- Two Tribes had raised the bar of expectation to a very tall height, and without a doubt delivered. Trent Anthony kicked off the Renaissance Arena with a deep and soulful set of quality house. Great tracks like the MAS mix of Ad Finem’s “If You Fall” as well as Hellpass’ “Orbital Chime” really set the stage for a massive night.
DJ Hyper was next in the firing line and with him came a big reputation, Bedrock resident and fantastic releases in Y3K and other CD’s. He didn’t disappoint throwing down some funky to progressive breaks in the Fuzzy arena, which was without a doubt had a very impressive lineup.
A break was then had until the onslaught that was about to occur. It was at this time that the crowd began to filter in and many arenas started to fill (which was quite evident in the cream arena). It was the Renaissance arena that was to provide the quality for the next 7-8 hours however.
Fergie stepped up to the plate at midnight in the Cream arena which was already comfortably full as the crowd enjoyed his impressive form of hard house that has given the young 22 year old fame beyond the wildest dreams of most. At about that time Ben Korbel was providing us with an hour of his usual quality, starting his set with the Classic “Blue” by Australian outfit Narcotik. The quality Bill Hamel remix of all time classic “Gorecki” by Lamb put a smile on many faces, and typified Ben’s quality as a DJ to please the crowd.
What came next was by far the highlight of my night, if not the year so far. Danny Howells provided this highlight. His opening tune, his very own production, 'Dusk 'Til Dawn' was worth the entry price alone. The next tune was even better! Chris Lum & Jay’s “Freaks” unleashed a baseline that could be heard throughout Homebush. The quite full Renaissance arena were treated to Howeller special, Funk and Tribal with a techno edge. Rosh’s brilliant “Ezekiel” again provided a highlight. One downside to Danny Howells set was that it was so good, every DJ after him would only be a let down.
Meanwhile John '00' Fleming was banging away in the Cream arena... playing some amazing tracks like a recent remix of Robert Miles “Children”. John is one that you can rely on to provide amazing quality trance music... and let us down he did not.
Danny Howells and John '00' Fleming amongst others were fortunately enough to be playing before Tiesto, Lawler and few other who was running slightly late due to some transport issues from Brisbane. So they managed to get a bit of an extended set.
Steve Lawler was next to follow Howells and he was quite impressive – the tribal master, finishing with tune of the moment – Cosmos – “Take Me With You”. Tiesto took to the decks after John and the crowd had been awaiting his return to .au for some time... He absolutely blew the crowd away and I speak for many saying that he was definitely the highlight for the trance fans. The highlight of Teisto's set for me was him spinning Way Out West's “Mindcircus” (DJ Dazzles Royal Airforce remix). Also blowing away huge crowds at that very same moment was Jeff Mills. Most definitely the highlight of the Fuzzy arena for that of pure techno fans Mills did as he usually does and that is provide the best in banging techno. Something that is not to be missed and really needs to be experiences before understanding.
Seb Fontaine followed Lawler as Mauro Picotto Followed Tiesto. Lawler was better than I expected him to be and definitley lifted the atmosphere in the Renaissance arena with his progressive trance, and again finished with a blast from the past – “Everytime” by Lustral. Meanwhile back to Cream and Mauro Picotto was blowing away the crowds with his very easily recognised deep hard trance. Not as commercial and uplifting as some previous stuff sets ive heard but it was banging to say the least... its no wonder that a DJ with such an individual style that borders on so many genres has an made it into the top 10 DJ polls.
Two Tribes was definitely something that Sydney will miss sorely until next time and with its refined international and local line-up it will definitely be one event that will be hard to beat. Event of the year? Quite possibly, but we still have another 9 months in 2002 so we will have to play that title by ear. An amazing night regardless of your tastes in music.