“Freak dirty rocker who will make you high” are the words echoing through the Rise as DJ Isaac takes to the stage on the night of nights, Saturday 20th of September 2008. Steve Tranzor had done an excellent job of warming up the dancefloor and now it was Isaac’s time to shine, still glowing from his hardstyle set back-2-back with Tatanka at Pharmacy in Melbourne on the previous night. Isaac’s new offering Waiting For has definitely proved to be a hit in the hard dance world. However, while Isaac is well known for being a hit machine, in Western Australia not many people have ever heard of him. Luckily for Perth though, Isaac decided it was time to show them why he is a stayer on the scene.

Upon initial contact with Isaac’s music I had envisioned him to be an ill-mannered and psychologically unstable man, sporting an extremely barbaric frame of mind. However, after further analysis of his music I can deduce that he is the epitomy of an ‘antidisestablishmentarism’ – or to spell things out plain and simple, , I find Isaac the dopest, flyest hardcore hustler living today. To be honest I’m totally and completely in awe of how good this Dutch DJ is at what he does.

A few songs into his set, DJ Isaac pulls out some scatching with great effect, and the hyped-up crowd is putty in Isaac’s hands. His remix of Derb’s Coole Sau was a crowd pleaser, and rightly so! That was a massive tune from a couple of years ago, but one of those tracks that shall remain timeless. Isaac started his two-hour set at 1am, and the line outside was starting to cause some delays for the anxious revelers that probably should have got themselves down to Rise a little earlier.

Isaac slowed it down a little, before unleashing a personal fave of mine, Gold Medley by his pals Tat & Zat. Housensation with its recurring vocals “in the house, in the house” certainly let Rise know that he was in charge, and everybody went berserk for that one. Soon after, Isaac treated everybody to a sick remix of his early hit Backstage, and you could tell that the crowd were impressed.

He brought the Red Hot Chilli Peppers into 2008 and beyond with a rerub of Waiting For, many on the night knew this tune well and that’s what’s so great about dance music of now – the fusion of popular and underground, of rave and rock. Whatever, if it gets people moving together and smiling as one, it must be a good thing! Nobody Likes is a great tune, and the sarcasm wasn’t lost on the crowd. Isaac plays and produces the best hardstyle tunes around, and has done so for quite some time now.

Unfortunately it was time to say goodbye, but not before we stick one last finger up and scream together “fuck the system” with some really deep shit, Showtek’s anthem from ‘07 FTS. Suffice to say, the fortunate fans at Rise will be waiting for DJ Isaac’s return.