Ahh… another year, another Stonefest. Actually this was only the second year I’d been to Canberra’s longest-running music festival. On the whole it was a much more enjoyable experience.

It is difficult to describe how my night panned out without using ‘random’, the best I can do is describe as one of those ‘choose your own adventure’ novels. You know, to see Cut Copy, turn to page 54, to visit the Hub turn to page 3, or to pass out, turn to page 70. You get the idea. It was tough to choose which acts of the great line-up to visit, but I believe that I saw enough (of the Friday night) to allow me get a good overall impression.

First up was Karton. Having been informed that they had abandoned their usual breakbeats for some good ol’ house I was interested to see what was on offer. What I was greeted with was pleasantly surprising: a strong mix of electro house and tech house. They got the slowly-building crowd grooving with tasty treats like Daft Punk – Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Deadmau5 Remix) and Claude Von Stroke – Who’s Afraid of Detroit. I missed the end of their set as I felt a need to check out a group I hadn’t seen since BDO 05 – Cut Copy. Suffice to say that the crowd size had almost tripled by the time I left, which was hardly surprising considering the quality of what was on offer.

My first observation of Cut Copy is that the vibe surrounding their performance seemed a little flat. I’m a sucker for their distinct blend of indie-disco-rock-dance whatever-you-want-to-call- it, but the crowd didn’t really seem to be getting into it. Maybe because it was early, who knows? I decided to venture into the crowd to check it out and, as is always the case, immediately got caught up in what can only be described as a disco-mosh. I realised that up until this point they’d be playing their lesser-known material. As soon as the crowd heard the opening notes of Hearts on Fire they let go of their inhibitions and began dancing up a storm. This was more like the Cut Copy I remembered. Highlight of their performance was Saturdays; I’m a sucker for that track.

Next up I travelled back inside to see what Milkbar Nick had to offer. Let me say now that this was probably the best I’d seen him play in a long time, if not ever. Although some of the tracks were designed for mass appeal (Samim – Heater, Federico Franchi – Cream, Armand Van Helden – I Want Your Soul etc), it was the way he mixed and crafted them together that made the set so special. Highlights were Chromeo – Fancy Footwork (Guns n Bombs Remix) and a cheeky sampling of the musical from Summer Heights High.

While Nick’s set was energetic and technically very good, all that energy and Dutch courage had its price. Unfortunately the Aston Shuffle weren’t able to play for the full hour due to a mixer malfunction. The positive of this situation was that while the audience weren’t treated to some tasty bouncy ghetto electro-tech house, they did witness some stand up improvisation in the form of ‘__Late Night with Mikah and Milky__’. I see a promising future ahead.

Following the Aston Shuffle’s short but sweet set were another favourite of mine, the Bagraiders. By this time they had a massive crowd to play to, and certainly capitalised on the fact. They worked the crowd meticulously, dropping a calculated mix of new and old. The explosion caused by Daft Punk – One More Time followed by their own remix of Fun Punch is difficult to describe in words. Just know that it was impressive to say the least.

Having had enough for the time being of being indoors, I decided to go check out an act I’d ben meaning to see for a long time but never (really) got a chance to. Local Canberra Hip-Hop heroes, D’Opus and Roshambo were impressive to say the least. Ro worked the crowd with skill that can only come from years of dedicated and practice. It is easy to see why they’re so damn popular.

The last act of the evening for me was UK breaks act, Aquasky. I was fairly familiar with some of Aquaksy’s material from a few years ago, and it was great to hear them play some of these, like Overneath. I wasn’t surprised when they dropped a lot of the cheeky Whitelabel material done under their ‘Aqua Ski’ moniker. These tracks, particularly Waters of Nazareth v La La Land and One More Time v Aerodynamic, provided some slightly more commercial party breaks to reinvigorate the crowd.

Overall I had a more enjoyable experience this year, the crowd numbers were down which meant more room to move and less time travelling between stages. This year’s solid line-up makes future Stonefests look very promising indeed. It is clear why it is Canberra’s most popular dance music night – congrats to all involved.