reviewed by tim-e and girlDJ


Full of anticipation I arrived @ Sundance – only to be turned away @ the entry for carrying cake.

yes – ‘all purpose orange pound cake’. A suggestion kids – don’t take cake to a dance party.

So sitting on the front steps watching the thronging Sunday marketeers and listening to the first half hour of HarryK’s set (which I might add goes swimmingly with orange pound cake), I was filled with the wonder of what the next 12 hours might present….

Upon topping the stairs – I look around and notice that it’s pretty much the same set-up as NYD with a few minor adjustments. The main covered dancefloor was now a covered lounge with the white cumfy curvy chairs being located under the marquis rather than hidden wayyyyyy down the back, yet the poor old ‘hardwired’ tree in the centre garden still hardwired w/. a thousand million fairy lights & what appears to be an old car radiator spraying cool water on the surrounds.

I take a stroll around to grasp the layout for later adventures and seat myself @ what I am hoping shall be the ‘regular’ ITM table. Downstage Right. Down low…

HarryK is still throwing together a tasty House dish that even my parents would come back to for seconds. Some nice female vocals with the recently big ‘Lost in Music’ as we head towards the final track.

It was with some anticipation that I awaited Miss Neroli steppin up to the decks. I hadn’t had the pleasure of hearing the lady spin for quite a number of years and was most chuffed to hear her on NYD. Nice House – nice. Just the thing for a sunny summer Brisbane Sunday afternoon. Just the very thing. I almost lost my composure when Sunkids feat. Chance ‘Rise-Up’ was dropped and I mean dropped – Neroli really managed to programme that little twist nicely. If anyone knows the track – you know what I’m talking about. When dropped @ the right time in the right place under the right circumstances – it certainly makes everything seem – well – alright! Thank you.

Venturing into the HardHouse room – the subdued (!) strains of Miss Tracey drifted to mine ears and my right knee (I admit! I admit!) – started bending slightly in time. From there – my left knee started going also as my feet both started tapping independently of each other and this will truly show my age – the only track I recognised was one of my old favourites (oooh! now I’m providing ammunition aren’t I?) – was ‘MC Undertaker’ – right on!

As you may or may not know (if you’ve been following the Brisbane thread you’d have to be blind not to) – I went to Sundance for one reason – to see Kazu Kimura.

Kazu was set to start @ 3pm – but stepped up a little before 3:30. I have just one word to say about this fellow :

SUPAROCKIN!

- no I don’t. Allow me to continue… with seamless mixing and pretty terrifically progressing track selection – Kazu got the floor moving – and I mean ‘moving’. Mixing a fat n funky house/tech-house/tech set with style, this man was responsible for many a broad cheesy grin that day – dropping a few tech classics that sent shivers up n down (and up n down again), my spine.

The HardHouse room was a little ‘quiet’, although by no means ‘QUIET’ come 4:30pm when I strolled through for a check-up on Mr. Tim Deans. I can’t say I’ve ever seen or heard of Tim Deans and it’s surprising that the HardHouse room didn’t really get rockin’ til around 6pm (when I ducked in to avoid Basement Jaxx’s ‘Where’s Your Head @?’)....

Sean Quinn (from Our House and no – not the tele show) – was up next. To behonest – the tracks Mr. Quinn presented were okay – in fact, it was prettyobvious that if he had perhaps been positioned between Neroli & Kazu – the audience response may have been a little more encouraging. It’s not as though the track selection was less than desirable – I think the kids just jumped about to Kazu a bit much and got a little excited – so Sean Quinn’s smooth house wasn’t what they were craving.

Popping back into the HardHouse room to check out Barking Boy (and to be honest yes – it’s been years since I ‘checked’ Barking Boy out and I was pleasantly surprised to find that he doesn’t seem to have aged since last I laid eyes on him). Can’t say I know much about HardHouse anymore (gave up when TDV passed away), and having our own young DAS18 on-side was no help because once planted out in the main area – I think he was somewhat awestruck and wanting to stay. So whilst I nodded my head and once again jigged about – the only track I could
identify was “Castles in the Sky”.... Hmmmm..

Troy Holland placed himself behind the decks and took up the call in the main area. The sun was very much going down by now and the Brisbane River was looking absolutely perfect. If I could show that view to each and every one of my international friends as the epitome of Brisbane City living I would. To be able to dance under the stars alongside such a picturesque visage – simply perfect..

Billie Jean.

One track. Two words. Twenty years. A few hundred people dancing.

With that one track Troy Holland injected a fistful of funk into the party and got everyone’s sad asses moving. Hallelujah! It was like coming out of the looking glass. Sexy bodies & funky moves busting out all over the place. What a vibe! What a day! What a night! Dropping a slammin’ mix of INXS ‘What U Need’, towards the end of the set breathed much life into the party.

As the Breaks room closed @ 6pm (luckily after I had the privilege – as it always is – of catching Cam Brown in action), and with Troy Holland giving up the last part of his set to accomodate the breaks players in the main area, I found myself wiggling my buttocks in time to some fairly regularly broken beats. I look up and spy Shredlock movin’ and groovin’ and I’m sorry but I simply cannot stop myself! Brad Death throws down some killer tracks, then as DJ Rasp steps up I throw myself @ the mercy of the aural & lose it in time to catch myself dancin (yeah ma! im dancin) – to breaks.

wow.

With a prior committment tearing me away @ 9pm (with a vow to return in under 60 minutes), I got to hear only the first 20 minutes of Miss Jools’ set. It was sounding damn promising with some nicely produced percussive threads and it was almost an internal struggle as i walked the steps to the entrance again to give my pre-arrangements the flick n stay here n boogie.

This concept also echoed through my mind as I spent the next hour or so sitting on the side of the road – mid-destination, waiting for some automobile assistance. “Should have stayed….... Should have stayed…..”.

I tag-team hi-five to tim-e :


Unfortunately, due to my work commitments, I didn’t make it in to the city until fairly late in the day… just in time for the end of Troy’s set, and to catch the breaks action out on the terrace, aptly accompanied by the fantastic pyro display from Crystal Fire. These guys NEED to be at every party! Good call, Troy!

Miss Jools stepped up to the decks and, with “Talkin all that Jazz”, kicked off a nice blend of funky house and rough, dark beats, shifting between the two like a ship riding the high seas. Every time I thought the set would descend either into cheesy commercial trash, or go too deep and lose the crowd, Jools would pull out a track like Jon Cutler’s “It Is Yours” and command the attention of all on the terrace. Everywhere I looked, people were either dancing or bopping in their seats. Jools pulled off some very nice mixing, including a couple of one-touch cuts that sent a shiver down my spine… and just enough scratching to put a smile on the dial and remind everyone that she was the one in charge here, pumping it out towards the end of her set, much to the delight of all those present.

The numbers may have been far less than the last Sundance, but the energy level was just as high, and there was a hardcore group of punters going wild on the dancefloor. Brisbane turned out its trademark perfect summer weather for the day, and the evening sky provided the perfect backdrop to what was in the eyes of both these punters another successful adventure to Fridays’. Troy, you put on a fantastic party, I only wish I had been there for the whole day, and I can’t wait for the next one!