Summadayze Lakeside Convention Centre

By FEDERICO MONSALVE


The invitation should have read "come shirtless, hyped-up and well-rested". The props were all manner of neon glow things, flashing pins, fluffy clothing (if clothing was your thing) and sporadic displays of teeth-grinding affection.

Catering for more than 5000 people on what seemed to be built-in pogo sticks, Summadayze was a tour de force of celebration and ear-splitting musical eclecticism.

Pounding throughout six rooms was everything from the popish hip-hop of Scribe and Mareko to the more cerebral drum and bass of Concord Dawn - the crowd was not short of aural choice.

The logistics, though, were haphazard.

Dancers had to manoeuvre through piles of discarded bottles, endure long lines or bar hopping just for water. There was not a venue map in sight or any accurate schedule of who was playing where.

Technicalities aside, for the hard house aficionado and anyone after a mind-boggling assortment of electronic visuals, smoke machines and lasers, the Chemistry Room proved to have it all - including Lisa Lashes, the sensuous and indisputable queen of hard house: "I like it hard and fast" is how she described it with a cheeky smile.

The mostly George FM-based DJs at the Girls Zone had an undercurrent of similar influences. Emma Green, Ange and Claire Del fused their tunes with a suave, neck-bobbing assortment of funk, bass levels that were just right, with a distinct element of late 70s sensual grooves.

The usual suspects of the Auckland DJ scene were loving the magnitude of the event. Soane and Bevan Keyes were the perfect back-to-back line-up for getting the party started. They brought a timely melange of Latin-meets-Hindi, Brazilian-meets-80s shaken through cameo appearances of the pop world and a healthy dose of afro wiggling funk.

The top act of the night, Groove Armada, dusted down classics from Vertigo and Goodbye Country, bringing the crowd to near euphoria with the sweetest rendition of the reggae-house Super Stylin and Final Shakedown.

This was not the usual Armada of their early records. Their typically smooth, chill-out grooves were replaced by a more heart-pounding, happy sound with strings and horns in perfect crescendos climaxing in speaker-bashing bass lines.

But where in the world was Roger Sanchez?

It might have been a matter of timing (Bevan Keyes and Groove Armada were tough acts to follow) but when the architect turned DJ began exploring the tribal sounds concertgoers popped their heads from their hiding holes, crowds thinned, regrouped with curiosity, and wiggled shyly away.

His four-hour set was somewhat dull and lacklustre. Nonetheless, Sanchez' trademark perfectionism - seamless breaks and attention to musical detail - worked best when he adhered to what he is best known for: riffs from Basement Jaxx, Daft Punk and the likes with a bit of Latin salsa thrown in as condiment.

At 4am, when disco balls had been turned low and those sleeping on the floors and in the bushes had been removed, the word in the crowd was - where is the afterparty?

Summadayze was not for the faint-hearted.