It’s not often that a night comes close to clubbing nirvana, but musica ticked most of the boxes in a way that doesn’t happen often in Sydney. For those that remember the brand’s previous parties a few years ago, this shouldn’t have come as a surprise. On behalf of real music fans in Sydney: Welcome Back.

I’ll admit it – I was worried about this event. I was positively wet with anticipation at seeing a bona fide ‘all killer, no filler’ line-up, but not so excited about the prospect of having to go to a packed Forum to see it. And then there was that volcano. Would the headliners make it at all?

There was relief when Hernan Cattaneo was confirmed as coming during the week, and although Marc Marzenit was a casualty of Eyjafjallajokull, replacement Chymera was a tasty choice. But I was still a bit anxious about the Forum. It’s one of Sydney’s best venues, in my opinion, but when it’s packed it’s as bad as anywhere – and memories of the club being wayyyy too full when in festival mode have left a lasting impression.

Blissfully, the crowd level at musica was definitely not set to ‘sardine’. The lower floors were comfortably full; perfect. The upper level was a bit sparse – I’m always conscious when I praise an event for having room to move that it may not have made the promoter any money. Well, Kane Bligh and the musica team deserve to be paid in bucket-loads. I hope they got their dues.

What else made this the best night I’ve had in a Sydney club this year? Well, there was the tuneage of course – but it was more than that. Musica drew the right crowd of up-for-it people that were there for the music. But it didn’t just win on this. Musica dared to be different, and it won big on these gambles, too. First, it had an adventurous music format of one room, many styles. Second, it was on at the unorthodox, but altogether more lucid time of 6pm-2am. This was an event designed for people to appreciate the musical genius they were witnessing.

Full credit to musica for giving the always amazing Robbie Lowe and the don of Sydney’s house scene Alex Taylor the supports. The crowd piled in as Cattaneo set off on his four hour journey. And what a journey it was. At times it was melodic bliss, at times it was pumping tech-house, at times it was slamming tribal that took over from where Steve Lawler left off in February. Yep, the old boys of prog are ruling Sydney this year.

From Hernan’s all-CDJ setup it was over to Irish lad Chymera and his laptop. I have to say, I really liked this set. It was squelchy, melodic tech, reminiscent of the gorgeous live sets that great Scot Vince Watson pumped out in Sydney a couple of years ago.

At any other club night the next act would have shot squarely for the big peak-time melodies and a few nice and accessible anthems. But this wasn’t any other club night, and the next act was fan-boy pin-up Apparat. I thought I was excited about this guy, but the screams of support he got were remarkable. In amongst all the shit music, substandard nights, and sleazy crowds, it was a timely reminder that there is a massive demand and appreciation for quality underground stuff in Sydney. Dare I say it, I almost felt at home.

Apparat was spacey and down-tempo, industrial and furious, but the stayers knew the tunes and went along right with him, even as he went in totally the opposite direction of the normal build-up to 2am. There was a bit of Modeselektor and a lot of Moderat, and a whole heap of big, booming rave noise. What a symphony it was.

For all the boxes that musica ticked, it wasn’t perfect. The one big gripe of the night was the sound. Not because the Funktion One system wasn’t sounding great, but because it was so bloody loud. It was impossible to find a place where the sound was tolerable, but thank heavens for the earplugs that were available at the bar. As my lack of a voice attested the next day, it was certainly a challenge to have a conversation with anyone. I guess the purists could argue it made the night definitely more about the music, but this was often at the expense of enjoying it with your friends.

All things considered though, this was an astonishingly good night out that got almost everything right. And that doesn’t happen so much anymore. Wait a moment – it never happens so much. But I really hope that musica’s new incarnation will happen again and again. Fantastic work – loving it!