Easter long weekend, Good Friday, George Street, Sydney, approximately 11 pm. The streets of the CBD were relatively quiet on Good Friday night, populated only with those who were searching in vain for something open – but the pubs were all shut for the bank holiday, and the only place barring McDonalds and Hungry Jacks that opened its doors was the Metro Theatre. And for good reason, too, as that night one of Sydney’s favorite venues happily played host to one of France’s latest musical exports, Surkin, with the UK’s Burns in tow. Together, these guys kicked off a long weekend of partying with one electric Friday night of noise.

Doors opened at 11, and by then everyone was anxiously waiting in the queue to get in; it was a bit of an anti-climax to discover, then, upon entry, that Surkin wouldn’t grace the stage until 2 AM. So, with quite a lot of build-up time to burn, we danced and danced (on an empty dance floor, cool kids that we are) to the excellent skills of supporting acts Jamie Doom, Magic Hands and U-Go-B and Cassian.

With each hour that passed, the dance floor became more and more populated, steadily becoming full and crowded by the time Burns took the stage. I came out on Friday night to see Surkin and Surkin only; I hadn’t heard of Burns before, but I was well and truly impressed by the Englishman’s electronic talents. Hailing from the lovely seaside town of Brighton in the south of England, a place that boasts a thriving music scene and is mother to big acts like Fatboy Slim. Burns had quite funky, electronic tastes that also ventured into some quite dirty territory. He dropped Zombie Nation’s Warp and a wicked remix of Love Long Distance by the Gossip I had never heard before, as well as giving a nod to fellow English act Fake Blood with I Like It, to name a few of the set’s highlights.

Finally, the clock struck two, and at long last the stage was prepped for a small-scale French invasion. It was worth the wait; Surkin got up onstage with a real positivity and energy about him, which was awesome, and the crowd felt its contagiousness. It was pretty comical at times to see him up there, perched so high up above the crowd. If you’ve never seen Surkin in person before, look up a photo of him and you’ll know what I’m talking about; the guy looks about 12! He’s not exactly what you would call ‘tall’, and his young, boyish face is framed by stick-straight dark hair that he periodically has to sweep away from his eyes. Always with a cheeky twinkle in his eye, he didn’t feel shy at all about pausing here and there to light a ciggy as he peered into his laptop screen, preparing the next track to play. Hey, he’s French after all, we can’t deny him his essential cigarette quota simply due to some silly Australian smoking ban!

The set that followed was mainly instrumental, with Surkin’s personal style of French electronica and a sound that was heavily eurodance-influenced – no surprise there. He dropped a few of his own tracks throughout the hour and a half or so that he played, but they were appropriately sandwiched between large chunks of other electronic audio treats. White Knight Two was awesome to hear, and as a highlight he saved the crowd-pleasing Ghetto Obsession right until the end. I was happy to note that he didn’t neglect to pay tribute to those French greats who came before him, Daft Punk, by playing Da Funk. I’ve said it before, but there is nothing wrong with playing Daft Punk. Ever.

In traditional French fashion, Surkin calmed the crowd by playing an ‘encore’ before flashing that boyish grin, enjoying the applause, waving goodbye, and heading back to France. So we will all do what we always do after a good gig – the only thing we can do – wait until he comes back next.