Ministry Of Sound Annual Warehouse Party 2007

By

Justin McCauley

The night was billed by Ministry Of Sound as ‘the spanking hot annual

warehouse party’, so the Sydney dance faithful turned up in their droves to

experience this major dance event. The evening was sold out and and great

things were expected. The Horden Pavilion and the Dome are two of the better

venues in Sydney to put on a massive warehouse party and MoS were not

pulling any punches by bringing in the current hottest talent from overseas.

Local DJ’s fired up the crowd to get them into the mood and set the stage

for the international crew. First up Booka Shade from Germany. Primarily an

Electrohouse synth-led duo, the pair did not disappoint and kept the crowd

rollicking along with a set of classic beeps and bleeps accompanied by some

very chunky beats. This was deep European house at its minimalist best, the

breakdowns were complete, urging the crowd to get behind the incandescent

drumming that was indecently manic in places. It was very hard to judge the

deejaying element as they were playing their own tracks, however there seemed

to be no discernible breaks and the set flowed.

A quick stopover to the Dome to witness new Danish electro kid

Trentemoller. The Dome itself is a more intimate venue, lending itself to the more
energetic DJ. Trentemoller certainly led the crowd a merry dance. His set was far

edgier than Booka Shade and he got in the face of the attendant throng and fired

them up. Being another live set, the flow seemed a bit disjointed at times, but

when he needed to step it up, he delivered with both guns blazing. His set was

definitely worth the sprint and meant like many others we had to rush back to the

pavilion to catch the B-Boy extraordinaire Armand Van Helden.

Having seen Van Helden many times before, I knew what to expect and

he did not let anyone down. He delivered, as promised, an awesome set that

sent the crowd into a delicious frenzy. The terraces were jumping along with the

cavernous dance floor. Van Helden knew how to hold the crowd and they loved

him for it. Endless clapping and smiley happy people was his reward for his New

York City Beat sound.

Rushing between venues was becoming an Olympic sport as DJ Mehdi

stormed onto the stage of The Dome. One of Paris’s finest, Mehdi was what a DJ

should be; enthusiastic, driving but most of all ‘into it’. He was famously quoted

as saying, “I like to be the DJ, I love it so much. I love to try new things. You

would never get into this business to be bored, or you would hope not.”

Boring is something that Mehdi is not. He stepped to the edge of the stage

and exhalted the crowd, worshipping his fans back. They loved him and his

French funkiness, influenced by some unique hip-hop styling, was definitely the

highlight of the night. France certainly produces some extraordinairy talent and

Mehdi is definitely an honours graduate from the Parisian school of house. It was
a shame that he lost a lot of his crowd to Van Helden as his set was worthy of the

main arena.

Unfortunately, I had to break my french sojourn short to catch up with the

last big European of the night, Fedde Le Grand. The Dutch master reworked his

hits and dropped them in with the precision of a Jedi electro warrior. The

dancefloor, although slighty jaded after Van Helden, took his set and ran with it.

His tunes ebbed and flowed, nudging the MoS faithful into a joyous climax.

So, final comments: Ministry of Sound delivered on their Annual, creating

a brilliant launch pad for this years release. The international DJ’s gave Sydney

some great memories and some everlasting tunes. Roll on the next MoS event

so we can see what surprises they will bring.