Photo: Matt Palmer

With quality line-ups, efficient transportation services and the spacious grounds of the Doomben Racecourse on offer, Brisbane’s Future Music Festival (FMF) has arguably become the premier summer attraction for South East Queensland’s seekers of dance-music hedonism. Sunshine, warmth, quality music and sun-kissed delight are what it’s all about, right? Wrong – this year’s event is wet, windy and wild. Brace yourselves.

As the rain sprinkles and the wind blows, Way Out West (comprised of Jody Wisternoff and Nick Warren) are the first to fully fill their massive marquee at The Likes Of You Stage and the duo’s sound is audibly and sublimely influenced by the latter. Traditionally smooth trance crescendos are interlaced with heavy, broken beats and 1997 hit track The Gift (which samples Joanna Law’s version of The First Time Ever I saw Your Face) is a highlight. The pair do what they do well, without trying too hard – the sign of a class act.

It’s pouring outside now and I’m happy to stay put for the next act: the highly anticipated John Digweed. After a spine-tingling ovation, Diggers begins with a thumping bass intro – which ultimately serves as the backbone of his set. Seamless as usual, his style is understated and refined and doesn’t conform to the party pandemic that seems to be infiltrating every corner of the contemporary dance scene, and his comparatively bloopy underground sounds with heavy beat-backings are a treat to the ear.

It’s still pouring and I’m luckily able to stay put again – yes! – for Dubfire’s  (also of Deep Dish fame) performance. He looks serious behind the decks and his techy, sci-fi visuals suit his fluid, dark, tech-house grooves. Heavy bass drops and hard, rolling beats contort the crowd and the dark, heated atmosphere has fans sweating for more – a top performance, the best so far.

After three sublime acts at The Likes Of You Stage it’s time for Franz Ferdinand and, as I mud-wrestle my way to the Future Music stage, I hear the familiar sound of their now renowned drum solos – a massive crowd is gathered in the pouring rain watching as all four band members bash the one drum kit. Take Me Out and Ulysses are easily the most well-received tracks and the raucous brand of rock & roll hamonises nicely with the rough weather.

I trudge back to The Likes of You Stage and my mind wanders to the minimal-tech set Sven Vath played two years ago – my mouth is frothing at the prospect of a similar performance. After a groovy intro, and while Vath, inter alia, battles water leaking onto his record collection, it is clear the sound has been turned down – um, why?! – and the atmosphere is resultantly lacking. As if to compensate, Vath invites a bunch of girls up on stage and dons a horned Viking helmet. Now the stage is full of people, the spectacle almost comical, and any residual quality his music may possess is lost in the farce. Disappointing.

Back-to-back trio Above & Beyond make the most of their self-titled stage and the accompanying dazzling light show. Opening track La Gomera by Steve Brian is a delicacy, and their brand of satisfying effervescent trance keeps drenched spirits buoyed in ever-rising pools of water. I’d love to stay for their signature three-hour set, but other acts beckon.

The incessant rise of David Guetta has me miffed so I paddle back to the Future Stage to see what all the fuss is about. While his brand of Top 40 dance music is bland and uninspiring to my ears, a huge, heaving mass of bodies (seemingly oblivious to my sensibilities) rapturously receive hit tracks Sexy Bitch and When Love Takes Over. I’m sorry, but the late essayist Thomas Carlyle was right when he declared popular opinion to be the world’s greatest lie.

As everybody flocks to see The Prodigy, I visit the Pink Flamingo Stage with a select group of die-hard Boys Noize fans, having not a clue what to expect. The small crowd is greeted by the big electronica sound of opening track Come With Me – a violent, unrefined, heavy tune – and a totally in-your-face light show. The music seems tailored for those with ADD and its raw, relentless simplicity soon becomes a little too much to bear.

Next door at the Future Music dome The Prodigy are leaping psychopathically across stage in the midst of mega-track, Firestarter. Like their Riverstage gig, they continue a recent trend of injecting dubstep vibes into their bigger tracks, including Breathe and Smack My Bitch Up. Though the sound should be louder, the undeterred crowd mosh mercilessly and those on stadium seating do their best to stomp it till collapse as the Prodigy boys produce an awesomely wild, irreverent display to match their style.

By day’s end there isn’t a blade of grass in sight and the ground is a thick slop of gravy-like mud. But people don’t seem to care. Nearly everybody is soaked tip-to-toe, and rather than resent Mother Nature, most shirk her malevolence mockingly by engaging in mud-wrestling and seeing how far one can slide on one’s stomach before squelching to a halt. And so it seems there’s more to summer festivals after all. Hurrah.

TIM RETROT

^{CHECK OUT MORE PHOTOS FROM FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL HERE!}

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