About a month ago I got a MySpace request to be a friend of the Canberra Masif. Intrigued, I investigated who this ‘person’ was and discovered to my absolute delight it was a promotional tactic for the upcoming Masif tour featuring Dark by Design from the UK. The next day I ran into Loose Cannon (carrying an armful of Masif pole posters and glue), who handed me a flyer for the very same gig. Needless to say I was already impressed with the amount of effort being put in! But effort doesn’t always equal success, so I had my fingers crossed that all this promotion and advertising would translate into punters on the night.

As the night started at 8pm it was no surprise I missed the first act. Which is a pity because first up on the decks was Frodo (who I used to be a big fan of back when he played hardstyle). Though electro and house aren’t my usual tunes of choice, I was keen to see how Frodo had mastered his new sound. As it turned out, I would have to wait till another time.

When I arrived at 10.30pm I was very pleased to see that Enerv8 had the stage to himself for the entirety of his set. It’s become more common for Enerv8 to play with Simon Hunter these days (an excellent combination I must add), but Enerv8 has the talent and the energy to fill the stage all on his own. His selection of the most upfront and forthcoming electro/trance tunes from the likes of Ferry Corsten, Signalrunners and Richard Durand is just as much a lesson in what tracks I should rush out and buy as it is a lesson in why Enerv8 is booked for nearly every trance gig in Canberra.

As Enerv8 played his last track, X-Dream took over to up the ante and began to pump out the harder style of tunes that most people had come to hear. I’ve seen X-Dream play several times before and am always impressed with the enthusiasm she shows. Her set ranged from Hard Trance to Hard Dance and Hardstyle, all mixed flawlessly and always with X-Dream dancing along with the tracks like she’s on the dancefloor herself. Also, big congratulations to X-Dream for getting signed to the Masif label. A female dj who is as talented and down to earth as she is good looking is a rare find; Masif are going to be thanking their lucky stars they nabbed her before someone else did!

Steve Hill was up next, and after talking to quite a few people in the crowd I was surprised by the amount who had come to see Steve Hill more than Dark by Design. To be honest, I’m not a huge fan of Steve Hill’s sets. Too often I come away from a dance floor thinking ‘why can’t he leave the cheese to Nick Skitz?’, so I was a little frustrated that a majority of the tracks he played were in the Steve Hill form. But looking around at the amount of dancers franticly lapping up every moment, I’d say I was on my own. And the way Steve Hill engaged the crowd was certainly a testament to why he is one of Australia’s most wanted in the Hard Dance scene.

Dark by Design (aka Gav West) took to the stage at 1.30am, and from start to end smashed out tune after tune of some of his hardest records. As each new track came on there was cheering from the crowd; clearly most people were very familiar with his production and remixing work. And obviously I wasn’t because he didn’t seem to play many of his songs that I knew!

As I saw Loose Cannon step up to the sidelines and wait patiently to take over and wind down the night I got a little excited. If Luke’s sets are anything to go by, winding down the night was going to be last on the agenda. I’ve seen Loose Cannon play more times than nearly any other local and I will continue to sing him the praises he deserves. He is always a pleasure to watch behind the decks, interacting with the crowd and ensuring everyone is having as much fun as he is. And tonight was no exception. He was quick to work up a sweat from pacing behind the decks and yelling out to the crowd as he played. As he finished the night with Suburban Train by Tiesto he had one last message to yell to the crowd; “Music is the lifeblood of our generation. Let’s take care of it, and each other.” A statement I could not agree with more.