New festival on the block Future Music Festival took the Sydney scene by storm in 2006 with a winning combination of a stellar lineup, an inspired venue and a musically-educated crowd. Gathering rave reviews, it was little surprise that FMF 2007 sold out weeks in advance despite the capacity of the event, naturally, being bumped up by festival organisers. After months of speculation and anticipation, Saturday 18th March 2007 rolled around and it was time to see whether Future could break the curse of poor sequels.

A pre-party gave us the chance to compare intended timetables. Then it was sunscreen on and tickets in hand as we headed over to Royal Randwick Racecourse. For those driving, free parking took the headache out of transport (props also go to Future for organising post-party buses to the city). Security was polite and inspired an early giggle by asking me to open my lip balm. The stroll through the underground tunnel made me feel like a gladiator entering the Colosseum…only this tournament was filled with fleuro, giant porno gnomes and inflatable speakers.

After taking a timetable from a dwarf (yup, you read that right) it was first stop Godskitchen to see a mate Scott Richardson, who was kicking off proceedings with tunes from Andain, Andy Moor and Armin. The Pavilion played host to locals Patrik, Amber and Nik before Sander Van Doorn took to the stage for his much anticipated Sydney debut. Fans of his 2006 Essential Mix may have expected electro/dirty house, but Sander sat predominately in the tech trance realm with his own Grasshopper, Marco V’s reconstruction of Shout and Cosmic Gate’s Analog Feel. Thanks to the rain, the room was packed and stayed like that through Jumping Jack’s sensitive bridging set. But the star of the Godskitchen room was, of course, trance god Ferry Corsten. For 3 hours the crowd was journeyed through Corsten classics, his new electro trance sound and chunky tech/electro party tunes. Highlights of this set included Galaxia, Out of the Blue, Rock Your Body Rock and Rank1’s Life Less Ordinary. The party vibe was sensational and, although Ferry didn’t end with Carte Blanche (yeah, I was ever hopeful), this will easily go down as one of my sets of the year.

Earlier on in the day, I hit the Sweetchilli area and found myself in amongst an ITM lovefest – hello to all you beautiful people. DJs Robbie Lowe, Crispin and Crochetti proved why Sweetchilli is such a popular local event. Later as the heavens poured, the room became a refuge for all manner of trashy souls. Whether all the punters appreciated Serge Santiago’s deep percussive minimal tech is questionable. Purveyors of quality music would have enjoyed Rex The Dog dropping Justice’s Waters of Nazareth overlayed with the Proper Education accapella or Hunterman bashing out his remix (with Bodzin ) of Depeche Mode’s Everything Counts. Chris Lake caved the heads of those hardy souls hanging out for his closing beats.

From the Chilli arena it was a short walk outside to the Future stage. Yes, it rained. The grandstand packed out. People got wet in true festival style. Nick Warren dropped some lush progressive – think the Prydz remix of Mojo’s 1983, Shiloh Cafe del Mariachi and Way Out West Mindcircus. Felix da Housecat opted for cheese – Marilyn Manson and Buy Now For Sale. Carl Cox, a true festival genius, closed with his trademark funky house, banging techno and microphone encouragement. Check out the YouTube videos of the raucous crowd response.

The Famous stage was another undercover haunt for those escaping the inclement weather. Fedde le Grand pleased the crowd by dropping Put Your Hands Up For Detroit (there would probably have been a riot if he neglected to play it!). Josh Wink mashed up techno classics with twisted upfront acid. He won points by playing DJ Roland Knights of the Jaguar, his own classic Higher State of Consciousness, and Spastik over Underworld Rez. X-Press2, who I was inclined to give short shift to ( Lazy is clearly not a complete indication of their musical abilities), demonstrated clever layering and effects. Quality tracks like Ame’s Rej and Audion Mouth to Mouth graced their set.

The Bang Gang DJs drew the crowds early at the Kink stage. The Egg trotted out Walking Away and Joachim Garraud dished up Love Parade (eerily like David Guetta at FMF 2006). At the other outdoor area Air, the rain did little to damper the enthusiasm of the breaks and DnB aficionados. Even Klaus ‘Heavyweight’ Hill got into the spirit, dancing on stage along to JDS. LTJ Bukem thumbed his nose at the storm and rolled out some heavy, yet funky basslines. The ITM VIP room, the place to match names/avatars, saw many a drowned rat dancing along to John Glover, Tommy Trash and Telefunken. Sadly the four toilets were portaloos, but having our own tent, bar and funky couches added to the ITM mystique.

So, was it as good as 2006? The lineup was original and exciting, no Sneaky Sound System or Kid Kenobi here ( Fuzzy take note!). The racecourse wins hands-down as a festival venue – easily accessible, plenty of toliets, lots of space. The crowd… well, fashion victims and aggressive behaviour seem to go hand-in-hand with festivals in today’s scene. I’ve seen worse. Maybe the trick is to ignore the overmunt and fleuro, grab a group of mates and get dancing. A few sound issues marred sets, people got pushy when the elevators stopped and someone snuck a knife in: can you say ‘idiot’ please…. But you know what, overall FMF 2007 was a top notch event. It looks like the new kids on the block Future are here to stay.

See you all in another 12 months yeah!