Perth put on a hot and dry 39 degree Summerdayze this year with 0% humidity and a hot breeze to drive the heat home. Nonetheless we were on a mission from ITM HQ to cover this festival – almost as famous for it’s hordes of shirtless sweaty masses of muscle as it is its awesome musical lineup. Going into Summadayze I felt that there wasn’t as many big name draw cards as previous years. This and the heat turned quite a few people away on the day (I counted about 10 people I knew with extra tickets).

Upon arriving I settled in under some shade and listened to the sounds of Treasure Fingers where we were treated to some refreshingly funky sounds. To be honest I had never heard of Treasure Fingers before and I was very impressed. His set’s pace was perfectly suited to the unsheltered Future Music Stage situated underneath the oppressive Perth sun. I would really like to see him again.

Don Diablo had already managed to accrue a bit of a crowd at the main stage, and although his set sounded good the crowd took a bit of persuasion to start dancing.

The Filthy Gorgeous tent was probably the most hot and humid place I had ever been that doesn’t require you to wear nothing but a towel. The humidity and heat had me dripping with sweat and I was only standing at the edge of the dance floor. Fortunately we discovered fans situated on the sound booth and where I had a chance to dry out my clothes.

Evil Nine was on the stage and somehow people were managing to jump around and dance in the heat. I only saw one of the duo behind the decks and he was playing some cool electro…and then he dropped Riverside, this track would turn out to be the song of choice for DJs in the Filthy Gorgeous tent.

I quickly dropped in on Sinden and seriously I know I’ve mentioned the heat about 2’506’732 times in this review, but how were people dancing in the sun to this, perhaps I’m just old. He sounded good and had a small gathering of loyal followers doing their best to imitate that Sprite advert where people jump into each other and turn into liquid.

Back on the main stage Ian Carey was rocking it out with a big crowd setting up camp for the day. Despite not being a huge fan of the electro/hip-hop crossover he dishes out I was quite impressed with his set. Carey really knew how to work a crowd and his alteration of I’m in Miami to say “I’m in Perth” was a crowd pleaser. At this point I got a text telling me “*Krafty Kuts* appears to be tearing it up”.

So it was back to the sweat tent, and Riverside was playing again, that said my mate was right the tent was packed out and going off. I couldn’t manage to work my way in so I just enjoyed their energetic, dirty set from a distance.

Sebastien Leger was next on my shopping list so it was over to Woops A Daisy to see what he had in store. I was pleasantly surprised by his set, a blend of funky, techy tunes this guy really made my day. The crowd in the Woops A Daisy tent was up for it to, with smiles all around and a really positive vibe.

Technotronic was back in effect with Ya Kid K and MC Eric holding the Perth crowd in the palm of their hand. Pump Up The Jam predictably went off and then the crowd predictably thinned out. This was to be expected, and 30 minutes was all Technotronic needed as Pump Up The Jam came out a second time towards the end of the set. I wasn’t expecting too much from Technotronic but they did a good job and were another act who I really enjoyed on the day.

The sun was now hanging low in the sky accompanied by the freo doctor bringing some much needed cool air to the Perth foreshore.

Roger Sanchez took over the Main Stage and kicked it up a notch with a very cool intro featuring several classic tunes. With some typically festival-esque electro and progressive Roger sent the crowd nuts with plenty of dancing to be had by all. Roger also had his own version of I’m In Miami, using the hook “I’m Roger Sanchez Bitch”.

Summadayze isn’t really known for its trance acts, but that didn’t stop an array of quality trance acts from coming along. The first one that I caught was Tom Novy. A top quality set from him to a small gathering in the Filthy Gorgeous tent was a nice treat. A real highlight of his set was a mashup using the trance classic Beach Ball by Nalin & Kane. He also teased us with a Day N Nite mashup which was very clever.

The Woops A Daisy tent was facing westward, and as such the sun light was slowly creeping in, creating a receding line of people hiding from the sun during Josh Wink’s set. While I was there he drew out the break for Higher State of Consciousness. During this you could clearly hear the bass coming from the Future Music stage which faced the Whoops A Daisy tent. Watching people dance to music that the DJ wasn’t actually playing in tent was quite entertaining. Nonetheless Josh Wink put in a good effort in front of a wavering crowd.

Danny Howells jumped on and started to work into a groove, and although his set was technically good he couldn’t hold on to the crowd, who were all wondering off to see The Presets at the main stage.

And The Presets went of and drew a massive crowd, as was expected. They played a range of songs from Apocalypso and Beams. My personal favorite was their live variation on Are You The One, The Presets broke up the track into a real dance floor killer and sent the crowd into a frenzy. Another good re-work was If I Know You.

Trance legend Eddie Halliwell was present in the Filthy Gorgeous tent and proceeded to fire up the crowd with some very big tunes. People were going nuts chanting his name, the man commands a lot of respect . It would have been better if the sub’s hadn’t been turned off in the tent, which resulted in a lot of high end and no low end whatsoever.

Danny Tengalia was a sight to behold at the Future Music Stage, with his flash light, great stage presence and stomping house. The small crowd amassing in the cool paradise which the Supreme Court Gardens turned into that night was duly rewarded. House at it’s best – enough said.

After taking a spot of respite we grabbed some Infected Mushrooms, this was my first time seeing them and they went off. Announcing there presence in the steamy Filthy Gourgeous tent with a screaming guitar solo they commanded the attention of the crowd, and a form of stomping moshing took place in the tent.

Not wanting to spend too much more time leaking out half my mass in sweat it was time to see 2ManyDJs on the main stage. A lot of people I know love 2ManyDJs but once you’ve seen them once you’ve really seen most of what there is to see in my opinion. The album art was very cool though, and I liked how it was matched up so perfectly with the audio. Mixing Major Lazer Pon De Floor into Aphex Twins Window Licker was a high point. The video in the background had Major Lazer walking with boobs giggling in a bikini then switching to the infamous image of Richard D James superimposed on the body of a woman in a white bikini, shaking his breasts around. Very cool…and disturbing.

Summadayze was very good and much better than I expected this year. To be honest I’m surprised just how much there was to see and impressed with the quality of all the artists. I don’t think there was anyone who was a huge let down on the day. Before I arrived my friend warned me that Summadayze had been cancelled because all the cheese had melted. Well fortunately he was wrong, and Summadazye 2010 went off despite the oppressive heat. Let us hope that 2011 is brings bigger and better things.