I don’t own a pair of happy pants, I don’t own anything phosphorous and I don’t generally skip instead of walk; so I wasn’t sure I would enjoy Transmission as much as I did. Hard trance is the athletics of electronic music, like speed metal is to rock. Technical perfection and precision is so important at these ludicrous speeds, as a wrong turn could be disastrous for a packed dance floor! The talent on show proved worthy sonic navigators, and steered a compact but vigorous crowd into the wee hours of Sunday.

My Transmission adventure all started when my boy and I braved a rather brisk walk through the ANU car park. (You can always rely on Canberra weather to put on a show!) Our ears were leading us towards the sound of the distant ‘doof’ with other punters alike. On arrival, the door staff were keen to move us along and after a brief chat, we were in. The first thing that hit us, (apart from the blistering storm of noise that was Loose Cannon, more on him in a bit) was the light show. Top notch! It totally expanded the room, in conjunction with a neat animation being projected onto one wall. It was a rather eye-catching experience; who would’ve thought a uni bar could look so fun?!

Almost as dazzling was the uber-bombastic dress code that was being silently enforced by the super-enthusiastic crowd. Fluoro happy pants, old-school glow stick twirling and preternatural dance talent was the order of the day with people jumping around enjoying themselves immensely.

Unfortunately, we missed the first act (Enerv8), so we’ll start the talent rundown with a bit on Loose Cannon. His set was upbeat, tight and fun; a good start for uninitiated trancers such as I. It’s also worth mentioning, he’s one of the happiest DJs around, totally amping himself and the crowd, donning an invincible smile and gladly chatting to us when his set was done. After slinging a few freebies to the crowd he gave the floor to the feisty Xdream, who offered a slightly darker set. Her set explored the familiar (Voodoo People and Pump Up The Jam), and had an epic, UK mega-club feel somehow squashed into the uni bar confines.

DJ Nervous was next, who threw out Zombie Nation by Kernkraft 400 and snapped me out of review mode and into dance mode within about two bars! Actually, it seems the rest of the crowd had the same idea, as the dance floor filled up pretty quickly from here on in. The consensus was that it was either all or nothing, either throw your guts into your dance moves, or leave it at the bar. No one was just swaying in time to the music.

Perennial local favourite Archie had a quick chat with us, and seemed pretty pumped considering he had trucked in from a Sublime gig the night before. He dug his home crowd, and was generally looking forward to another chance to spin the wheels with Yoshi. We were too! The set was definitely a highlight, an awesome display of scratching madness and seamless collaboration by two masters of the craft. So good in fact that people stopped dancing to take photos and video footage! Hmmm…I think I’d rather dance. It was great that the gap between entertainer and punter melted away in such an intimate venue, and the genuine enjoyment of Archie and Yoshi shone through. It just shows that consummate professionals don’t need massive crowds to enjoy a gig and put on a massive freaken show!

Nitrouz and Nomad wrapped up proceedings with a high-strung set that left us and the rest of the crowd exhausted. Then again, after hours of thrashing around and drowning in sound, we were already pretty worn out! We decided to call it with about half an hour to go, and with a cheery farewell from Loose Cannon (who was freezing his a$$ off as someone swiped his jacket) we headed off into the cold Canberra night.

The Transmission parties have been rolling around for 10 years now, and show no sign of slowing down. Take it from me, if this small lead up was anything to go by, you should head to the party planned for Sydney on the 25th of this month. You’re in for a mighty fine treat!