One year on, and Espionage is still going on strong, and with Marky rocking The Hi-Fi Bar, it was sure to be a special night. And my lord was it good. In the words of many a junglist MC “OH MY GOSH!”

To kick off the night Dust and Fiend aka Allsorts went back to back, and these two fine ladies know how to rock a dance floor. Sure, their set suffered from the Melbourne habit of people not coming out until the main act was on; but frankly, those people are idiots for rocking up late and missing this great set. Playing a blend of cool liquid beats and then raising the tempo and deepening the bass to get bodies moving, their music was as exquisite as they are to watch.

But don’t knock me as a misogynist – JPS and Nam aka the Operatives are pretty easy on the eyes too; although I think they’re sweeter on the ears, especially as they played some of my all time favourites, such as Drop It Down, True Romance, and Alien Girl. They even represented the local scene by dropping a Johnny Hooves’ track. What I especially like about JPS and Nam is they’re entertaining and play as real DJs – they tease tunes and play with the crossfader, even spin rewinds. They’re not afraid to have fun with the equipment or the crowd.

And speaking of fun, MC Lowqui was certainly entertaining, warming up his vocal chords and hyping up the crowd for Marky during the Operatives set… not that Marky really needs an MC to hype the crowd, as he does a damn good job at that himself. His stage presence is immense, and he throws the positive energy right back at the crowd with his antics. From air drumming, to blowing kisses to the girls, to scratching with his foot, to hooking up a Kaoss Pad to turning the turntables upside down to scratch: Marky is simply one of the most entertaining DnB DJs to watch. The music he plays is simply awesome. It’s all “party” music, from the salsa soaked beats of Marky’s own productions, to the old school sounds of Top Buzz and Prodigy, to the even older sounds of late 80s house. Even his hiphop set is party material, designed to get the booty shaking with classics from recent visitors A Tribe Call Quest, De La Soul, M.A.R.R.S, and Run DMC.

Marky and Lowqui bounced off each other, each of them in step as if they had been working in collaboration for years – just like Bukem and Conrad do – and it was a pleasure to witness these two professionals working together. But it was the crowd surfing that showed just how much fun JPS and the rest of the crowd were really having.