Reviewed on Saturday November 21 (photo by Ashley Mar)
The suited Chinese businessmen who had come to Mrs Macquarie’s Point to shake hands and sign deals had picked the wrong place if they were hoping for a serene affair. For today, thousands of dance fans were streaming past them, pouring into a fenced-off patch of the waterside park with the sole aim of reaching blissful heights with the help of house music’s finest DJs.
This eve-of-summer day and night show in one of the most picturesque spots in the city has earned a reputation for attracting some of the best names in EDM. This year was no exception, boasting the likes of Eats Everything, Tensnake, Klingade and the almighty Booka Shade.
Judging by the crowd, Sydney’s gyms are doing a roaring trade. Singlet and shorts was the outfit of choice for nearly every male, while the females were barely contained in short shorts and tight tops. These were the beautiful people, or so many would probably tell you. They’d not be looking so fresh by the end.
There were towering, steroid-packing Russians with veins on their arms bulging to bursting point. There were the Bondi hipsters in ’90s hi-tops and neon caps. There were the Eastern Suburbs luvvies outfitted for Monte Carlo. The Instagram sensations, the gym-bros, the surgery Barbies, the suburban hippies, the plump-lipped, big-biceped and over-tanned.
But dance music has the power to break down barriers. As the hours rolled on along with the punters, the dancefloor became one big throbbing, bare-skinned organism, incubated by the heat and fermenting in the beat.
On the water, yachts and cruisers moored up, their passengers peering enviously into the cauldron of hedonism on land. The police showed off their waterborne fleet and wagged fingers at drunken sailors.
Up on the grassy hill behind, the exhausted stretched out on deck chairs, couples writhed in each other’s arms and the lost made new best-friends-for-life-or-at-least-tonight. The vibe soon moved past the peacocking first few hours into a friendly festival feel. Revellers shared stories of where they’d come from and where they were going and why was there war when you could just dance and how great Sydney is and how great every city is and how great nature is too and how fucking good it was just to be alive.
As the sun set the beats went on, fireworks fizzled in the sky and the view across the harbour looked more beautiful than ever – for those that could still focus that far. A glorious eight hours of house in one of the world’s most scenic temporary clubs.
