ADVENTJAH
RNA Showgrounds
1 December 2001
Review by Kat

“Brisbane’s ultimate night of pleasure” was set to be a huge one (as always) with an awesome international and home DJ line-up plus free rides and for the first time, a foam party room! Even though this time round Adventjah had to compete with Gatecrasher in Sydney, the crew were assured that all the Brissie ravers would be loyal to their fave rave event of the year – and they were right! The crowd was over 7,000 this time, and considering this was NOT an all ages event – thatUs pretty damn good for Brissie!

All week leading up to December 1 the weather had been hot, sticky and extremely humid, so it was not surprising that when the night did arrive, everyone was prepared for a scorcher! My chosen family and I arrived at the Adventjah gates at around 7.45pm to discover that as few people had turned up yet, we did not have to queue up – niiiice! I must make a comment that I was impressed with the staff at the door who were extremely helpful when I discovered that my name was not on the door list as promised, still allowing me to enter! (Thanks Cosmo:)).

On initial exploration the set-up was as the last two Adventjahs had been, except with two new rooms added and two rooms swapped around. Meeting spot confirmed, we all headed out to suss the place out. The Electronic Oasis was a new addition and had some interesting palm trees made from foil P oh, and some very funky house playing. After a boogie here, the mandatory rush to the NRG Hardhouse room was made – definitely the room with the most energy and sweat! That wasn’t before passing through the breaks room where the Brissie ITM editor, Cosmo Cater, was dancing up a storm! As we entered the NRG room we expected the awesome lasers to wow us as previous Adventjahs have, but alas unfortunately they were not there;(. So we left to meet some friends at our tap meeting spot. It was at this point that the most memorable moment occurred – sitting at the tap, chatting with friends, my friend Matt said “Is that Lisa Lashes?” pointing into the crowd. I stand up and yep, he was right, it is indeed the mai

After this exciting moment, we all trudged in to the hard house room, to get warmed up for Lisa Lashes. Storm was meant to be on but due to sickness did not come, which was unfortunate. Due to the unbelievable humidity, the hardhouse room was damn hot – hottest it has ever been! The air was extremely stifling, and thank goodness for the huge air fans that were cooling the front area:) One thing I did notice here was that the crowd was reasonable easy to get through. Maybe that was because I was carrying a blue water spray bottle all nightIwho knows, but I never had a problem with getting through the crowd as I had at previous Adventjahs – easy to get out quick! As Lisa Lashes came on, the crowd was pumping and certainly hot and ready for it! Standing at the front, next to a speaker I could look at the whole crowd and it sure was a great vibe. Cracking open my first set of yellow glowsticks, I was ready. What came next was an hour and a half of the most awesome stompin’ tunes from the hands of the UK h
Anyway, the whole set was awesome and I’m sure the crowd would have agreed with me, we didn’t want her to stop. Hopefully Lisa Lashes will be at Adventjahs in the near future – well worth seeing. After this and spraying numerous people down the front, I left for a well-deserved air break. One thing about the heat: it did make me have proper breathers as the air got too much at times. Oh, and the spray bottle helped immensely. Can’t recommend enough taking one ($3 from a Crazy crap kinda shop:)).

When I got outside this time, I noticed two things – (1) the crowd had grown to triple its size, and (2) there was a full moon! It was midnight and there was only 10 more hours of Adventjah to go, so the regulatory jewellery shop was due to be done. A friend of mine and I made our way to the many great stalls that are at this event to purchase our Adventjah signature bracelet and necklace. I unfortunately got carried away and bought more than anticiapated but what the hell it’s Adventjah. By this stage the event was well in swing, so I went to the meeting spot for a sit. I turned to the guy next to me to say hi and he replies with “I haven’t been to sleep since Wednesday!” -mmmm what do u say to that hey?! (Quite a normal Brisbane occurrence – Ed). Realising that it was 12.45am and that I was late for Sander Kleinenberg, I rushed to the Progressive, Trance and Electronica room. He had already started and was easing everyone into his DJ journey – nice change from the hardhouse but kinda hard to get in

Back to the hardhouse room again, but before this I went to the toilets for a quick refill of spray bottle – I swear it is the best way to meet people on the dance floor, you’re everyone’s best pal and it certainly keeps up the P.L.U.R! This was the moment that I realised that wearing all white to an event like this was not the best idea I’ve ever had – I had got pretty messy, but surprisingly not see through from all the water and sweat. But who cares – I think I was the only girl in all white rave gear! Back into the hardhouse room, I caught Captain Tinrib stomping the place, the room still going as hard as when I left it. The robot was on stage yet again dancing away I did notice that there was a lot of tracks repeated through out the night in this room, which is a bit disappointing – not very professional!

3am and it was off to the House and Techno room to see the much-anticipated Hybrid. After being a big fan of their album ‘Wide Angle’ I was keen as mustard to see them DJ live. And I was not disappointed. Gotta say though I think that must have been the darkest and smokiest room at Adventjah, I mean all my friends were in there and none of us could find each other, and it’s not a huge room!?! Right at the front I danced in front of the laser (spraying water into it to see a very trippy effect!) to a very interesting, smooth and consistent set that helped roll us further into the morning. When they finished with ‘Cowgirl’ by Underworld I got goose-bumps all up my arms – the crowd went absolutely mad, throwing their arms up. Another impressive set from another act I hope to see again real soon here!

Unfortunately by this stage, the sun had peeped out reminding us that the night was coming to an end. A few people had left, but the hardhouse and trance rooms were still going strong. In the hardhouse room, Dave Lea was going strong, playing many faves and punishing the crowd into the morning. As he finished, the crowd had to leave the hardhouse room, and that chapter of this Adventjah was over. All that was left was the trance room!

DJ Scot Project was on at 6am, and was spotted walking from his hotel to the RNA on foot! And also walking amongst the crowd as most people didn’t know what he looked like. I, with many of my friends (that I had found again!) were eager to see him do a stompin’ hard trance set – though many thought he should have been on a little earlier in the evening. Our weary bodies kept on going, pushing ourselves to keep on dancing hard to Scot Project’s mad set. He played all the tracks you expected from him, and of course ‘Overdrive’! It was complete madness and well worth seeing – PLEASE get DJ Scot Project again! 7.15am and the trance room is surprisingly fuller than previous Adventjahs at this time of the morning – the crowds are getting more hardcore – excellent form! By this stage my white outfit was no longer white but an off-white (had to Napisan it when I got home). but I sooo didn’t care and kept on dancing to Jen-E and Ricemeister. It was during Ricemeister that my trusty blue spray bo

Why I love raves in Brissie (especially Adventjah) is that I will always run into everyone I know and some I haven’t seen in years amongst a crowd of 10,000 – where else could u do that eh? As always I went with about 10 friends and came home with 20 new friends as well. I took a notebook to record notes for my review and it ended up becoming my signature book for everyone I met – I’ve got 20 messages from new people I met! No wonder I’ve got no voice at the moment!:)

Congrats to Adventjah crew for having plenty of free tap water, although buying cold water was fantastic throughout the night too.

Yet again the end of year Adventjah was absolutely madness with a great lineup, good facilities, fantastic setup and top security. Although the crowd has been starting to change a little bit everytime, by there being more clubbers, more dressed up girls and guys, more first-timers and more people who don’t come to dance, the event still retains the fabulous vibe and craziness that it is renowned for – I sure hope that it doesn’t lose this!

Well all I can say is that I am sad that it is over for another year and I sure can’t wait til the next one! REMEMBER: P.L.U.R.’ and Live it, Love it, Large it, Lose it! See you all at the next Advent’jah!