Australia again, man I can't seem to get enough of it! This year I was actually going to be in Dubai for NYE instead, but the minute I got that offer, Australia must have felt it and offered me three shows that were miles better. We went to Singapore first just to break it up a bit and when we touched down I realised I had forgotten to get Australian visas for the family. A very hectic 24 hours followed, but finally, the lovely people at Etihad Airways fixed it in like 10 minutes. Great airline by the way, even better than Emirates. After a few days in Brisbane, we went up to Magnetic Island, which is in the Barrier Reef area of northern Queensland and definitely subtropical. Insects and pretty much everything is bigger here and it's baking hot around the clock. The venue, Base, is like a beach bar with several wooden decks and a beach and 2100 people turned up for NYE. The warm up was fairly energetic to put it mildly, I bet Neil will say something else in his report so when I went on midnight, I decided to reflect what I thought was this year's biggest club hit, Pjanoo and then played some more funky sounds before going a bit tougher. The crowd was very young and very diverse so I had to keep it quite big tune and energetic, but it was a good party and under the stars.

Base, Magnetic Island, December 31, 2008

Eric Prydz -Pjanoo
Richard Grey - Crash On You
Lily Allen - The Fear (SB)
Flash Republic -Twister (SB)
Joachim Garraud - Are U Ready (LBL)
Marlo - Ula
Chris Lake - If You Knew (Feed Me)
DONS -Nighttrain
Hard Fi - I Shall Overcome (Axwell)
Pussycat Dolls - Whatcha Think About That (SB)
Ne Yo - Close (SB Dub)
Treasure Fingers - Cross The Dancefloor (LBL)
Aduq - Burnt
Wawa - Sitar Track
StoneBridge - Put 'Em High
Sia - The Girl You Lost (SB)
Morgan Page - The Longest Road (Robbie Rivera)
Encore - Le Discjockey (Loop Da Loop)
Drill - Piano Mano (SB Re-Edit)
Street Preacherz - Ill Concepts
David Guetta - Love Is Gone (Funky Junction)
Gaz James - City of God
James Dorman - Alright
Pacific 202 -Perfect 10
Granite & Phunk - Make Me Feel
Ian Carey - Get Shaky (SB)
StoneBridge - Take Me Away (SB Re-Rub)
Adele - Hometown Glory (Axwell Remode)
Bart B More - Finally
DJ Joe K - Born Slippy
Guru Josh Project - Infinity 2008 (Calvertron)
Robbie Rivera -Star Quality (Nasty Dub)
Nick Corline - Orfeu
Gadjo - It's Alright

At 3 we had to run off to catch the ferry as we would only make it if we got on the first one. While in line, the tropical rain hit us and we were soaked in about 45 seconds. Still very warm though so it was more like a shower really. On the other side, the pre-booked taxi didn't show and it started to look pretty critical until a fan turned up and hi-jacked a big taxi with a fairly aggressive woman behind the wheel. We bribed her and got to Townsville airport just in time to board the plane. At this stage Neil was looking slightly grey-green and I didn't feel so hot myself. We Around 8 AM we touched down in Brisbane to connect to Melbourne. The great thing with travelling on NYD is that no one else seems to do it so we got a whole row each on this flight and could finally get a few hours of sleep. After a Corona and a shower, we got picked up to go to Summadayze. What a festival! I have to say that it beats the Dutch even. Everything ran like clockwork and at 4 I took over the Mischief stage after Malente, who was one of the most entertaining DJs I've seen for years. I could see that the people were starting to look quite tired after 2 days partying so I hit them hard from the go and dropped the big ones towards the end. Fantastic vibe and even though the crowd wasn't pure clubbers, they sang along and moved all the way up to the tree line.

Summadayze, Melbourne January 1, 2009

Treasure Fingers - Cross The Dancefloor (LBL)
Joachim Garraud - Are U Ready (LBL)
Marlo - Ula
Chris Lake - If You Knew (Feed Me)
Nadastrom - Pussy Soul
Kim Jofferey - Take Me There (Chris Kaeser)
Adele - Hometown Glory (Axwell Remode)
Bart B More - Finally
DJ Joe K - Born Slippy
Gaz James - City of God
Nick Corline - Orfeu
Sia - The Girl You Lost (SB)
Morgan Page - The Longest Road (Robbie Rivera)
Daft Punk - Around The World (Dumb Dan)
StoneBridge - Take Me Away (SB Re-Rub)
StoneBridge - Put 'Em High
Danny Merx - Waiting For The Night (SB)

Straight after the set we had to go back to Melbourne airport to catch the Sydney flight, which luckily was very short. It was really hard to keep the energy going in the car on the way to Mean Fiddler, but hearing the beats outside the venue, things got back on track. As I came to the stage I saw a knackered Mark Brown struggling to stand up straight so I relieved him and got on with a similar set to Summadayze. At this stage the crowd had to be slapped pretty much constantly so I had to feed them really big tunes towards the end. I finished exactly 24 hours after playing the first record the day before and even though it was an amazing experience, I probably won't do it again - Rock & Roll! Special thanks to Neil, who came along the whole way. A true crew member!

MoS @ Mean Fiddler, Sydney January 1, 2009

Treasure Fingers - Cross The Dancefloor (LBL)
Aduq - Burnt
Sia - The Girl You Lost (SB)
Marlo - Ula
DJ Joe K - Born Slippy
Adele - Hometown Glory (Axwell Remode)
Bart B More - Finally
Nadastrom - Pussy Soul
Kim Jofferey - Take Me There (Chris Kaeser)
Asha - JJ Tribute (Glenn Morrison & Bruce Aisher)
Jason Rooney -Shake Your Body (Nari & Milani)
Daft Punk - Around The World (Dumb Dan)
Drill - Piano Mano (SB Re-Edit)
James Dorman - Alright
Gaz James - City of God
David Guetta - Love Is Gone (Funky Junction)
Mylo - Drop The Pressure

First of all happy new year to all.
So where to start.... As soon as I heard Stone was out in Australia again I knew it was set to be a big one.
So it all started with me almost missing my flight to Townsville thanks to Cityrail, for Hed Kandi with Stone and Jack McCord. For those that dont know, Townsville is a small town in the north of Queensland with tropical temperatures. From there you get a boat over to Magnetic Island which is quite small and big on the backpacker scene. So I eventually got to Townsville and was met by Stone in the blistering heat of about 30 degrees and ridiculous humidity.
We went back to the luxury of his air conditioned apartment and spent most of the afternoon trying to sort out a DVD with the Hed Kandi graphics on it for the rest of the HK parties in Australia as there were a few technical issues. Eventually managed to get everything sorted but the internet connection up there in backwardsville is so slow the file never ended up getting sent anyway.
We then went out to dinner with Diane, the boys, Jack and his girlfriend in an (apparently) French restaurant. Very nice though and the booze was flowing quite nicely by this point. Went back to the apartment where Stone and I managed another bottle of wine and chatted nonsense before the gig.
The venue itself is half undercover and half outside, plus the beach outside, holding around 2500 people. So you can imagine what its like.
When we got there, local girl Chrissy Mac was playing a fairly chunky warm up set. Was good although maybe a little early in the evening for the style. Anyway, next up Stone was to go on, and following on nicely from Chrissy, had the crowd going berserk. Bearing in mind, as this is an island the punters had been there all day long, waiting for the night. I think the main standout track here was Sia. Although Id drank a lot, and cant remember the exact set that well, but Stone will have it up here soon. I do remember someone requesting Motley Crue or something like that which I dont think would have gone down too well. Either way, it was excellent, and hats off to Jack for throwing such a good party. Met some great people, Alisa, Angela and Amanda.
As soon as his set finished on Magnetic Island we had to get our skates on and head to the airport. However, ferries back to the mainland were only on set times so we were waiting with about 400 other kids off their faces. All good fun though until it decided to rain, and it absolutely pissed it down tropical style! Nightmare. Eventually, got onto the mainland and the car that was supposed to be picking us up wasnt there. Typical, and still raining with raindrops the size of water balloons. Stone managed to get a cab with some crazy woman driving it telling me about how she used to be a rally driver. But at least she got us to the airport on time, and while I think that it wasnt worth the $150 for a $30 ride Stone will disagree.
Next stop and a flight down to Melbourne for the legendary Summadayze festival. As soon as we got into the terminal we were met by one of the staff from Future Music who whisked us straight to the Hilton for some r&r. Apart from on the flight where we managed to squeeze in a little sleep this was about the only time we got to relax. Then before we knew it we were back on the road again and being driven to the venue. Everything that these guys did was very professional and we were really well looked after. We also met up with one of Stones friends from Melbourne, Andrew, who I will be staying in touch with. They took us down to the dressing rooms under the main stage and I actually thought I was going to pass out due to tiredness. But 30 minutes before his set we went up to the Mischief stage where Stone was playing and the music soon got the better of me. The guy that was up before him was a German dude, Malente. Not sure if you guys have heard him before but I was truly impressed. If you like to hear incredibly hectic electro/breaks or whatever you want to call it then check this guy out. His presence on the stage was excellent as well and he totally had the crowd feeding out of his hands. Stone came up next with some little treats for the 1200 or so people that were in the crowd and he soon had a similar effect to Malente. I think if I remember rightly he went for a more vocal edge and drew the girls forward which is always nice to see. This festival really had so many beautiful people it was great! Met some really nice guys down there as well; Harley, Christian, Gus and Julian (the drivers) and Richard Dinsdale. There seemed to be a lot of speculation about Eric Prydz cancelling his Australian tour 48 hours prior and I hoped that Melbourne crowd didnt want to take it out on the Swedes!! They seemed a forgiving bunch though and went mad I think on virtually every record.
Once again as soon as this set finished we were straight in the car again to pick up Diane and the boys for the final leg back to Sydney (where we were minutes from missing our flight due to gate number confusion) where Stone was playing at a Ministry event out in the North West and back of beyond. A long drive out there and the place seemed to be really going for it. We were hussled into a side room where we met up with Timmy Trumpet and Oliver Lang and had a bit of a chat before Stone went on. I initially thought hed be playing in the main area which is outside but instead it was a big room on the side of the venue. I thought they were a bit of a tough crowd but then it might have been because a) it was NYD and people were still friend from the night before or b) that they were just too trashed since the place had been open since midday and Stone was playing closing set. Either way they soon warmed to him even though people were slowly starting to leave for the evening. There were quite a few die hards in there though who seemed to be having the time of their lives. Again, met some really great people, Timmy, Oliver, and Nancy and the drivers whos names I have forgotten.
Anyway that pretty much wraps up the New Years celebrations. I had a really good time and would do it again at the drop of a hat. Extra special thanks to Diane for your hospitality, Damien and Axel, Jack and Angela and of course Stone for making it so memorable.
Happy New Years everybody.
Neil.

Neil,

What can I say... what an amazing report. Thanks for taking the time and effort to write it up. I really enjoyed reading it.

I hope both you and the whole of the Australia crew have a great new year

All the best

Ronster

PS. Thank you Stone for your story as well

Sten/Neil

From Gus and I (your drivers in Melbourne) thanks for being a pleasure to deal with. I know your travel conditions were hard, but you both took it on the chin and we all had a laugh and a chance for a good rock out while Stone was on the decks.

We're both trying to source some of your music for our own sets now... Thanks for the set lists.

Come back to Melbourne again soon, but please try and spend more than 4 hours with us!

Julian

Julian,
Although very tired, I think I can speak for both us and say we both had a great time and the whole Future set up ran like clockwork. Very impressed!! Something about having a second wind perhaps??
Cheers.