All aboard for what was the last party of the summer. With daylight savings coming to a close and the day was suddenly growing darker, it really did feel like out of nowhere winter was upon us.

I was very keen on seeing Oliver Huntemann give it to Sydney, Bremen style. The last time I had seen Huntemann was at Future Music Festival 2007 when he tore the small, top level room apart.

As the boat finally set sail just after 4.30, I ventured upstairs to hear Matt Weir doing a great job. As we left the dock he had the top deck grooving with a range of funky techno and even a bit of proper house thrown in and we stayed up there to enjoy the last of the little sun that was left. Weir dropped an old school classic, Armand Van Helden’s Professional Widow which took it up a notch but as the sun set I ventured downstairs to see the supporting fellow German international, Oliver Koletzki.

I was honestly not too familiar with Koletzki so was interested to see him play. When I arrived downstairs he was doing a pretty good job. For the first 30 minutes, Koletzki was playing the percussive techno with the odd vocal over the top that has been played here, there and everywhere in Sydney and was building the room nicely before gaining my attention when suddenly he took it nice and deep, playing 20 minutes of deeper house that was a lot more interesting (or at least I thought so). Towards the end of his set I recognized his own track Hypnotized, featured on the most recent Gui Boratto Renaissance mix.

After we docked for the second time, Huntemann joined the boat and by now everyone was downstairs in the main room. He started off playing techno that was certainly a lot darker and moodier then his German counterpart but it wasn’t doing much for me so I went upstairs to see Ben Morris doing an outstanding job as usual to a smallish crowd who preferred the night air.

After it got a little too cold up top, I ducked back down to where the temperature was rising and Huntemann was killing it. It was smart scheduling to have Huntemann play when it was dark, as his style definitely suits dark small spaces. The second half of the set was exactly what I came to see – that unmistakable Bremen Style Huntemann has formed along with Stephan Bodzin.

It was deep, dark, heavy, industrial, head-caving techno, and everyone was losing it. Some trackspotting included one of my personal favourites Xenia Beliayeva’s Analogue Effekt, Huntemann & Dubfire’s Dios, H-Man’s 51 Polland St, and his own remix of D Ramirez’s I Choose Danger.

As we docked Huntemann finished with a truly epic track he co-produced with Stephan Bodzin, Rubin and the lights came on; bringing us out of this dark, techno escapism and back to reality. We chanted one more until our throats were sore, but sadly it was not to be.

This was a terrific party – once again, Huntemann had killed it and it really did feel like a great finish to the long weekend and perfectly capped off an absolutely outstanding summer of top gigs in Sydney. Those who love to whinge that Sydney doesn’t get good gigs shouldn’t have to think too hard about the ridiculous quality of artists that have graced our shores this summer. Here’s to hoping the 2011 summer is just as enjoyable.