I’m sure we have all noticed the profane insanity of the whole festival bombardment situation in Australia. Don’t get me wrong, I love outdoor festivals but there’s something about seeing your favourite acts in an intimate setting… Something that allows you to connect with the music on a more personal level. Abandoning one sense inevitably intensifies another. Sound becomes a strong physical presence in the dark, invading your body and allowing you to lose your sense of orientation and just merge with the dance music culture.

I guess that’s not quite as important when you want to spend a day in the sun chilling on the grass with some wonderful disco-revival type artists that provided you with the perfect soundtrack to suit the scene. However, when you have an excruciatingly attractive lineup consisting of artists like Vitalic, Dj Hell, Crookers and Tommie Sunshine it’s a completely different story. These artists are innovators of dance music. Some have been around for a few decades, reinventing themselves and leaving their mark on the history of electronic music. These artists are all about the physical impact of the volume, the audio assault, the amplification and all the elements you really need to absorb yourself in the sound. This year Сrookers were set to headline with their current incontestable mainstream appeal!

I was welcomed into Manning Bar with the chaotic sight of countless police officers, security guards, sniffer dogs and even ambulance crews. The ridiculously tight security was unquestionably pointless and slightly amusing for a club event, and the relatively short time frame of the night. Especially when taking into consideration the 3am Manning curfew. Ajax was already warming the crowd up, and DJing has obviously become a primal instinct for him. His seamless blending and meticulous track selection were no surprise to me at all. I headed to the top floor of Manning Bar where the fabulous Tommie Sunshine was accompanied on stage with his girlfriend (slash personal stripper performer) who definitely seemed to be entertaining the crowd even more than he was. Tommie’s set definitely charmed me with its genre-crossover appeal. His fusion of the darker, more underground dance tunes with some heavy new releases (including Proxy and Fake Blood) translated into a terrific set.

At around 12:30 when Vitalic was about to take over for Tommie, the crowd unexpectedly began to vanish. Evidently, everyone collectively decided to proceed downstairs to catch Crookers in action. An empty dance floor for Vitalic is definitely something I consider a crime. This guy is incredible. Has anyone heard La Rock 01?!? I really felt for Vitalic having to play to such a small audience. It was painful to watch but despite my love for his productions, I have to say he is definitely not the best performer. Standing somewhat timidly behind his laptop and polyphonic synthesisers he seemed completely disconnected from the crowd. However, he was by no account overly disappointing and if there were more people gathered for the set, I’m sure it would have matched the mind-blowing spectacle I had envisioned.

I headed downstairs midway through his set to check out what all the Crookers commotion was about. I was met with an image of utmost insanity. The entire downstairs level of Manning Bar (including the whole outside area) was a swarm of autonomous bodies drenched in sweat. The unleash of energy that the Crookers incited made for a spectacle of complete insanity. They were firing out their sonically-heavy productions with pure ferociousness, and using every single musical trick in the book. Together with their already heated breakdowns, the crowd was treated to dirty filtering, distortion as well as visual attacks when it came to the lighting, and the result was pure overstimulation.

My night came to a close with DJ Hell, a secretly anticipated act of mine! His set was undeniably excellent. Technically he is a great DJ, effortlessly fusing and layering tracks over each other. His set was also stylistically impressive, incorporating some expected industrial elements and underground influences.

The Stereosonic festival had an extraordinary lineup this year which inevitably led to some pretty high expectations on my behalf. In no way was I disenchanted by the artists, but the night ended on a slightly bittersweet note with the early venue lockdown and the slightly unappreciative crowd for some of the fine artists on the lineup.