Hard dance events are few and far between in our fair city, but it has to be said that the parties that do come along are so good that they more than make up for this lack of quantity. Several of Perth’s dance crews had joined forces (namely F.O.R.C.E. and Black Dragon Promotions among others) to bring us Infexious featuring the UK’s Paul Glazby and Ben Stevens, plus a roll call of Perth’s best hard dance DJs. For those who love their dance music at over and above 150 BPM, Infexious promsed to be one of the best gigs of 2009!

As is almost tradition, my friends and I arrived at Gilkinsons at just after 11pm. The Infexious lineup was not the only cause for excitement as far as I was concerned, for I had never visited this particular venue prior to this gig. The place looked almost exactly how I had imagined it, with its enormous wooden dancefloor, upstairs vantage points and high ceilings. All of these features provde the ideal setting for a night of big room tunes. It was from the upstairs balcony where my crew and I observed the action downstairs, before we joined in later on.

Even at that early stage, the music was pumping at a frenetic pace. South Australia’s Odyssey had control of the decks (it is wrth noting that most of the DJs on the night were DJing with vinyl), his bangin’ set having many people dancing early I must admit, I have been out of the hard house loop for quite some time now, but I was glad to hear what the sound is currently up to. Predictably, it is still getting darker, dirtier and of course harder! It was impossible to resist the temptation of having a jolly good dance!

Here is where things get a little bit confusing… The set times on the night did not match those published on the ITM forum, therefore I am not sure who played and when. I cannot even tell you when Ben Stevens played. Nevertheless, the tempo and the energy rose unabaited right up until the commencement of Paul Glazby’s set at 1:30am. It was quite interesting looking around the room at the different kinds of people in attendance. Evidently there were plenty of Perth’s veteran ravers, a good number of hard house enthusiasts of all ages, a few gothic looking types – who must have thought that Sin was on that day, a handufl of hippies and a few others who were simply curous. It made for a rather interesting atmosphere, if not an electrified one.

Paul Glazy assumed control of the wheels of steel, much to the delight of the solid number of punters on hand. With no hesitation, he launched into a set that had my nose bleeding, my eyes hanging from their sockets, my arms and legs flailing and my ears begging for more. The hoovers and horns of ye olde hardhouse are no more, replaced instead by much tougher and darker sounds. Glazby, as the head of Vicious Circle Records, has been the driving force behind hardhouse’s changing sound. Naturally, I was glad to hear Glazby play some of his own underground classics during the course of his set, such as Voices, Beautiful and Want Some, however I could not identify much of his more recent productions. For the entire 90 minute set, Glazby had the crowd in the palm of his hand.

They say that time flies when you are having fun, and the proof was in the pudding when I checked my watch after what had only felt like five minutes. Glazby’s set came and went at the same blinding pace as the beats that he so obligingly unleashed. The atmosphere could have been cut with a knfe, and it was clear that those who loved their hard dance were eager for more. Fortunately, Beni C and DJ Grin were on hand to deliver another hour’s worth of the good stuff.

The numbers remained strong for a good half an hour longer. Beni C and DJ Grin upped the ante as they unleashed a set that was equally as dark and menacing as Glazby’s, with a somewhat different feel. Not in the least bit tired, my friends and I felt compelled to carry on dancing. At 4am The Brothers Grimm (AKA Alien Wisdom & Daisycutter) took over. The momentum and the mood of the night shifted dramatically from intensity to something entirely different. It proved to be a shock to the system for most, but I was quite impressed by the deeply psychedelic sound of their set.

Rather unfortunately, the night ended early, shortly after the commencement of The Brothers Grimm’s set. The numbers had dwindled off substantially, thus the decision was made to halt the proceedings. A huge thanks must go out to all those involved with staging this excellent night! It is also worth noting that a laser was indeed planned for the night, however Gilkinsons insisted that a professional must be on hand while it is being used As ever, hopefully it won’t be too long before another similar hard dance event is staged here in Perth.