There are some DJs whose taste you trust implicitly, regardless of whether you enjoy all their sets. For me, Ewan Pearson is one of those guys. I’ve heard him play great and not-so-great sets, but I admire his class and intellect. It’s an exciting prospect, then, to spend three hours in the man’s company at Lost Baggage’s Australia Day legs-up.

After another unsavoury encounter with the aggressive security, I venture in to find Christian Martin sharing a set with his Dirtybird compedre Emerson Todd. The club is already buzzing eagerly, with one of the Bump DJs throwing down a very body-jacking selection in the Carpet Lounge. The lasers are working overtime in The Cross, matching the hot and heavy vibe that’s building post-midnight. While the Lounge generally fares better, the main room dancefloor is often hard work. The sound bleed from the adjoining room is an unfortunate reality of the venue, but the rudeness of much of the crowd is more perplexing. A dollar for every time someone barges into you without apologising would fund a sizable bar tab.

The air is less stifling in the Lounge as Dutch producer du jour 2000 and One gets underway. Accompanied by precisely-cued visuals, it’s all about bumping, loopy tech-house. The opening stretch is seamlessly constructed, but there’s not enough distinction or character in the tracks to keep me glued. Back out in the sweat factory, Pearson is getting weird with Nôze’s Kitchen. His first hour has its lulls, but there’s plenty of new gear (and returning heroes like Cobblestone Jazz’s Dump Truck) to keep it afloat. As we near 3am, it kicks up a notch, interspersed with Kompakt-style tranciness. A low-slung remix of Reality Check by Audio Soul Project (the “Why do we dance?” one) is a highlight, although you mightn’t know it from the distracted dancefloor. Occasional visits to the Lounge show 2000 and One completely in control, with no shortage of hands in the air.

Around 4am, a previously subdued Pearson warms into the best stretch of his set. The suitably epic Carl Craig remix of Tides leads into Morgan Geist’s Detroit, before some damn fine disco numbers. After the po-faced rave-up of the previous hour, it’s an injection of flat-out fun. Even the man himself is singing along. By the time Defined By Rhythm step up, Lost Baggage has defeated me. There’ll be plenty who disagree, but for mine this party needs a little more love.