Pang! was making their first appearance at Academy and what a way to start. Boys Noize was coming to canberra and with an epic line up. Not only did they have one stellar headliner, they had five. Yes, FIVE, three of whom were international artists.

I hit the front door of Acads and headed to the Candy Bar to see local favourites Beat It and Staky (said Stake- ie, NOT Stack-ie) playing to a smaller crowd with some fairly chilled techno tunes. The pair looked great together, Staky in a classic skirt, top and heels combo and Beat It in a purposely creased white shirt and loose black tie. The fluid builds and bridges matched perfectly with the house and minimal elements thrown in by the duo. I had a peek through the wall of windows and saw the main area crawling with pulsing people, many around the bar but the majority on the dance floor. I finished my glass of champagne and joined the throng on their level.

As I descended the stairs I felt the music become more mainstream house, reminding me of Ministry of Sound Annual CDs. The tempo picked up and I gravitated towards the stage. Ajax was dancing like a mad man chained to the decks, over sized black plastic glasses and truckie cap turned to the side: he was having fun, and so was everyone else. The dance floor was already tightly packed, sequins were everywhere, All Stars and Rabens were unavoidable but there were a few pairs of heels tapping to the beat too. The floor was undoubtedly hot but pleasantly bearable.

At half past twelve I heard a nasty rumour that the Candy Bar was to be closed and all DJs after Staky and Beat It were to be shafted. I hauled ass upstairs and discovered to my dismay that it was no mere rumour, but cold hard fact. Word on the street is that management wanted to push everyone in to the main room and build the vibe, or they decided that the candy bar was not making enough sales to keep it staffed- either way I reckon it was a rough call.

I waited for Staky and Beat It to finish their set, hoping that added attendance (and dollars over the bar) would keep the Candy Bar open and allow Cheese, Hubert, Timtulip and Kiz to let fly. Disappointed at my failed attempt, I headed back down to hear Ajax hand the decks over to Djedjotronic. Ajax ended on a more electro note which passed flawlessly to Djedjotronic who soon left the lyrics behind. His set started by successfully messing with the tempo and using some mad overlays, distortions and synth sounds creating some phenomenal electro house.

Djedjotronic did not have quite the same sense of excitement on stage as Ajax, looking a lot more serious, dressed in a conservative black top with a designer aura.

Djedjotronic wrapped up his set right on time as Shadow Dancer hooked up his black Apple laptop and tiny keyboard. The stage had quite a lot of foot traffic, with the permanent DJ booth clogged with dancing punters. Academy’s symbolic cinema screen had been masked in black cloth and the visual effects had been replaced by two projectors shining on to white streamers fluttering from the roof. And to great effect, I might add.
By the time Shadow Dancer came on the crowd had thinned slightly, and personally even I was looking forward to a bit of a change in pace. However, Shadow Dancer played in a similar style to Djedjotronic – keeping it techno, electro house and electronic but moving into a bit more of an industrial vibe.

Strip Steve came on at half past three and the change in DJ hit you in the side of the head like a boxer on roids. The baby faced French DJ played some awesome funky house and brought back the lyrics in a big way. I reckon if he was on earlier they crowd would not have dissipated half as much as they did. The remaining punters flocked to the dance floor. Those who didn’t stick it out this long really did miss out.

I climbed the stairs for the last time somewhere around four am and heard the music cease behind me to a final few cheers from the dedicated dance floor. I vote this a highly successful cherry popping event for Pang! with over 700 punters through the door over the night. I have to say though; the Acads crew does not have the stamina of Lot 33- something to work on, perhaps?