When each day is as sweltering as the last, you know February has arrived. With the spell of sticky weather also comes a glut of club shows, boat parties, festivals, concerts and other wallet-defeating activities. Well, that’s what summer is about, after all.

Nine days into the month, we’re certainly off to a flying start. As ever, inthemix has been out there trawling the nation’s dancefloors and festival fields to soak up the good times.

The weekend heralded the final two stops for national juggernaut Big Day Out, with Perth and Adelaide turning out in force for the multi-stage marathon. Among highlights from The Bloody Beetroots, Lupe Fiasco and Booka Shade, it really was the last hurrah for LCD Soundsystem down under. Good thing they went out with such a bang.

2011 is shaping up to be the year for high-profile club tours, with two prestigious Dutchmen Ferry Corsten and Laidback Luke on the move (not together, mind you). Both well-practised in their own brand of euphoria, the DJs went large in Sydney and Melbourne.

Meanwhile, Laneway Festival stopped at its new home of the Sydney College of the Arts on a surprisingly chilly Sunday. The mainstage was headlined by our recent Honour Roll inductees Cut Copy, while elsewhere the party people danced to !!!, Foals, Yeasayer and Two Door Cinema Club.

Then of course there’s the tail-end of the Big Day Out sideshows. Primal Scream put its Screamadelica spell over Melbourne’s iconic Forum Theatre, while across town the madness flowed freely at Die Antwoord’s headline show. With support from Bangs, how could it not succeed?

Despite all that, February is just getting started. Faithless is at last on a plane to Australia to kick off Good Vibrations this weekend, aided by the sizeable talents of Sasha, Rusko, Kelis and the rest. Then there’s four days of frolicking and fancy dress Playground Weekender in NSW, plus Gareth Emery and Calvin Harris taking it to the clubs.