As I fronted up with my entourage – we were rolling five deep on Saturday – we were greeted with a pretty solid line, arguably matching the solid line up on the inside. It’s not every day that the house music legend, the Minister of Sound himself Ron Carroll is in town. Needless to say a lot had come for the sheer love of house, and the man himself. Having manoeuvred the line, immediately upon entering, you could tell it was going to be a solid night. As I’m recent import into Sydney import, this was my first time at Industrie, but I’ve got to say that it will not be my last. Not sure whether it was the obvious lack of 18 year olds wearing fluoro, but there is a distinct touch of class to the joint. Nice. While I’d arrived a bit late to get a taste for it, everyone looked warmed up from Nick Vidal’s set, and Dave 54 with his trademark swagger, was building on that and keeping things nice and bubbly. Liam Sampras hit the decks at midnight, and he did what he does best – soulful house – and dropping in the Bucketheads for good measure.

At the stroke of 1am, the man we’d all come for stepped up to the plate, and Ron Carroll ripped into Finally from the Kings of Tomorrow. He truly had arrived, albeit not so very unannounced like a thief in the night. The crowd moved as one, showing their appreciation for the man, and as he threw into You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), the crowd were feeling just as good. This was soulful house at its best, by the man who’s best at it – the Minister of House himself.

Whether you were sitting and enjoying, or grooving to it on the d-floor (I did both at various stages of the night) he was absolutely catering to both. He dropped into his own Just Got Paid and the party truly was pumping, and with the crowd on fire, they were lapping up every beat of it. With some nice chunky bass for good measure, this was the quintessential feel good experience. The place was buoyant and if it was soulful house they came for, then not one punter would have left disappointed. The big man pumped out tune after tune, including his rendition of the Superfunk hit Lucky Star, and the song that is apparently all the rage overseas You Have A Purpose by Kings of Groove with Michelle Weeks on vocals, which had its own special Ron Carroll touch added to it.

When he blasted out the timeless Back Together from Hardsoul with none other than himself on vocals, it was almost as though this was the moment people had been waiting for… And they danced, they savoured, they sat back in appreciation but they all took it in and relished the moment.

But it was indeed a night to relish. As we staggered out after a monster three-hour set, while the numbers may have tapered off at the end, all present knew they’d experienced a pretty special night. I know I did.