Okay, I’ll admit it. I’ll raise my hand in the air and admit to the whole world the truth…. deep breathe I am a mega Carl Cox fan. You see, I’m no ordinary fan too. I think as soon as you’ve seen a DJ in more than two countries, you step into that deeper territory of “passionate fan”. You see it all started back in 2003 when I saw Carl for the first time play at an underground club in Osaka, Japan. Carl absolutely blew me away with this tribal techno set that was so goddamn bangin’, the roof was nearly ripped off! So he definitely left an indelible mark on me. From that moment on, I was his. Since then I’ve seen Carl do his thing at the massive Dance Valley in Amsterdam (04), a 6-hour set at Heaven in London (05), and seen him nearly every time he’s played in Melbourne. I can’t get enough of his sound! When I found out that he would be playing Billboard again, one of Melbourne’s rising institutions making a mark right now thanks to Carl’s good friend Eric Powell, I knew I had to be there. After a massive touring schedule recently through South America and Asia, Carl Cox returned to his adopted home to show exactly why he is the reigning #1 tech DJ in the world.

Arriving later than expected at 11.30pm, Billboard was already seething with young hot things, dancing away to Eric Powell on the decks. A tropical theme had taken over the venue and Eric was set up nice and close to the front of the stage, cementing my thoughts that we were surely in for a huge Carl spectacular once he got on at 12.30am. I had caught Eric the day before playing in the Area 21 stage (the ONLY place to be these days at Sidney Myer events) at Kiss My Grass, and so was interested to see what he would serve up in comparison this night. His set was consistent with the day before, an electro-fused house set with a splash of techy-ness and some big tracks of the moment. He even threw in a Fatboy Slim oldie that got everyone saying, “you know what is what but you don’t know what is what”. Interestingly, I noted that there wasn’t a turntable insight, just the trusty Pioneer CD-J 1000s which seem to have well and truly taken over these days. The crowd was definitely getting into it and the front area was filling up by the minute. It looked set to be a mad night!

Warming up for Carl was Jon Rundell, Carl’s support DJ who’s been touring with him around Australia. At the stroke of midnight, he jumped onto the decks, with girls swooning around him. He sure is one of the better looking DJs on the scene at the moment, and he sure does attract the girls! Billboard’s up close and personal set-up allowed us to really see the DJ – something I always love. Since we had secured a front row spot, we were certain that we’d see Carl do his thing as close as we could possibly get. Jon did an excellent job moving on from where Eric had left off, playing a mixed but very upbeat set of electro, house and driving beats, building and building up to get us ready for the big man. He dropped in Xpress 2’s Musik, a track that Sister Bliss worked at Area 21 at Summadayze, and it’s such a great little track to let loose and dance to. Throw in some old skool sounds and I’ve got to say, I don’t think this is the last we’ve seen of Jon. This is just the beginning. It was just a shame how short his set was. Last year at Future Music Festival, we got a great set from him so I hope we get to see more of him throughout 2008.

Just before 1am, the black curtain slowly rose up to unveil the man himself, the one everyone had been waiting for – Carl Cox. The crowd went absolutely ballistic as Carl jumped on the mic, and even more wild when he announced that this set was being broadcast to the world! OMG!!! Starting his set off with breakin’ beats Systematic Automatic from the Plump DJs, everyone started bopping along to the music and grinning excitedly. Carl definitely looked the best I’ve seen him in a while, still beaming that massive smile of his. The “Made in Melbourne” black tee was a nice touch too, one to surely please the crowd (and a nice cross promotion for Billboards, as that event is held there).

For the next three and a half hours, Carl took us on an explosive journey through electro, house and modern techno all while dealing with incredible heat in the venue, forcing him to wipe his equipment clean several times. Early on in his set, he sent my mate into hysteria with his Blue Monday electro remix, and the crowd totally lapped up a bit of grunge with Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit thrown into the mix. Hard Fi’s Suburban Knights (Angello & Ingrosso remix) was a winner with the crowd as well. As the set progressed, Carl pushed it up a notch, blowing us away with a dirty techy explosion around 2am – now that’s more like the Carl I love! Really building the crowd up, then when he dropped Rex Mundi’s The Perspective vs Ronski Speed’s Space, oh my freaking god! It was amazing! I love this track so much so was stoked to hear Carl play it.

After that small dip into trance (which sounded great on Billboard’s amazing sound system), Carl continued to build it up moving back into techy territory and banging it out hard! I was surprised how much this set was not like his new CD, Ultimate Carl Cox, and how I was having trouble finding tracks from there in his set. Problem is, I was lost in the moment. Moving through tracks seamlessly yet delicately, obviously showing a new direction for him, he moved back into electro tracks and although this is not my favoured sound, the way Carl presented it made it easy to take on. Another magic moment came upon us then when he dropped Splittr’s All Alone – the whole room began singing and the atmosphere was amazing! Before winding up, he slipped in Alter Ego’s Rocker and then finishing up with a taste of Born Slippy and then he was done. By 4.10am, very sweaty and exhausted, although Jon Rundell jumped back onto the decks (who I wanted to see more of), unfortunately the place cleared out, and we were not that far behind them. I mean, I had to get some sleep so I could get down the front for Carl at Big Day Out… I wasn’t missing him there. No way!

On this particular night, Carl showed us his years of experience and skill as he manipulated tracks and utilised all this equipment (2xPioneer CD-J 1000s, mixer, 2xMac laptops and more). Complimented with intriguing and well produced visuals, his show was impressive and worth seeing. He is a true performer, he oozes energy and always keeps me smiling as I watch from the very front. Although he doesn’t play as techy as I’d like him to anymore (or is that just in Australia?), he is one DJ that has well and truly earned my respect. I always know with Carl that I will get a quality set and a great night. And this one was no exception.