Royal Doof is a three day outdoor music festival that has been bringing international artists to our shores since 2004. However, this year, due to some logistical disappointment, the whole festival got packed into a one night stand. Many of the folk present at the club were expressing their frustration about this, but what was turned out was one of the most remarkable evenings I have ever experienced within this scene. The event became a rippling pressure cooker of intensity.

There were three floors; the main room, the second (middle) room, and the more intimate (mirrored) glass room. The gig was up and running from the get go. Walking in to the middle room it was clear that there was to be no mucking around, with the barrelling psytrance already rocking the party hard and fast from the decks of Depth Charger. In the main room at this time Ed Motive had some more lyrical and relaxed deep psy tunes rolling out, and this attracted a good batch of dancers. Meanwhile, in the glass room, a neat little duo of dj and acoustic drumkit, Planet Jumper, were warming the more chill-seeking folk with their funky grooves. It was a polished and crisp sound of neat syncopated beats with zippy jazzy rolls and flams. Following this was Back/Back, dj and vocals, who provided moments that were quick and banging amidst what was mostly lighter funk, which gave a nice counterpoint to the increasing inferno taking place in the bigger spaces.

Back in the main room Aaron Smiles had begun with his ‘old skool psy’ set, which kicked on to really get that floor bubbling. Aaron gently worked through a delicious spectrum of influences threaded upon a strong chord of solid riffs. Dark Nebula (NSW) was belting out wicked psytrance in the middle room, and in moving between the spaces I discovered something of an auditory battle ground: Much like an action scene from Transformers, these technological heavyweights were going at it hammer and tong – it was exhilarating.

Winter Demon (Israel) put down a very good set that was rich with variety, journey and smack bang crackling dance music. It was around this moment too that the visual presentation lifted to awesome heights. I had earlier noticed how well decked out the club was with excellent quality decor, as well as some spicy disco lighting in all spaces. In the main room, behind the djs, and also to one side, screens presented rolling visuals that flowed and blended with luscious fluidity. This imagery, in tandem with the ever more hectic lighting display, brought a whole new magical level to the performance. It was really fantastic!

Once Azax Syndrom (Israel) stepped up…wow! This guy had the presence of a true mega star. I was compelled to just stand and watch him work for quite a while. Dressed in some kind of quasi space military outfit, he worked his large physical frame all over the decks, commanding the space with powerful authority, and with nimble fingers manipulating everything, including the sound waves hurtling around the space from the speaker system, seemingly! The visuals were sparkling and flashing with richness and depth – lasers cutting out from behind the dj in a manner that made it seem that he was the very source of light itself. I was astonished by the beauty and impact of this array; it was the best and most sophisticated combined music/visual presentation I have ever seen!

The night progressed with one international after the other stepping up to conquer the stage. Mekkanikka (Spain), John Phantasm (UK), Han Solo (Mexico), Ultravoice (Israel) and more. I particularly enjoyed Ultravoice – he produces very boppy dance music and is also not afraid to run a little bit cheesy (very brave in psytrance) with tracks such as ‘I feel so free’, which bring some radiant relief within an otherwise pumping schedule of tunes. The glass room continued to provide a more chilled and funky vibe, with the Feline outfit bringing a much needed feminine element to an evening that was mostly otherwise dominated by hard core masculine energy.

At the end of the night the host encouraged us give a warm round of applause to the entire DJ group. He expressed his own frustration at not having been able to provide the full festival and wryly suggested that perhaps next year, to make up for it, the festival could run for a full six days. Gee – wouldn’t that just be great!