Lost Baggage is chalking up some seriously impressive lineups and Thursday night’s effort, which built upon the first announcement of Aril Brikha with the late additions of Layo & Bushwacka! as well as Joris Voorn, set a whole new benchmark for this welcome addition to the Sydney scene. As befitting such a mighty bill and the beginning of the Easter weekend break, it was a crowded scene at The Cross. Lost Baggage isn’t like a lot of other Sydney club nights, however. People are nice, for starters. Instead of the usual jockeying at a crowded bar which can turn into a bit of a blood sport in this town, people are relaxed and even make sure others get their rightful turn. It’s all very shocking. There’s a distinct lack of attitude in the Lost Baggage crowd that makes it hard to remember what city you’re in and happy to be at this club night, even before you’re bombarded with hours of fine music.

Layo & Bushwacka! were already playing when I arrived, and as befitting their legendary status, they pulled out all the stops from the get-go and didn’t let up for some three hours. The English tag-team kept the energy levels up high with an effortless mix that hardly ever dipped in quality. Whether it was newer, deep tracks or dyed in the wool club classics – their own Love Story had an ecstatic outing – the duo kept it loud, fun and highly suitable for punching-the-air crowd appreciation. It was a joyful assault that had people dancing wherever they were in the main room, from right at the front of the floor to the back of the bar.

Aril Brikha’s set in the other room was a nice time-out from the main room’s party monstering, with the Swede building on a lot of his own material early in his set with great, beautiful washes of sound. He then kicked it up a gear with some driving tech journeys that didn’t shy away from a few dirty, dark disco detours and spacey house interludes. I Cling was killer and Brika weaved this fine track of his in and out of the mix to the great appreciation of the nice little dance floor that had formed in front of him by the close of his set.

Joris Voorn rounded off this evening of amazing sets with a brilliant one. A musical maverick that’s right at home with whatever he’s playing, whether it’s more minimal tunes or deep house numbers and everything in between and beyond, Voorn ties it all together so naturally and smoothly that he takes even the most genre-obsessed music heads along with him. Tonight he kept the party vibe well and truly going, so much so that one half of Layo & Bushwacka! could be seen with his hands in the air near the bar at one point, along with most of the room.

The second half of this set saw this talented producer and DJ head into some seriously sexy dirty house territory that was right up there with Chicago’s finest, and from the way that Voorn was constantly dancing and smiling as he darted around, putting on track after track that only inflicted more dance floor damage every time, it seemed he was having as much fun as the now very sweaty punters were. When the lights finally came on, many were shouting for more, reluctant to leave, and you got the feeling that Joris Voorn will always receive a very warm welcome any time he feels like returning to Australian shores.