Summer Break can best be summed up in one word – hot. OK, that sells short what was a very enjoyable and smoothly run day of music, but seriously it was bloody hot!

Rymill Park was a great score for a venue, it was great to see the Adelaide Council having some foresight and allowing its use and for Eclipse Touring to pester until it was approved. Arriving to what was formerly the lush parklands around 2pm I was greeted by a smallish crowd mostly camped out underneath the massive shades dotted around the venue. That said, as I passed the first stage in search of the second, the dedicated DnB heads were hard at work creating a dust cloud that would remain above them for the rest of their sweaty day. I took up residence under a tree to watch the end of the set from K-oscilate, they were working in the peak of the days sun and the sweat was dripping. From my side position kind of between the two stages there was a massive sound bleed which actually had me quite worried, however when you stepped into either arena the sound was tight and you felt like that stage was the only thing in the world.

First up on my must see list for the day was General Knowledge. Having missed the majority of their last set at Nurcha Fest but having heard good things I was eager to not make the same mistake twice. Jabs, Detail and Matty Cuts-a-lot on decks have improved a lot since they won the inaugural Hoods grant, from my perspective it is really dope to watch their growth as artists live on stage. Their rhymes are fiercely Australian proud and although the crowd was still small they were appreciative, as the DnB stage with an international already up had stolen the fan thunder.

After GK it was time for the days headliner the world’s most awarded and arguably best turntablist Q-Bert. Sadly it appears those titles don’t extend to professionalism and he arrived late for his set then ended with “sorry I cant play any longer I have to go to Hobart.” That said he is most definitely a whiz behind the decks. While he doesn’t amaze with track selection, he plays rolling breaks and cuts them to shreds, his speed on the decks and clever maneuvers winning over the appreciative crowd. One last gripe though towards the DnB MC who wandered over and decided he would liven up the crowd, instead he made some scratches a cluttered mess of sound, even forcing Q-Bert to at one point stop what he was doing and mouth at him to shut up. Hip Hop and DnB are different for a reason, hopefully he now knows this.

For the next section of acts on stage number two live bands took over, The Levitators and then New White Sneakers giving their version of live funk to a crowd that varied in size seemingly song dependent. Meanwhile the DnB room continued at a frenetic pace, the overall crowd in the venue was probably pleasing, if a little down on great due ot the vast array of events at this time of year. As I headed over ready to catch Staen-1 I had my ears offended by a shocking cover of De La Soul by the New White Sneakers, god I hope that goes from their repertoire soon. Sadly most of the crowd were loving it and I may just be a grumpy purist.

Staen-1 doesn’t get as many full length party sets as I’m sure he would like so when he does there is no doubt he goes all out. His set gradually drew more and more people over as he combined golden era party jams from the likes of Snoop, Naughty By Nature, Biggie, Ice Cube and Dr Dre with the wizardry and body tricks behind the deck that made his name. I don’t foresee and occasion where I will not be left blown away by a Staen-1 set.

Following Staen in a somewhat odd scheduling move were the Beat Smugglers. Now I quite like the Smugglers, it just seems perhaps a flip of sets would have been in order. Regardless they delivered a thoroughly funky and enjoyable set. The byplay between MC Griff and the man in charge of the sampler is always fun and the tracks varying from hip hop, to funk and DnB definitely force your head to bob.

Headlining stage 2 were the one and only Funkoars, who pulled the largest crowd of the day to that arena, Q-Bert included. I have seen the Oars a lot this year and they have always impressed me, for me it was a pleasant change to see a totally new set list from the past few months. Included were possible second album track This Is How, their song from DJ Bonez excellent Roll Call album, Certified and even some throwbacks to their first album Kidney Shifters still sounding brilliant live. In the middle of all of this we had impromptu R. Kelly karaoke and the mergence of a blender where Trials promptly whipped up some cocktails and handed them out to the front row. Followed by skulling an obscene amount himself, it was most definitely an Oars set and for mine the days highlight.

For a first effort in the parklands it was a really solid showing from eclipse. In a perfect world the stages would be further apart as more of the park would be used, but for the amount of people in attendance any larger would have felt too empty, losing the party vibe. Heat aside, Summer Break was a good day out and a nice end to the big parties of 2007. Bring on 2008.