Land Cruiser Park - Fri Feb 13 – Mon Feb 16

Friday the 13^th brings rain and flash-flood warnings, and nightmares about the prospect of setting up wet tents dampen punter’s spirits. Lucky, Earth Freq promoters are clever enough to post regular updates on www.oztrance.com.au, and, by midday Saturday, it is clear to those in Brisbane that Land Cruiser Park is not only accessible and comparatively dry, but that there is also a serious party pumping – how stupid of me to doubt the enthusiasm of starved psy-trance fanatics. Though light rain and mist falls till midnight, Sensient and D-Sens keep the crowd thick and enlivened with their looping, rolling progressive sound. Unfortunately, CY is a late withdrawal and the floor thins slightly as a seemingly uninspired Stuart Wild fills the slot. Past midnight we’re greeted with a clear sky revealing a massive Milky Way, and the hard-style psy beats of Noa Zoe and Ketamind. As dawn approaches a thick fog rolls in. Trees look like ghosts and the scene is abuzz with the blend of nature’s beauty and Mesq’s bold, furious sounds. The floor swells for Talpa’s live set and burgeons further when Tetrameth vs Shadow FX crank their warm, sumptuous, clicking proggy psy. It’s past midday now and Paul Abad’s audio treat sees the biggest crowd of the event, and justifiably so: his thick proggy psy is of a standard all but inaccessible on the contemporary club dance scene. Though the Main Stage shuts down at around 7pm Sunday evening, organisers unexpectedly allow the Market Stage to run till 6.45am Monday morning, but exhaustion takes most weary souls to their tents after a sleepless night and a dry, hot day in the sun. The festival is as much about the environment as the music. It is a cultural experience where people are free and independent-minded. A weekend of respect for Mother Nature and fellow humans topped off with some incredible electronic music. Not bad at all.

TIM RETROT

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