Revellers arrived in droves to party the day away which started with beautiful sunny skies without a hint of rain, but that was soon to change. Presented by Eclipse Entertainment and Adelaide Party Central was the city’s 4th annual We Love Sounds festival, held outdoors in Bonython Park. Previous years has seen this festival staged twice at The Shores (2006 and 2008) and once at HQ (2007). The largest line up to date was filled with massive names, variation and diversity that certainly saw everyone’s musical tastes fulfilled.

Arriving early to beat the crowds, security was tight with sniffer dogs and undercover cops on duty as I entered the enclosed grounds. With large tents housing three stages, the Eclipse crew made sure there was plenty of cover if the heavens decided to open. The VIP area was also covered with bean bags, and a separate bar and toilets with a PA pumping out tunes from the surrounding stages. Bark chips had been laid which introduced a pungent smell in the air, but hoped to keep the ground firm. The popular attire of the day was gum boots with many ignoring the forecast and arriving in light clothing. I expected the grounds to be larger, with the stages in relatively close proximity.

Adelaide’s own Nic Borrelli had the opening set in the Sounds stage, hitting the arriving crowd with techy house tunes, with The Subjekts following suit, cranking some filthy techno as only they know how, dropping the classic Star 69 (Funkagenda Remix) by Fatboy Slim, which had the tent’s occupants pick up the pace on the dance floor.

I ventured over to the Eclipse main stage which was covered with a massive marquee tent and had a raised DJ booth with large screens either side. ADAM TS13 was in control giving the large sound system the first blasting. The Cameo disco zone, which was the medium sized stage, was also covered with another large marquee. Canberra’s Aston Shuffle were cranking it and already had a decent crowd getting their groove on early in the day to the commercial house tunes, which reminded me a bit of the old Heaven nightclub days.

Heading back to the main stage which in no time was already packed with Dutch house producer and DJ Laidback Luke delivering a commercial electro set to the eager young crowd, dropping tunes such as Mylo’s Drop the Pressure and Sidney Sampson’s Riverside, which had people madly running over for a dance. Not one for commercial house tunes, I braved the line-ups at the bar and was hit with an expensive drink list, as one would expect to see at a festival unfortunately. Thankfully there wasn’t a ticketing system setup.

It was time for a trance fix with Australia’s #1 DJ Tydi, playing at the Cameo disco zone. The vibe was lively as Tydi produced an entertaining and energetic set that was vocally packed. Replicating a mini Armin, with love heart signs aimed towards the crowd and his obligatory stance on the decks embracing the crowd with arms held high, this young man is certainly living the dream and genuinely loves what he does, and he does it well. A few times I thought he might actually stage dive into the crowd, wouldn’t that be a sight to behold!! Dropping tunes such as John O’Callaghan feat. Sarah Howells Find Yourself, Oceanlab’s Sleeping Satellite, Above and Beyond On a Good Day, and Without You Dogzilla, his devoted fans lapped up every second. Just before his set finished the clouds rolled in and the heavens opened. People ran every which way for cover and soon all the tents were filled to the brim.

I went over to the main stage to witness Armand Van Helden’s set, but the tent was absolutely crammed with people and there was no way of getting in without being crushed! It was pandemonium! Back to the Sounds stage I went, which had a bit of room left and a relaxed party feel. I caught a bit of Guy Gerber’s set which had the tent grooving. Following on was French techno DJ Popof who calmly delivered some deep cranking techno that was welcoming to my ears.

As the rain eased I decided to brave the outdoors and watched Armand in action, trying not to slip on the increasingly muddy ground. The main tent was absolutely going off, with thousands of punters lapping up every second of Armand’s set, dropping tunes such as My My My, Basement Jaxx’s Where’s Your Head At and House of Pain’s Jump Around. Even though the rain came down, the excitement of the crowd did not cease. Following on in the main area was Dutch DJ/producer Matthew Dekay, who continued on with the commercial housey tunes that appealed to the large audience that remained.

Once again braving the bars for a drink, I found the alcohol had nearly run out and it was only around 6.30pm! Lining up for at least 30 mins to go to the toilet, the rain kept falling and the large crowd was growing restless. There was nowhere to sit, and after being on my feet all day, a rest would have been welcomed. Also deciding to refuel before Armin started his set, there was only one tent for food to feed 9000+ people. After a 20 minute wait in the queue which moved one metre, I gave up and went hungry for the rest of the night.

Finally it grew closer to the start of Armin van Buuren’s set, the DJ that I and many others were here to see. Gaining a spot near the front, the crowd was tight but not too pushy. As the rain bucketed down outside it was cosy and warm as Armin made his way behind the controls. Modest lasers protruded over the large crowd, as we were hit with trance tunes such as John O’Callaghan’s Find Yourself, Art of Trance Madagascar and one of my favourites Man on the Run (Nic Chagall remix) that had the crowd singing along.

However after one hour into his set, I found myself wanting to escape the large hot crowd and get some fresh air. So I ventured over to the Sounds Stage to see London Elektricity who was absolutely going off!! Loving their mix of dubstep and drum n bass, I couldn’t resist a dance on the muddy ground. A massive fan of drum n bass it was a pleasure to hear a genre that was very different to the other genres heard throughout the day and was one of the most enjoyable sets for me.

I caught the last bit of Armin’s set, which included his appropriately titled track Rain and Gareth Emery V Delirium This is Silence to wrap up his set. After seeing him perform live in a stadium last year, I wasn’t overly impressed with his performance, or maybe I was just over the cold wet weather and large crowds.

Staging an outdoor winter festival was indeed risky, as in previous years it predominately has been an indoor event. It’s hard to predict what the weather will do and it’s unfortunate that Adelaide does not have any decent undercover venues to accommodate a crowd this large, hence why more often that not we do miss out on the larger events. Big ups to the Eclipse Entertainment and Adelaide Party Central crew for bringing us We Love Sounds, and making sure we didn’t miss out this time. Let’s hope next year the weather will permit a more enjoyable day.