-”Are you going to Warehouse?”
-”Hell yeah, are you?”
-”Of course, it is gonna be awesome!”

Did anyone else seem to hear this conversation on loop or was it just me? Regardless, I was amped and so was everyone around me. The Warehouse festival professed to be a different world, and a different world it was. The building I entered did not feel like the AIS I visited as a primary school student; people in sequined astronaut suits, platinum space aliens and a whole heap of space cadets.The inflatable moon-like orbs hung over the basketball stadium once again as a spaceship themed stage with the biggest decks I have ever seen faced the already vibing crowd. Before Art vs Science came on, and while it was still light, I ventured to discover the Club and Terrace. I was instantly disoriented and decided to follow the beat that never leads me astray. Though mildly lost, I constantly bumped into people I knew – Canberra is way too small and I love it!

I took position, front and centre, as Art Vs Science took the stage and provided a rock concert feel with four keyboards, drum kit, live vocals and some wicked electric guitar jams. Parlez vous Francais was a highlight of the set for me and judging by the enthusiastic sing along and synchronised air punching, it was a favourite of the crowd’s also. When the boys brought out the guitar and let it rip, I almost of forgot I was at a dance music festival and felt like Kings of Leon or a Trackside band should be up next! The trio gave it their all for the entire performance producing record quality sounds, complete with inflatable penguins on stage.

Jaytech, Scott Fischer and Justin Martin kept a steady crew in the Club with solid progressive house, techno and tech house beats. The day was overcast and the wind had a nasty bite to it encouraging some to the main stage where you could almost pretend it was night and where the cold could not penetrate. Some punters stayed stead fast to one stage, but I, like the majority, wandered around, checking out the variety, styles and various crowds.

Kissy Sellout hooked me in with his fun and irresistibly danceable tracks. The lull between him and Dirty South had the crowd’s anticipation peaking in the darkened room. Dirty took his time building into his set with samples of Empire of the Sun’s Walking On A Dream and the Chemical Brother’s dance staple Hey Boy, Hey Girl.

By this stage I was confronted by the typical and unavoidable epic toilet queues and briefly considered finding a bush (no, I did not go through with this – it was still too light). So as I squeezed my legs together I plotted my next move – I braced the cold to hit Nick Catchdubs on his beeper but soon caved and moved back to the main arena.

Popof was a favourite of many techno heads, and the low and cosy ceiling of the Club was a nice change from the openness of the main stage. His fast builds and drops during his Ableton set kept the room pumping. I bounced to see Guns and Bombs on the Terrace and was greeted with some tight lipped French house. With dark fast approaching and the cold still clinging to every ounce of warmth this stage was still quieter than it deserved.

Armand Van Helden, well what can I say – headliner and a clear crowd puller. The main stage was filling fast and dancing like maniacs to his and Dizzee Rascal’s Bonkers. The festival beach balls made their anticipated appearance, happily bouncing around the room. Punters climbed onto one another’s shoulders to screamed Armand’s final song – Song 2 by Blur. The dance crowd turned into rock head bangers and we loved every ‘Whoo Hoo’!

The punters were scattered all over and the mood was tops, but no matter where people drifted they still saw familiar faces and people they knew. Looking at the ground around me I was glad I was not made of aluminium, as cans had no chance. Every one had been thoroughly flattened into the ground for the sea of 5000 punters pounding every level square inch.

Another highlight was Laidback Luke’s set. His overlays were great, the bass was heavy, the crowd screamed along with Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction and The Crookers Day And Night. The lights hit form and the placed was packed, but then the issues began…

NASA took the stage after half an hour of MC Forey (obviously) stalling for time. Forey asked the crowd how they were going about eight times, then beatboxed and belted out an incomprehensible rap. The crowd moved only to throw stuff or to leave. Apparently due to the complicated and involved nature of NASA’s audio visual set, re-rigging the stage is what took so long, though when NASA did get some sound through the speakers, the bass was ludicrously loud and the treble damn near non-existent. I was so excited to hear Gifted live, but after the half hour muck around and with 2 other stages pumping I, like many others, gave up on NASA and decided to burn holes in my shoes to London Elektricity’s drum n’ bass on the Terrace.

The drum n’ bass crew is a dedicated one, many not leaving the Terrace since Crush vs Escha began. The mob had a massive amount of energy and I was hooked. After a few minutes of the full on, hectic, messy dancing it felt like summer all over again – some one pass the water! London Elektricity stopped at 10:30 due to Responsible Service of Alcohol laws (much to everyone’s disappointment). However, he finished his set on the Red Bull sponsored Terrace on a sour note by ending with a massive rag on Red Bull! Not cool, I wonder if we’ll be seeing him back here any time soon.

The Stafford Brothers were to close the main stage and suffered a similar reconfigure to that of NASA’s. When they were up and running they had more success with Frank Stafford’s voice beckoning the crowd to open up your arms as Timmy Trumpet crooned to them. Timmy was a fantastic showman and the trumpet a very effective novelty, even letting loose Where’s Your Head At? The crowd was filtering out by this stage, but the brothers finished on a very patriotic note with the national anthem.

Then whilst some Warehouse-goers headed to recovery parties or bed, the hardcore punters, myself included, headed to the after parties, and what happened there I’ll never tell!