The end of a era … a decade worth of Pharmacy parties came to a close last Friday, with the final event playing out at The Palace to a packed crowd and a stellar hard dance and trance lineup. With names like Mr Sam, Derb, ASYS and Proteus headlining, this was sure to be one bangin’ night! And was I disappointed? Definitely not!

As soon as doors opened, punters had already formed a small line to ensure they received the free Pharmacy CD, sure to be a keepsake. Getting in early was a smart move as I heard that the wait was more tedious later, due to the increased security. Although I was annoyed for a moment when my lip gloss was tossed out by security, I was more annoyed that the scene had had to get like this to ensure no blowouts ruined the final night of what’s been a fabulous run for the Pharmacy crew. The dance music community better get used to this, cause I reckon this is how things are going to have to be done from now to stop G ruining our scene. But back the main event…

Once inside, we were treated to trance sounds in the main room courtesy of Trance Energy wunderkid and local hero Trent McDermott with Tonka, serving out a melodic trance set that was getting us in the mood straight away. Already punters had started mingling around the merchandise booth, grabbing up their Pharmacy memorabilia, and for old times sake, I bought a rave bracelet. Heading up to the middle level, Steve Strangis was warming up the crowd with his signature trance sound, and the Interview crew were starting their show up on the top floor.

Many of the crowd were proudly showing their love for Pharmacy, with all kinds of homemade tees and Pharmacy branding everywhere I turned. We had the hardstyle ravers, the hard dance peeps, the clubbers, the trance fans, they all came out ready to dance their hearts out one last time! The crowd was noticeably brighter and happier than previous events I had been too, not as dark and goth rave inspired. By now LCK was treating the crowd to a solid mix of tech trance with his own tunes slipped in, building the crowd up as the masses kept slowing piling in, notably dropping Higher State of Consciousness remix. By the time the first international, France’s Mr Sam, hit the decks, the place was pumping and the crowd was begging for what came next.

Lasers. All colours of the rainbow lasers. Blue, green, purple, pink, yellow – wowsers, it was mad! And Mr Sam hit us with driving uplifting trance that was filled with memories of over the years – Gareth Emery vs. Delerium’s This Is Silence (Black Army Mashup), Tiesto feat. BT’s Love Comes Again, and more, plenty of Mr Sam tracks, remixes and edits. The crowd sang along and the atmosphere was great. It flowed beautifully and the way he got into it, you couldn’t help but love it!

He may be small but man oh man, his sound is _big_– Germany’s Derb was up next, starting his set off with another explosive laser show and some very special performers – two guys that had the whole place in total awe, dumbstruck watching their every move. A balancing act of immense strength and one that sent many jaws to the floor – sure to give goosebumps! Derb then hit into his set, keeping it hard as expected but with an awesome energy that made the main room explode – and we still had 5 hours left! Obviously he played out his own tracks, Hennes & Cold tunes “Second Light” and more, with a highlight Art of Trance’s Madagascar remix. Follow Me he commanded, and we couldn’t resist!

At this point we made a quick wander around to see that the Interview room was going off, with oldie Pistolwhip being played. The Hard Kandy level was pulling out the proper UK hard house – man I miss hearing this stuff! A*S*Y*S, a regular to the Pharmacy parties, returned for the final hurrah, dishing out tonnes of classics, going that little bit bigger, harder and taking us on his Acid Nightmare! Other great numbers that he pulled out included Joy Kitikonti’s Joyenergizer and Yakooza’s Cocaine.

Unfortunately I was unable to stay for Kutski and Proteus, I would have loved to have seen them… though from what I heard, Kutski’s nustyle sound wasn’t taken to by the Melbs crowd and that Proteus and his antics were mad but his mixing left a lot to be desired. Shame since his latest compilation out on Masif was mad. Long time Pharmacy DJ, Hellraiser, naturally finished the last Pharmacy off, playing an all vinyl classics set! I was also told that Hellraiser stormed the party home in the morning followed by a Death of Pharmacy mash-up of tunes and highlights of the last ten years.

Overall it was a wicked end to a long-standing brand and I think many are sad to see it go. Particularly now that Q-dance won’t be in Melbourne, there’s nothing else on offer for the hard dance peeps on a large scale in the southern state. Pharmacy, you’ll be dearly missed by the hard dance community – thanks for the memories! Well, the ones we can remember…