With last year’s Groove on a New Year’s Day a raging success and Summadayze, a Melbourne institution, going national in 2010, what better way to welcome the new decade than combining the two to make for one of Adelaide’s most anticipated music events of the millennium.

It may have been hot and dusty, and revelers may or may not have been to bed after previous night’s celebrations, nonetheless, an impressive 13,000 punters proved that Adelaide has got what it takes to create that festival vibe of our Eastern counterparts. Only a few braved the heat early on, with most biding their time and avoiding the hottest part of the day. By late afternoon, however, despite the considerable lack of shade, the place was packed.

The spacious layout meant there was little sound clash while each stage exhibited a distinctly different vibe. By far the largest and most popular, the Summadayze Stage made you feel as if you were in Melbourne where it all started back in 1999. Nicely nestled between the trees, the HQ Stage was in full force for the majority of the day. Headlined by The Shapshifters, the HQ Stage was juxtaposed by the Eclipse Stage which remained embarrassingly quiet right up until sundown despite big names like Sharam and Eddie Halliwell being billed. Strategically placed to the far left, the Groove Stage was similar to that of all Groove/Hi Fi events, providing the perfect soundtrack for the hip hop inclined.

The day’s standout performers included Josh Wink, who dropped a deep, dark, dirty house mix, followed by the always impressive Carl Cox, who played a momentous two hour set. Sadly Klaas killed the vibe by thrashing top 40 trash while Cash Money also left a bad taste in your mouth. Beginning his set with a distinct reggae feel, the seminal hip hop turntablist digressed into a crowd-pleasing set of unoriginal jams like House of Pain’s _ Jump Around_ and 2Pac’s California. Local lads The Funkoars, Lowrider and Terra Firma did SA proud and Ugly Duckling got the Groove stage jumping yet it was Dilated Peoples that stole the show. Delivering an intimate set, and even getting local bedroom deejay Lotek up to battle DJ Babu to a scratch match of Work the Angles, Dilateds made sure that their long awaited Adelaide debut was well worth the wait.

What better way kick start to the new year…here’s to 2010!