not only was most of Adelaide exposed to a different party, it went off in a way I have not seen Adelaide go for a long time. Although many punters cite the very successful Enchanted Forest events as the must-see annual party, Future Music offers us something different which I believe will strongly encourage Adelaide’s dance scene to flourish and grow. The festival really opened many people’s minds to the wide spectrum of electronic music that is on offer, and there were plenty of fresh faces in the crowd. By line-up and atmosphere it even reminded me of parties I’ve attended in the UK and Europe.

A big factor in this being such a huge success was affiliating this festival with the Adelaide Fringe Festival and having this just next to East Terrace in Rymill Park. Party-goers were treated to an outdoor fiesta in a convenient CBD location with ample space to accommodate many stages and arenas.

The Garden of Unearthly Delights was the perfect venue for Future Music and the transformation to dance festival in the area felt natural. The minute I walked through the gates I looked around at the massive crowd, sucked in the vibe and heard perfect sounds filling my ears. I knew we were in for something special.

Despite missing some of the first acts, I managed to catch Mobin Master and Bill Fragos on the main stage. Although names I am not too familiar with myself, I have to say that these boys were kicking it early on with some pumping house and even treated us to some old age old classic house sounds from the early 90s. It was the last thing I expected to hear but was a great way to kick off the days proceedings.

I was glad to hang around to hear the solid drum and bass that LTJ Bukem and MC Conrad were treating us to. One cannot deny that MC Conrad is one of the best if not THE best drum and bass MC in the game. The crowd responded positively to such a performance and after all, Adelaide does love its drum and bass. I must say I do like the Tokyo Sessions CD I have of these guys and I am by no means a devout drum and bass fan.

What came next took the act of the day award hands down. Sander Van Doorn took over in style with some real filthy, industrial electro trance sounds and from there it was nothing but the best tech trance on offer and did the crowd love it or what? From techy beats to uplifting tunes such as The World is Watching it just got better and better. It was a shame that Sander’s set was interrupted by a sound problem for a few minutes but he quickly pulled the crowd back into the swing of things.

As if the main arena had not been treated enough, on came one of the most respected masters of house, Felix Da Housecat. The minute he took over the wheels, the screams showed there were many house faithful waiting for this act. His technique on the decks is insane and Can’t Just Get Enough by Depeche Mode quite literally brought the house down. As the set progressed, pop stepped back and straight up house kicked in.

One of my favourite DJs in recent times, Nick Warren was up next on the HQ stage. He was doing what he does best, playing sounds reminiscent of his Way Out West features. Many of those familiar with the Global Underground CDs were there for this one. Progressive on all facets was represented from the placid to driving and energetic.

Back to the main stage to the big man himself, Carl Cox. Now this is a DJ I have seen a lot over the years and have seen him play all manner of sets. While I firmly believe he is still one of the best talents currently to play to the dancing masses to date, this set was nothing out of the ordinary for his standards. One of his more recent ones in London at a party called SW4 was way better and it seemed to me that Carl Cox was just working and not thoroughly enjoying himself. A good set all the same still.

To finish the day off as the sun was coming down was Dutch trance legend, Ferry Corsten. Ferry came on and gave us the ultimate uplifting vibe and drove everyone onwards into a trance filled frenzy as only he could. Hands were waving in the air, arms were pumping and people were lifted onto shoulders to give their respects and dance their hardest to one of the best in the game. Out Of The Blue by System F brought with it huge screams and shouts of delight which proves solid classics like this will never die. One of Ferry’s latest tracks Beautiful also sent people insane and this was the note Ferry played to the crowd until the very end.

It is always great to walk out of a dance festival feeling like you have had your money’s worth but to go out beaming, smiling and ecstatic doesn’t come very often. I will take it one step further and say I was beyond that, if such a feeling is possible. There was not a second that went by during the day that I didn’t enjoy and looking at everyone’s faces on the way out, I could see that they felt the same. This was nothing short of a complete success and as soon as the tickets become available for next year, I am there. And so should all of you that missed this one because it will be a crime to miss two in a row. Thank you to Future Entertainment and the Fringe for bringing to us such a great event. Five stars surely in anyone’s book.