Metro City drew a modest crowd on Friday night for Ministry of Sound – Jacked, that featured DJ heavyweights Afrojack, Hardwell and Wolfgang Gartner. The night promised and delivered uncompromising, electro-house performances from start to finish and the dancing holograms featured on several screens along with the alien looking Mac 250 stage lights made it clear to the punters that it was dedicated to house, partying and little else.

Acebasik, Chain and Rob Sharp kicked off festivities from 9PM with pleasing and solid performances that indicated to the early birds they were in for a relentless night of loud, electric and uplifting beats. However, it was not until Hardwell took to the decks and played the the Axwell & Dirty South remix of Sweet Disposition before things started to go a little crazy.

Coming off his recent collaboration with Chuckie on _Guess What, Hardwell is considered a rising star of dance music and he did not fail to disappoint with an extremely entertaining set by all accounts. Hardwell engaged well with the crowd and displayed his talent for progressive beats as he ripped through his set. Apart from Sweet Disposition the other standout tracks were the Syke and Sugarstar remix of Fascination and the instantly familiar groove track, Lady by Modjo.

Metro City was in full-swing, party mode, as Afrojack was due to come on. He wasted no time in launching into club favourite, Show Me Love by Angello, Laidback Luke & Robin S. whilst cruising the decks with his casual swagger, occasionally lifting his hand in the air to draw a response from the crowd. With Afrojack part of the charm is that it is all about what you hear and nothing about the man making the noise.

The entire set was a power charged performance, despite a brief reprieve with David Guetta’s, When Love Takes Over to add an enjoyable pop element to the mix, before rounding out the set nicely with Afro Jack’s Pon De Floor to lead into the much anticipated set with Wolfgang Gartner.

Chatting to house music devotees Sass and Sky they told me although they really enjoyed the other acts they were there to see Wolfgang Gartner. It turned out the pair had some serious opinions on today’s house saying it tended to be a bit confined and repetitive so it was refreshing to see an artist like Gartner.

Their feelings echoed the mood of many on the night with them and others literally hanging out for their man Gartner to take to the stage. Afrojack’s high-energy set would have served well to keep everybody alive until 2am, however when the moment came Gartner’s lower tempo, techy tunes were a needed change.

Gartner and Jack performed a seamless set change, with the two working collaboratively on the crossover. Jack even hung around for awhile as Gartner launched into Wolfgang’s Symphony No5 and Firepower mix; obviously equally enjoying the change in tempo from his set.

Gartner kept the punters transfixed and moving through his entire set with one of the favourites being “tech-house-esque” Push and Rise. Many have likened his prowess to that of tech masters Daft Punk with their signature sound and breakdowns.

For the committed Mind Electric and Adam Sadler kept the party going into the early hours with staggering performances and big shoes to fill after the previous sets.

In all a great night and fantastic performances to keep the true believers – believing! It is not often when a smorgasbord of quality house acts play at the one venue over a single night. Great stuff!