A blustery breeze was blowing. It had been a few weeks of weird weather in Sydney, but although the turbulence threatened to blow me back up King Street as I approached the Slip Inn, nothing was dampening the hype that many had been building for the biggest Garden Party since an evening with James Zabiela last summer.

The first of the headliners, Timo Maas was blessed by the sun and only occasionally cursed by the wind. He played a percussion-heavy mix that motored along, a darker set of tribal that only really faltered when he tried to lighten the mood with some melody. A Hot Chip remix was particularly sleep-inducing, and exposed Timo’s lacklustre mixing. What his set lacked in precision, however, was more than made up for with some super tuneage, featuring new stuff like Pisco Sour, his own anthems like Subtellite, and plenty of old tribal classics like Drop Some Drums.

To this point the courtyard had been comfortably full with the occasional bump from someone not clued up on dancefloor etiquette. But as the sun set and Timo wound up with a bit of boompty boomp, the Laundry was flooded with people getting ready for three hours of power from (one part of) Hybrid.

And what a powerful opening it was. Lush prog from, who else, Sasha, announced his arrival and soon after there was the ridiculously stupendous The Chain – Geo. Wow, this was going to be something. Cue lasers and lots of dish-eyed ‘ooh…aah’.

Ultimately the shine came off the evening in a few ways – the pushy crowd, one particularly rude bar staffer, the completely unnecessary smoke machine, and the visuals, which were meant to be a camera focused on the decks, but frequently changed to a blue screen and various JVC product demos. Yeah. The sound was quite impressive during the afternoon – full, but calibrated well enough to still allow conversation. When the crowd rolled in it was a bit muffled, but still an improvement on previous Garden Parties.

After the big melodies of Hybrid’s opening, the prog got more ploddy, but there was time to let the set grow. That it did, with many more huge tunes to come, like ‘that’ remix of PQM’s You Are Sleeping. The dancefloor had barely reassembled itself in time for the predictable but oh-so welcome Finished Symphony.

With the music in the Garden finishing it was left to Infusion to show the Cave that they’ve still got it. My god, do they ever. They’ve played some knockout gigs this year, sets that mix old and new with great results. Seeing Jamie, Frank and Manuel surrounded by their banks of equipment is a familiar sight, and though it’s one that’s been rarer in recent years, the last few months have made up for it. Awesome job.

The oddest thing about Infusion’s set was the lack of people watching them. Normally the awful crush in the Laundry makes it a dealbreaker. But after the working over Hybrid gave the masses it seemed they were, well, ‘Finished’.

Three standout, memorable performances. It wasn’t a perfect day at Slip Inn, but it was certainly a party that announced that the Garden Parties are back for another summer. I love the vibe around Sydney when the city collectively realises the warm weather is back – and this year looks like we’ll have quite a few outdoor options to collectively lose our shit at!