Okay, before I go any further with this review, a quick disclaimer, of sorts. I’m going to try to avoid resorting to hyperbole, cliché, and exaggerated fawning, but if I slip into such territory, don’t hold it against me. Put simply, this gig was so good that only the very best dramatic and florid descriptions can do it justice. With a great crowd totally into the music, a fantastic party vibe, and a legendary DJ armed with an arsenal of epic tunes, this night will be locked in the memories of those who were there for years to come. It was one of those rare occasions when everything simply came together to form the best clubbing experience.

Announced only a couple of days beforehand, Danny Tenaglia’s set at Nevermind in Sydney sold out in a mere few hours. Just queuing up outside you could feel the expectation and excitement hanging thickly in the air. When Danny bounced out of a car on Oxford Street, the queue welcomed him with a cheer, and he returned the favour by shaking hands, posing for pictures, and jokingly ducking into the doorway of the sex shop next to the venue. You knew then it was going to be a special night.

Having made it to Shore Thing on New Year’s Eve, I’d kind of accepted that I’d got my first and only Tenaglia fix, fully aware that I’d merely got the edited and truncated Tenaglia experience in two and a half hours. So when this solo show was announced, with its promise of a six-hour, total-Tenaglia event, those of us in Sydney got the opportunity to see the master at work in a more natural setting. Within minutes of opening, the club was pretty much full and the vibe was already locked down. Despite the fact the event was a sell-out, overcrowding wasn’t an issue, and there was always room to be found on the dancefloor. Right from the word go you could sense that every single person was there to immerse themselves in a complete music experience.

Tenaglia started off with some nice solid grooves, throwing down lots of exquisite house, inflected with a subtle funk, which gently drew in the dancing congregation. A bit further on, proceedings got a little more vibrant with some surging progressive and tech-house, and then a couple of hours in, Danny engaged another gear, taking things up a notch by injecting some driving techno and pounding tribal into the mix. I think an appropriate analogy for Tenaglia’s set is a rollercoaster ride, but I mean that in a good way, as in the best rollercoaster ride you’ve ever been on.

One minute you’re being seduced by some gorgeous smooth house, the next you’re being rattled with some earth shaking tribal, the next you’re deep inside some rolling progressive, and the next you’re back out the other end grooving to some classic old-school, pop-infused house. This makes it sound like the night was a mess of widely disparate styles, but it wasn’t at all. Yes, things were certainly diverse, but everything fitted together like one big jigsaw puzzle, and the picture on the jigsaw was of one big dance-infused party.

This wasn’t a night for chin-stroking and marvelling at mixing skills. Tenaglia comes from the old-school of DJs, where it’s about throwing down whatever tunes necessary to lock in a groove and keep the dancefloor on their feet. It was absolutely spellbinding to watch a DJ so in control of their crowd and so involved in the music, swinging and shifting from one style to the next without alienating a single body. To vary the vibe, Tenaglia also manipulated the volume at different points, so the big tracks sounded so much bigger when he cranked up the loudness, and there were more subdued moments so you could ease off on the dancing for a few seconds. When some of the epic tribal monsters came blasting out of the system, the intensity was just amazing.

One of the night’s highlights, and something that definitely enhanced the party vibe, was Tenaglia’s interaction with the crowd. From simply getting on the mic to wish everyone a happy new year, to waving around his handheld spotlights, jumping around behind the decks, clapping along to hi-hat riffs, mouthing all the words to classic vocal house tracks, and coming out into the crowd for a dance, his sheer enthusiasm was incredibly infectious. While showmanship in DJing doesn’t work for everyone, here it perfectly fitted with Tenaglia’s music selection. It was clear he was having an absolute ball, and this, naturally, trickled down into the crowd.

A friend once described how he was “tormented” the first few times he saw Danny Tenaglia play, by the way you hear music that you momentarily recognise, but then it turns into an unfamiliar remix or is layered over something else you’ve never heard. Now I understand exactly what he meant. It’s a good kind of torment, if such a thing is possible. You hear vocals coming in, and you think you know what’s coming next, but then the track morphs into something totally different. Due to that, at various points during the set I was unsure exactly what I was hearing (remix, re-edit, mash-up, cover, acappella), but during the course of the night, I picked out the vocals to Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal and Thriller, the vocal from Angie Stone’s I Wish I Didn’t Miss You, and the delicate house take on Stairway to Heaven that also made an appearance at Shore Thing. Danny teased and played with the crowd on numerous occasions, dropping elements of tracks into various places like he was scattering seeds on a flowerbed. On more than one occasion I heard bits from Finally by Kings of Tomorrow.

At other points throughout the night, tracks that were easy to spot included Empire of the Sun’s We Are the People, Dubtribe Sound System’s Do It Now, and of course Tenaglia’s own classic Music is the Answer. One of the best moments for me was hearing Narcotic Thrust’s Safe From Harm, which got a great reaction from the crowd, to such an extent that Danny blocked out the vocal a couple of times to allow a good old-fashioned sing-a-long from the crowd. Given this was a school night, the crowd understandably thinned out a little as the night drew to a close, but this freed up space on the dancefloor for those that remained. If you did leave, you missed out. At the end of his set, Tenaglia dug out some vocal classics, including Adeva’s In and Out of My Life and Crystal Waters’ 100% Pure Love.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the seeming gravity of events like this (last minute announcement, legendary DJ in rare performance, intimate setting, once in a lifetime opportunity), and you end up coming out with all kinds of over-the-top proclamations and descriptions. Yet, having had a few days to absorb the experience and assess it in the light of day, I remain utterly convinced that this was one of the finest nights I’ve ever experienced. At the end of the day, this is all subjective, but judging by the reactions of the dancefloor, several others enjoyed it too. Danny seemed like he was having a great time as well, evidenced by the fact he played for thirty minutes over his allotted time, looked keen to go on longer, and spent ten minutes on the mic at the end thanking everybody.

Ultimately, I walked away with the impression that here was a guy who loves music with a passion, and loves sharing that passion with a room full of like-minded people, creating one massive party in the process. EDM culture is rooted in the ideals of dancing, togetherness, partying, and inclusiveness, some of which are unfortunately often overlooked in the stylistically fragmented world of contemporary club culture. Yet on this night, all these things were brought into play by a DJ whose history goes right back to the beginning of house music. I have no doubt whatsoever that this night will stand as one of the finest moments in the clubbing lives of those who were fortunate enough to witness it. Full credit and thanks to everyone who made it come together. This was something special indeed.