When I heard the words Trademark Hotel and New Year’s Day Festival Afterparty in the same sentence, I thought I must have had it wrong. When I think of Trademark, I think of an upmarket, swanky establishment which hosts suit and tie, blue blooded ‘beautiful’ people. The idea of a Festival Afterparty, on the other hand, conjures images of sweaty, wide-eyed vagabonds still partying from New Year’s Eve.

Strangely, this party saw the collision of both of these worlds.

At the beginning of the night (about 11pm), the small crowd clearly consisted of Trademark regulars: tailored outfits, leather shoes and hair gel; or stunning dresses and high heels. I was glad I had worn my button up collared shirt.

The resident DJs, a duo called Royal Crew, played an interesting mixture of techno and house laced with samples of mainstream pop music. They had a solid playlist, but only a couple of people were dancing and most of the patrons were sitting in secluded corners. The energy of the venue was lacking considerably, but this was more due to the small crowd who were only interested in chatting and drinking.

But soon a transformation of the room became noticeable as festival heads from events all over Sydney (such as Field Day, Shore Thing, and Space Ibiza Festival) began trickling in. Trademark’s dress code was tossed aside for multicoloured helicopter hats, tank tops, glow sticks, bikinis and sunglasses (even though the lighting was incredibly dim). The change was dramatic, from one extreme to another, and as the energetic festival goers came to dominate, the mood elevated significantly.

Everyone had come to see the night’s main attraction Bodyrox & Lu, who are a collaboration of the underground electronica juggernauts Bodyrox (made up of acclaimed UK producers John Pearn and Nick Bridges) and British electro nu-wave singing sensation Luciana.

Together, Bodyrox & Lu have created some amazing tracks, most notably the killer 2006 remix of Bodyrox’s Yeah Yeah with Luciana on vocals, which was released by Eye Industries. This track became an international club anthem which debuted at no. 2 in the UK Top 40 and arguably helped kick start the global ‘Nu Rave’ phenomenon (which celebrates the fusion of electronic music, nu-wave and indie rock).

Just as the arrival of the festival heads signified an explosion of the night’s pace and energy, so too did the appearance of Bodyrox & Lu at 1am. No longer was the dance floor empty. No longer could civil conversations be held up the back. No longer was there a lack of atmosphere. Instead, there was pandemonium, a chaotic outburst of beats which exploded in a shower of frenzied sounds that made you dance like a maniac on speed.

The sound levels increased significantly, producing a crisp, loud sound which immediately erased my New Year’s hangover. The bass dropped so hectically that I could feel it reverberating through my insides, making my heartbeat skip with the music. Producers Jon Pearn and Nick Bridges clearly knew how to psyche up the crowd with unsurpassed electro skills.

Luciana’s unique and aggressive punk-edged vocals rang so clearly across the room that you could understand every word. It was truly amazing to see her jumping around the stage in her sexy red dress, all sweaty and amped up. She was constantly interacting with the crowd with cries like, “Do you wanna get on it?” (during her performance of hit single What Planet You On?), to which the crowd replied in unison, “YEAH!”.

The one thing that struck me the most about Luciana was her potent sexuality – with animalistic and sexualised songs like Yeah Yeah (which is famous for a highly controversial film clip in which young adults rub crotches and fondle breasts in a dingy room) turning the dance floor into an orgy of sweat and gyrating, interlocked bodies. If it wasn’t for the fact that Trademark Hotel is anything but ‘dingy’, we could have been on the set for the song’s film clip. It created the perfect atmosphere for a festival afterparty.

The location itself gives the impression of walking into another world. Situated just behind the Coke sign in King’s Cross, Trademark Hotel wows the senses with a range of disco balls, sporadic strobe lights, trippy red globes in the ceiling and leaves and vines hanging from above the central bar. The bar staff were incredibly helpful and jubilant, hurling bottles into the air and flaring with the rhythm of Bodyrox. There were enough nooks and crannies to be able to escape the dance floor, though there was no escaping the music (not that anyone would want to). It was a great location for a DJ set.

I look forward to future Trademark Friday nights, where their weekly event Love Fridays (which was kicked off with this New Year’s Day Festival Afterparty) will boast international names like Carl Kennedy from New York and DJ Niina from Sweden. I can’t wait!