[HKClubbing]

At first, it was hard to imagine what this event would be like.  Would it standout amongst Hong Kong’s many attempts at a rave-like party?  Would it be in the shadow of the former HITEC music events?  Would Hong Kong appreciate hard trance, techno and driving progressive beats?

Turning off the highway onto a narrow road the taxi driver slowed down to avoid human obstacles that were meandering towards a blur of light far in the distance.  The road widened to a car park where crowds were queuing.  The walk from the ticket-check area to the event was pretty long.  As we walked music changed from a dampened bass to a clear, crisp sound.  When it came in sight, it was impressive!  A large (in-ya-face) rig, lighting, lasers, a sea of people, incredible!  Finally, Hong Kong had got it right!

Arun R (one of Hong Kong’s rising talents) kicked things off with progressive trance, his deep melodic beats enthused the crowd.  The music changed to pumping dirty electro (awesome); however, some might say wrong place, wrong time.  On occasions the sound was clipping, slightly too loud and the lighting was blinding.  The setup was definitely stadium size but the area it dominated was too small.

The crowd a mixture of Chinese and Western, old and young (very young it seemed) were bopping and jumping.  Yoga instructors were bending and twisting to the tunes.  And adding to the rave-like atmosphere many had dressed reminiscent to the cyber-kids of Gatecrasher.  It was pretty cool and wet.  The fine drizzle of rain didn’t let up.

Tiesto came on and true to his form, the energy spiked and the place was electrified.  He shook the foundations of the rig with his hard driving tech edged tunes.  As expected the crowd reacted when he dropped his famous tracks.  He took the crowd on a journey of ups and downs, and they stayed loyal till the end.
It summary, this was/ IS exactly what Hong Kong needs.  Location will always be a problem as well as other hindrances that prevent a return to the good ol’ days but this was a move in the right direction and it was welcome by clubbers.  More please!

Review by Jay