It’s that time of year again – festival season! – and what better way to kick off summer than a 35-degree scorcher for the Perth leg of Stereosonic Music Festival. For the past few months punters have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Tiesto, Calvin Harris, Benny Benassi, Carl Cox, Sebastian Ingrosso, Afrojack, Sied Van Riel, Major Lazer, Ricardo Villalobos and Redshape among many others, as well as a plethora of local talent, and not even a severe risk of heat stroke would keep the party people away.

Early on saw UK dubstep on display, with Caspa and MC Rod Azlan commanding the attention of a hot and sweaty audience in the Carl Cox and Friends tent. Temperatures were through the roof, but it was refreshing to hear a bit of Pommie dubstep for the day, and a large group of punters obviously agreed, with a surprisingly large turnout for such an early afternoon timeslot.

From there it was a quick stop for the first of about 1000 bottles of water for the day, before grabbing a spot in the shade of the VIP tent in anticipation of Afrojack and his dirty Dutch electro. He certainly didn’t disappoint with a great set which really highlighted his current popularity, especially evident when he dropped the radio-friendly Take Over Control which had the sweat-soaked crowd singing along to every word. He really seemed to enjoy himself during the hour and a quarter set he played, and was obviously preparing himself for a big afternoon ahead, polishing off the Grey Goose Vodka like it was water.

Sebastian Ingrosso hit the main stage next and opened with Miami 2 Ibiza which had the crowd in the mood. From that point he moved through a tight and well-rehearsed set which reminded me a lot of the set I heard him play at Club Paradiso at the beginning of the year. The crowd responded well and although I am a big fan of the SHM, I couldn’t help feeling like his set was missing the impact it had for me 11 months ago. Possibly Ingrosso is a little more suited to an early evening timeslot rather than afternoon.

Yolanda Be Cool were just wrapping up their set as I made my way to the Limelite Stage, and were in the middle of an epic mash-up of Knas/We Speak No Americano (at last count I think I heard Knas around seven times throughout the day!). The crowd dispersed as their set came to an end, leaving Optimo with a depressing looking crowd. I too moved on, keen to grab a drink and move forth to check out Carl Cox.

Carl Cox commanded a large crowd, and he did not disappoint. I was up in the air as to whether to visit the techno master or to check out the mainstage duo of Benny Benassi and Calvin Harris, and in the end was happy with my decision, as Carl did what he does best – and that was get a crowd moving. We were left with a more mature crowd for both Carl Cox and Major Lazer who absolutely tore the place apart.

From crowd responses on the ITM forums, this was definitely one of the highlights of the day for sure, and I can tell you I agree 100-percent. Their laser show was out of control and their set as a whole really made me stand back and take notice. I am glad I didn’t saunter off to the mainstage a little earlier to catch Tiesto as originally planned.

Speaking of Tiesto, I caught the last hour of his set which again had an epic lights show and the huge sound system working just as hard (I heard rumours this was the biggest sound system to ever hit Perth?). He ended the festival on a high for me and once again, I found myself feeling like I had experienced a very special day much like I felt one year earlier.

My only regrets for the day was not getting the time to see Ricardo Villalobos (blame it on a misread timetable) as I was definitely keen to check him out, but hey, you can’t win them all and had a fantastic day anyway. There is a huge line-up of artists to cater to all tastes throughout the next three months, so without any further ado…bring on the summer.