First up, if you’re expecting ticket holders to stay awake all night legally, it is a bad idea not to be serving some kind of energy drink. After getting through the gates I made a beeline for the kiosks and was dismayed to find nothing stronger than Coca Cola to help me get through the night. I sucked it up and headed over to Robbie Nelson, who played some great tunes and – unlike most opening acts – actually got things started pretty much straight away so there were plenty of smiling faces early on. I love a DJ with cajones who’s not afraid to drop some heavier stuff in if they think the crowd is going to like it. Some girls didn’t seem to understand that it’s winter, rocking up in nothing more than what appeared to be a bikini top and hot pants in a lot of cases. I struggled to stay warm in jeans and multiple layers, but then again, I wasn’t exactly getting on it. But I was pleasantly surprised that there were no obvious incidents of wankers, just thousands of people out to have a good night – even if they weren’t exactly the most warmly attired.

With Crookers at the Rod Laver Arena, it was packed – though they didn’t quite seem to get it. Drum’n’bass and dubstep fans would have been more appreciative but I found it was a little bit too much for me. And some went so far as to label it ‘noise’. Hearing a track mashed up with a tune from the Lion King was the highlight of the set though it unfortunately left me a bit cold. The VIP room had only about 5 people dancing and a few more milling around near the door. I saw a little bit of Seth Troxler, which was good, but I didn’t bother to return for Tiga after hearing he was half an hour late and the crowd numbers hadn’t increased. Maybe there were too many different rooms for the amount of people they were expecting.

Some artists make you proud to be a part of the dance music scene. Underworld remains as one of them. The full dance floor and the full stands are testament to the committed fan base that Underworld have in Melbourne. Only 18 months since they last came out for Summadayze, they could still pull a crowd large enough to fill a stadium this time too. It doesn’t matter if you’ve (heaven forbid) never heard them before – it’s always going to be a thrill to see these veterans. Having eclectic musical tastes proved to be an advantage for me, as I enjoyed Laidback Luke though I did notice a few people who seemed a bit confused about what genre they were listening to. A bit of trance, a bit of electro – but generally enjoyable.

I especially loved hearing Gareth Emery who played to a full arena floor. With plenty of familiar tracks, he delivered some real driving trance. This set was a little harder than the collection one usually gets via his weekly podcasts though he threw plenty of vocal trance in to the mix – much to my delight. The laser show was something spectacular in itself: I counted seven lasers filling the arena and the epic giant screens behind the DJs really made the Godskitchen stage something special.

Steve Aoki greeted Melbourne enthusiastically and then straight off dropped the tune of the moment. Rod Laver filled with the sound of *Pendulum*’s ABC theme remix. The crowd went absolutely nuts. Then he set the next track to Warp and got the microphone out to jump around at the front of the stage. There’s nothing quite like seeing a stadium floor covered by kids with their hands in the air. I cannot think of one other DJ who would be out headbanging with such gusto. Seriously, what DJ crowdsurfs? Steve Aoki does. He even popped open a few bottles of champagne and sprayed them all over the crowd. At the end a bunch of green and white streamers exploded forth into the middle of the floor and Aoki finished with a shout out to the Dim Mak artists and finally, dropped In The House.

I loved that at 4:30am there were groups outside in the hallway, watching the World Cup. I’m not sure if it was a coincidence that the game was on when numbers started to decline, or maybe it was that alcohol had no longer been served since 3am or people’s energy was starting to drop. Whatever it was, there was definitely a bit more wiggle room. M.A.N.D.Y. and Felix Da Housecat also impressed me though I only managed to catch about 5 minutes of each as I ran between stages and bathroom lines. I also managed to stuff down some overpriced and undercooked fries to keep my energy levels up between acts. Felix had hands reaching for the ceiling but the pull of Markus Schulz was what really had me. Schulz was still playing to a packed dance floor past 5am. With such killer tunes, I didn’t want to leave the arena and found myself experiencing a third wind. Out of all of the DJs in the Godskitchen arena, I felt that Schulz performed the best, delivering to all of the punters who had been holding out to hear all of his set and pushing through until 5:30am. A live set up with keyboard included made for a lot of smiling faces as Roger Shah finished the night.

Given that the advertising and flyers led me to believe that there would be something magical to see, I really thought that the whole festival needed more decoration. Whilst there were caterpillars, toadstools and flowers relating to the Alice in Wonderland style, there wasn’t really enough for be to call it a ‘theme’. Bumper cars were a nice, familiar touch – perhaps a bit of nostalgia left over from the Two Tribes festivals. I really do love the Melbourne Park festival vibe and especially night events. With Winter Sounds bringing back some of the artists who first made me love dance music so much, I would have had a better time had I been able to access some kind of caffeinated, taurine-filled beverage. However, with a line up like this, it was well worth the struggle.