‘First Ever’ parties have rather a lot riding on them. Reputation is at stake. Finances are pressured. The fans are demanding, nay, expecting perfection. It is a brave individual who jumps into the world of promoting, but Steve Hill, juggernaut of the hard dance sound, is up to the challenge. Friday 17 August saw Space nightclub hosting Masif – The Event.

The first Masif party promised spectacular production, an impressive lineup, and eight hours of hard dance mayhem. Local Masif DJs included Matrix, Suae, Nitrouz and Oliver Leighs. A ‘Nu Breed’ area featured the likes of Arbor, S Dee, Flip and Arbee. These DJs kept the crowd bouncing with hard dance, hard trance, hardstyle and happy hardcore. Of course, whilst the locals were their usual solid selves, all ears were waiting for the internationals.

Andy Farley is something of a hard dance legend. With releases on seminal label Nukleuz, and performances at all the top festivals like Dance Valley, Creamfields, Global Gathering etc, the moniker King of Hard Dance is possibly an apt one. Whilst his current production work utilises techno elements, Farley was billed to enthral the crowd with a ‘Classics Set’. Opening with Marco V’s driving remix of Loops n Tings surprised me, but he backed it up with hard house classics like BK Revolution and K90 Red Snapper.

Luca Antolini has not been to our shores since 2005. A mainstay of the famous SAIFAM group (which includes hardstyle guru Technoboy ), Antolini produces under the well-known aliases Dark Oscillators, The Hose, The Raiders and The KGBs (among others). His DJ sets, however, tend towards Italian hard trance and this is what he delivered to the eager Masif crowd. A highlight of his set was his own Heat, a classic released in 2002, which played nicely alongside newer tunes (his recent production Through My Memories with Steve Hill being one example).

Dark By Design has the singular honour of being awarded the ‘Best Remixer’ three years in a row at the Hard Dance Awards. Although he recently played in Australia live, his set at Masif was to be a DJ set. A prolific producer, DbD has included many new tunes on the Masif Hard Trance Anthems CD including Staying In The Shadows (with Steve Hill & Phil York), Rotten Egg (with Australia’s Dr Willis ), Severe Punishment and Psycho – many of which he road tested to the Masif crowd.

After the fact, I got a MySpace bulletin from Steve Hill apologising for missing his set. The reason? A call from the hospital informing him his wife was in delivery! Steve, for that reason, no apology is necessary. In fact, I believe Masif congratulations are in order. Firstly, for the safe delivery of Mason, and secondly, for a rockin’ Masif party. Let us hope that the packed dance floor has convinced you to plan another event, and with the likes of Cally & Juice and Phil York representing the Masif DJs, it will certainly be something to look forward to.