It is no secret that Stereosonic, or simply ‘Stereo’, is fast becoming one of Australia’s favourite pastimes. Surviving the recent spate of cancelled concerts and failed festivals, the guys behind Totem One Love have surely out down themselves this year with the most outstanding and original line up to date. Sprawling across several stages, all marketed towards their chosen audiences, 2011 saw the heroes of yesterday join forces of tomorrow’s revolution at Brisbane’s Stereosonic.

Thankfully, only just ticking over into the season of summer, the typical arse-sweating Queensland weather had not arrived for the day’s proceedings. Usually present at all summer festivals, that bastard of a sun has made more enemies the next morning than any amount of alcohol possible. So, as we stupidly ignored the free sunscreen walking in, we embraced the overcast and over-packed environment around us.

While I have attended many functions and concerts at the RNA Showgrounds in the past, there is rather unique skill involved when it comes to event planning and sadly today it felt as if corners had been cut. With the one entry located behind the overflowing Trance/Kabuki tent, adjacent to the equally unmoveable surroundings of the Outrage stage, punters literally could not get from stage to stage. Even with a designated path leading towards the main stage, and outer stages, crowds of cows simply stood still, ate, drank, mooed and danced. No one ever moved. However, the tactful decision to place both the Carl Cox and Bass Arena behind the pavilions and RNA stands proved a godsend.

After a decent 20 minute walk around just three measly stages, I finally found myself face to face with the American minimal house messiah Claude VonStroke. Creator of the Dirtybird label and all-round champion, Barclay Crenshaw attracted the true fans early on. With his unique engulfing amplifier stage setup, The Whistler himself pumped some of most slick, well produced, smooth minimal house possible. Strangely pulled from the stage without a proper send off, much to the disarray of Barclay himself, the audience were left stunned to watch Claude simply leave. So, on behalf of everyone in attendance, thank you Barclay – you deserve a later set next time.

Over in the Bass Arena, the tempo is just a tiny bit faster. Perth boy, and one of Pendulum’s friends, ShockOne has truly made his impact on the Australian market. Proving to be a strong dominant force in the studio within in the past six months, ShockOne has now branched out into conquering the live show scene. Dipping into a sea of Nero, Doctor P, Knife Party and Skrillex, this bass-friendly Rusko-lookalike had everyone on their feet for the entirety of his set. Keep your eyes on this guy in 2012; he will be the next big thing.