As I made my way down a bustling Hindley Street I could see a large group of people gathered outside Earth, the chosen venue for this event presented by the Karma and Enchanted crew. I was expecting this event to be at capacity, therefore seeing a large crowd gathered outside was no surprise. As I walked in I noticed the coat rack was overflowing with coats (another good sign that there was to be a huge crowd). With the unfortunate cancellation of that day’s Winter Enchanted event, Adelaide’s ravers were all ready and keen to be out of the house and enjoying a dance on this cold winter’s night.

Trance and drum n’ bass being my two all time favourite genres, I couldn’t wait to get inside and hear those delicious beats. Walking into the main arena there was a strong number of trance lovers waving their glow sticks and dancing free to the tunes brought on by Joop, the talented tech trance DJ and producer all the way from the Netherlands who had just started his set. Playing progressive trance at this point leaving the tech trance style for later, Joop showed the crowd what they came to hear. A large number of punters also sat in the background chilling and enjoying the awesome vibe, getting their trance fix.

I then made my way up the stairs to where the setting for the drum n’ bass was. Heart pounding ever so excited, I was going to see Chris.Su finally! Missing him the last time he graced our shores in 2005, the wait had finally come to a close. As my heritage is Hungarian, seeing two of the best drum n’ bass DJs to come out of Hungary – the known capital of drum n’ bass in Eastern Europe, and perform together on the same night back to back was what you could call overwhelming beyond belief. Is this perhaps where my love of drum n bass stems from?

DJ Chris.Su (AKA Krisztián Kovács) is one of Hungary’s leading drum n’ bass producers and DJ’s, and part of group TACTILE, consisting of five members Chris.SU, SKC, Bratwa, Safair and Longman. He has already achieved an incredible amount in his 25 years, and has traveled all over the globe performing and showcasing his enormous talent. And here he was yet again in Adelaide to show us how drum n’ bass should be done.

The room had an electric vibe and there was a very impressive number of drum n’ bass crew which enveloped me as I made my way into the old bumper car arena which was once known as Downtime many years ago and to which I can confess was a place I frequented back then as a kid. Who would’ve known it would one day be the setting of these two remarkable drum n’ bass DJs? The new lighting looked sweet and the sound system was prime and ready to continue blasting the drum and bassy goodness. Chris.Su presented his slightly darker dancefloor friendly style which had the punters doing the jungle step in a way that I personally haven’t seen since the ol’ traffic days. Adelaide’s own MC Griff was doing what he does best up on the mic, radiating his vocal rhymes. The awesome duo from Hungary took it in turns to present their own unique and individual style to the eager crowd.

Jade (AKA Gabor Simon) has always been into the darker techy side of drum n’ bass, producing since he was 20 and previously producing along side Matt U, has now stepped out as a solo artist. Delivering the darker styles he is renowned for, he had the room vibrating with his deep shadowy bass lines working the crowd with his magic. I could feel the bass running through me. There simply is no better feeling.

I reluctantly tore myself away and went back down stairs to the main arena to witness some more of Joop’s trancey goodness. I found my viewing spot and then to my delight he pumped out his well known classic track The Future to which the crowd responded with their hands held high. I joined my fellow trance buddies down on the floor, exchanged hugs and had a dance. Before soon I found the irresistible pull of the drum n’ bass room draw me back in. I found my friend on the dance floor ecstatic as she had just had a conversation in Hungarian with both of the boys. They were so happy to hear a familiar Hungarian voice as I’m sure they are both feeling a touch homesick. In my absence I heard reports that Jade had delivered some major dark deep and filthy tunes, bringing the crowd up to a new elevation. Rewind please!

I stayed for the rest of their set, front and center getting my groove on, eagerly awaiting for the song that I and everyone else had come to hear. It was the closing tune of course, the one and only Solaris Theme “Chris what is it?... don’t you love me anymore?... I love you so much…” The masses showed their appreciation with shouts of approval. My contentment at hearing this song played live by the man himself has made part of my drum n’ bass journey complete. Mark 7, one of Adelaide’s most respected and successful drum n’ bass ambassadors, was eagerly waiting in the wings to step up and show the crowd a continued display of the finest drum n’ bass as he only knows how.

I went back downstairs to catch the man called Gleave, all the way from Northern Ireland, in action behind the decks. Spinning since he was 14 years old, Gleave is no stranger to the scene. As soon as I walked in I was hit with thumping, banging tech trance. The crowd was going off and there were no signs of them slowing down. I regained my position with the trance crew front and centre and danced to Legacy 2.0. Fist pumping in the air, you couldn’t wipe the smile off Gleave’s face. He dropped an interesting remix of CJ Bolland’s Sugar Is Sweeter, which sounded very sweet on the Earth’s pumping sound system. Another tune dropped was Ronald Van Gelderen’s tech trance classic Dirty Rocker. “Take a look inside my head do you see what I feel, I’m a freak dirty rocker with sex appeal. I’ll take your drugs and get you high, I’m a freak dirty rocker that’ll make you fly.” Then smashing out a remix of U2’s _Vertigo_… Absolutely cranking! I turned around and to my delight saw Chris.Su and Jade standing right behind me! I said hello and asked to have a picture with them. Both boys where so friendly and very down to earth. I got my picture with them and was floating on air! Could this night get any better?

I made my exit after Gleave completed his set, back out to the cold, but still warm and buzzing with the awesomeness that this night brought. Adelaide, you know how to do it and you do it wel!