For its final hurrah, Chinese Laundry’s Garden Party drew a mixture of first-timers and veterans to farewell the long-time providers of good times. It was a send-off in true Garden Party style, bringing a mixture of some of the best international and local artists on the dubstep scene and throwing them into a space where wild things happen.

For me, the day started with Mixhell ripping the garbage bag turned poncho off his electronic drum pad. Hydrauli, Spenda C and Karton had done well to bring the party to the early stages of the day; however, it wasn’t until about half 3 that the people arrived in force. The inclusion of Mixhell into the dubstep-dominated line-up added some variety to the day and the Brazilian brought something a little different to the other artists, ensuring that all bases were covered.

Mixhell opened with the Dubfire Rework of Spastik by Plastikman. In addition to mixing, he was using an electronic drum pad with sticks. He had a fluid motion switching between the two devices; bringing the fader down and peppering the pad before pushing it back up in beat. His choice of tracks reflects his skills and after opening with some percussive elements, he moved onto some ‘dancey’ music that got people grooving rather than thrashing – there would be plenty time for that later. People were flocking in during his set, and what little space that was left was being replaced with bodies as the crowd swelled by hundreds in time for Danny Brown from Bare Noize .

The mood was quickly loosening up and much to the dismay of security; people were making constant attempts on the raised section in the middle of the garden to secure a better place to dance. Bare Noize brought the music back to the territory of filthy bass and everybody was enthusiastic about the change in pace. When the Londoner dropped his remix of Skrillex’s Kill Everybody, the place ignited with boys and girls alike thrashing back and forth, transforming half the garden into a mosh that grew in size until everybody left at the end of the night.

Asylum (A-Tonez and Samurai) took the red-hot reigns and smashed out a collection of bassed-up party tunes and generally just having a mad time with everybody else. It was dark enough for the lasers and lights to start to give a bit of an edge and it seemed to kick people up a gear.

As Bassnectar made his way through the crowd to the stage, the three-part dubstep story that started with Bare Noize was reaching its final act. Smoke, lasers, strobes and multi-coloured flashes of light set a perfect backdrop for the American’s return to Australia. After doing so well at Chinese Laundry last year, expectations were high. He didn’t disappoint with his bag of dub-bass driven madness sending people crushing forward toward the stage.

It was a dirty set, but it was also fun. He played some of what sounded like a couple of tracks of his latest album and some older stuff too, but as he dropped the fader towards the end of his set the calls were strongest for Bass Head. He didn’t get to it right away but as he said: ‘this next one is going to be rowdy’. I didn’t catch what it was but if everybody in the garden was anything to go off, his predictions were correct.

Bassnectar had the privilege of closing out on the garden stage for the last time and it was a fitting end to the day and party, everybody there on the day did it justice. Second hand information says that the promoters are trying to find a more suitable venue in the coming months (if the neighbours are complaining, you’re doing something right) where they can start afresh and build the vibe that made not just the last, but every Garden Party, a raging success.