OK, I have a confession to make. I’ve lived in Melbourne for nearly four years and have never been on a boat party. blushes Yes yes I know, they’re great, they’re heaps of fun, you’ll love it… Well, that’s just it, I always thought I wouldn’t love it. I’ve never been one to have good sea legs, but after much pressuring I decided that it was time to pop the boat party cherry and embrace this damn boat party thing! And since I love the Interview and Push guys so much, I gave in and chose their boat party as my first one. Oh and I also blame ITM Melb’s legendary mikewebster for pressuring me enough to completely cave.

So after a mere four hours sleep after a boogie at Darkbeat the night before, I got up bright and early to prepare myself for the boat party. What would be the appropriate clothing? And footwear? Hat? Would it be cold enough to need a jacket? I was completely clueless. So choosing something between nautical / resort wear / psy wear / club wear, I made the mad dash down to Docklands with my V in hand, ready to go on this new adventure. And I can tell you this now, I’m so glad I did!

With perfect blue skies, warm sun and a steady breeze, everyone lining up to board was cheerful and extremely orderly. Quietly everyone boarded, headed straight for the bar and then secured their spot somewhere around the outside of the boat or on one of the dancefloors. If you’ve never been on the Victoria Star, like me, you’ll want to explore, so that’s what I did first. I can get a drink later. So I wandered around the boat, checking out the bar (with very reasonable prices considering), cosy toilet, and downstairs dancefloor – plenty of space and clever decorations. The decorations continued upstairs with old records stuck to the walls and hanging from the low ceiling, where I encountered the upstairs dancefloor and one mighty brilliant view of Melbs harbour! Grabbing a sunny spot with a Bacardi Breezer in hand, I had to say, what a brilliant way to spend your Saturday afternoon!

NZ’s Tom C.O.S.M was first up on the decks on the top floor, working the crowd up slowly with his unique proggy psy sound. Never seeing him play before, I was enthralled by his energetic style and appreciation of his sound and the people dancing to it. For two hours, he built it up yet maintained a comfortable level so as everyone could find their dancing sea legs, enjoy a few drinks and settle into the boat trip.

Back downstairs, some food was on offer including tasty sushi rolls and warm pizza, though by this stage I wasn’t sure if either would sit well. The boat had reached much further out into the bay and the boat was starting to rock… and I don’t mean in a good way. Looking around I saw that some people placed their hands on the ceiling so I gave that a shot. Then I thought, stuff it, another drink is what I needed and I popped back down stairs to catch the last part of Child rocking it out live to a few people. Everyone looked to be having a great relaxing time.

As we reached far into the bay, the view was spectacular, with beautiful clear blue skies. It was now time for UK’s Nick Sentience to start upstairs and the crowd was definitely up for it now! The last time I saw Sentience play would have been back in 2003, back then he was still pushing hard dance and so I was surprised to hear that now he plays some psy as well. As someone who grew up in the hard dance/UK hard house scene, Sentience was one of the key players back then of that sound, so to see him banging out psy was quite a new and interesting experience. His set moved across the psy and trance platforms, slipping back and forth sometimes smoothly and with ease, and other times with a jolt to the system. Playing big room trance tunes, psy version of classic trance tunes like Café Del Mar and Dumonde’s Tomorrow, and outright psy from the likes of Astrix and other well known psy acts, his set was accessible to a wide range of people and well, did end up being a lot of fun. Though I wasn’t too sure of the psy version of When the Rush Comes! Unfortunately he had to overcome some sound and technical issues which I’m sure marred his set but he seemed to move on from it quickly to finish up strongly. By the end of Sentience’s set, the crowd was dancing around like nutters despite the boat’s rocking back and forth and was having a damn good time.

So when Interview head Ben Evans jumped on the decks, you knew you were in for one storming ending to this boat trip! Ben served it up as expected and finished the day perfectly. I did quickly see the end of Push head Thad Lester downstairs and he was doing his thing, but at a slower apce than what was being heard upstairs, and to a chilled out crowd.

As the boat veered into the dock, there was a slight sadness in the air as the party was over… I too, in my exhausted state, felt a little sad too, the party seemed to short and sweet, but then four hours of sun, drinks, waterfront enjoyment and quality tunes is certain to fly by.

As everyone made their way up to La Di Da for the after party, I couldn’t help but be pleased with myself. I had survived my first boat party and had a damn good time doing it thanks to the Interview and Push guys. Oh and a helluva lot of ITMers as well! Thanks to everyone for a fab afternoon!