For its second foray into the hard-to-crack Adelaide market, Future Music had pulled out all the stops. Boasting arguably much bigger names than last year with the Chemical Brothers headlining and a venue that had been expanded greatly in size, it saw what must have been the biggest turnout for a dance music festival in Adelaide that ever filled the parklands.

Arriving to the venue mid afternoon, two things were immediately obvious. Firstly, the heat was going to be an issue, hovering around the 40 degree mark all day, and secondly that much fluoro clothing should only be viewed with protective glasses. Fashion wise it was like Supre and Moodswinger had conceived brightly coloured babies, because as far as the eye could see was a see of sweaty reminders of the 1980s. Making mental notes to not remove sunglasses for fear of permanent retina damage, we ventured in and noticeable immediately were sound issues. Future had put quality systems in each arena but unless you were front and centre at your stage of choice the sound bleed was horrible, near the back of the main stage in particular three different tracks could be heard at once. I guess it encourages people to get front and centre but when the heat is so oppressive for 10 hours of dancing it would make sense to keep things a little more spaced so those taking a breather and enjoy the beats. I actually felt sorry for the DJs in the VIP bar as there sets were pretty well drowned out all day by the Future Funk stage. Perhaps a bigger venue is needed for 2009, or as terrible as missing some acts would be, fewer stages need to be considered.

The first musical act that I paid any real attention to were Data Rock. They were killing it on the Rocket Bar Stage, full of enthusiasm and perfectly on point musically, although it’s safe to say they were regretting donning their trademark head to toe tracksuits in the heat. Heading down to the Future Funk Stage, or should I say Gazebo, MPK was rinsing out some solid drum n’ bass as we mingled, made use of some well placed chairs and grabbed some food. The advantage of using the Garden is most definitely the quality of food on offer compared to any other outdoors festival I have ever attended. Taking over from MPK was John Doe, who although playing a set perfect to follow MPK was playing to an empty area, standout of the set for me – aside from the brief excursion to hip hop beats – was the Steve Spacek vocal laced tune.

For me personally the day was really all about seeing Aesop Rock, so thankfully I can say the area filled up rapidly as his DJ and the sound technician made some brief changes to the setup. Joined on stage by Rob Sonic, Aesop delivered a super tight set, although a problem that resurfaced time and again all day was a serious lack of energy from the crowd. Heat it seems is hard to defeat. Making a somewhat surprising decision, he performed arguably his best-known track in Australia None Shall Pass second, with the crowd eagerly chanting the chorus on demand. Another highlight was the track he proclaimed his favourite from that same album 39 Thieves, as well as his dedication to the broken Ferris Wheel in the middle of his set. Rob Sonic, while playing an excellent foil, also delivered a couple of solo tracks. While unfortunately it seems his work is slightly less known, for annoying music junkies like me it was an added bonus. Nice set all in all but definitely lacking the hyped up sort of crowd that could of made it outstanding.

Needing a break from the Gazebo of all beats that are broken I headed to the main arena, keen to see what all the hype about Sven Vath was about. He played a set that the big main arena crowd lapped up, I have no idea of any of the track names but the crowd were loving it. Vath did provide one of the days highlights for me, tearing down the marquee positioned above his head, it resonated well because yes, I too have been that frustrated. A text message vibration in my pocket alerted me to Kid Koala taking to the Future Funk turntables so I moseyed on down like a cowboy in a vintage western. Well, without the chaps, or the horse, or the gun… Basically I just walked back down the hill to check it out. Koala was spinning his usual selection of hip hop based beats where the genre boundaries are blurred. It was a very tidy set, but man do I hate it when a DJ grabs the mic and asks the crowd how they are all feeling.

About 45 minutes in I headed back up the hill one last time to check out the headlining Chemical Brothers. The audio visual element to their show was really impressive, and that’s one big scary clown to flash at a lot of tired and emotional festival goers at the day’s end, but it sure was nice for us to get the full live show experience in Adelaide. My personal favourite track Galvanized sounded wicked on that big system as well. They may not make the sort of music I enjoy listening to, but you can’t argue they are skilled performers and their tunes rock a party.

For a party where so few acts were on my must see list and the heat possibly turned several party goers into small piles of ash, I had an enjoyable day. There are a few kinks in the overall product that need to be worked out, sure, but I think the continued retention of an Adelaide leg of the Future Music Festival is necessary for the growth of the scene. Fluoro on the other hand can go die in a large bonfire.