To mark the start of the study year, the University of Technology Sydney puts on one of the biggest parties of the year, this year with names like Grafton Primary, Tommy Trash and The Potbelleez making the list. But did it live up to its prestige? Dave Roberts fills us in...

My keen and loyal readers would know that dance music isn’t exactly my forte, and neither are festivals. Particularly anyone who has read my review of Stereosonic ’09 would realise that when the two are combined, I’m usually so far away that I can’t even mention the word without someone asking me if it has something to do with fighter jets and the speed of sound.

But, when I was invited to tag along to O’Fest, at the university which I attend none the less, I managed to put aside my general distaste for the dance industry and the festival style of life and headed into the day with good expectations. Well, that and the fact that I thought I had to enrol.

So, arriving at 9:30 with the stalls in full swing, I managed to look around for a little bit before hooking up with some friends to do some in-depth snooping. All the while, there was a DJ playing out of the front of the uni’s main building, sponsored by Red Bull it would appear, who had apparently caught the same terrible disease I had seen two years ago at Stereosonic – immobility and fly swatting syndrome.

Inside there was some music playing that couldn’t be heard over the yabbering of people – so the next bit of music I really managed to hear was the first of the DJs at the ‘main’ stage area – which was no more than a sealed off patch of lawn at the back of the University. After grabbing a drink – which were the cheapest I’ve ever seen at a "festival" by the way - my companions and I headed to the stage to see some more DJs sweat it out.

But sadly, it was the same case with these DJs as it was with the one out the front – immobility and fly-swatting-syndrome again. Mind you, the music here was surprisingly the same as all dance festivals, so before the big acts headed onto the stage my friends and I decided to head down stairs to check out the DJs at the Glasshouse Bar – which is where my first shock of the night came from.

You see, I managed to have reasonable expectations of the evening – but I wasn’t expecting that there would be a variety of dance music there – because I had just transferred from listening to house and electro to hardstyle borderlining on trance music – which was a welcome change. The usual problem with these type of festivals is that everything sounds identical – or at least very similar – same tempo, same notes and same arpeggios all making up a very bland pallete of music to pick from. This however, was not the case at O’Fest (at least not this year), and for that reason the festival had pricked up my interest.

After a short game of pool, my friends and I headed back out to the main stage area in time to hear the first of the four acts we wanted to hear – Grafton Primary. Now, most of you have probably heard this group before, but myself not having heard much of their music likened it immediately to VAST – and therefore loved it. They were a little grungy, but fun at the same time – the only problem I with this group – and indeed for any of the rest performing on the night – being a dance festival (essentially) not many were paying close attention to the stage but were more interested in the girls with the short shorts, blonde hair, and a tattoo above their waist. Other than that they played and performed amicably to the crowd, and soon made way for the next act.

Miami Horror took to the stage to a reasonable applause and cheer for the crowd, and were easily the second best act of the evening. Their music was right on cue, they were tight and most importantly of all – they had the girls swooning over all of the members. Meeting the lead singer Josh Moriarty, it was clear that these guys were not only professional, but nice guys as well with Josh being kind enough to chat to me about his gear and live set up, before being whisked away to an awaiting plane back to Melbourne.

Now, before I tell you about the highlight act of the day let me make some observations – whilst there were still only a few of those afore mentioned ditzy-blonde-haired girls at this gig, they were still here. Maybe it’s the repetitive and relatively simplistic nature of dance music that enables them to enjoy the music, but they seem to be at every dance festival. But thankfully they were somewhat scarce in between the first year uni students that were here to have one last hurrah before classes start next week.

After a short fifteen minute set up – the act of the evening managed to take to the stage – The Potbelleez. And what a show they managed to play – opening with ‘Hello’ the crowd roared and sang along with the theme from the GO! Channel, and included other hits from their career such as ‘Are You With Me’, ‘Trouble Trouble’ and ‘Shake It’ including a brand new song which is on their upcoming album ‘Destination Now’ (available in March). They even played ‘Don’t Hold Back’ – my favourite Potbelleez song of all. So my question is – why did they cut in in half?

I mean surely it’s not that bad, playing that song for four minutes to please the crowd. Sure you might be sick of it but it has reached almost classic status in our age group. And to be blunt, I left when they cut it off. It’s nice to go out on a high – so I’ll pretend that they finished the song and their set there. The Potbelleez were easily the best act of the night – they performed, had the crowd singing along with them, and managed to keep the attention of everyone for the whole show – even the officials and security guards got into it.

The afternoon and night were a blast – the variety of music from one stage was lovely, let alone the variety between stages giving off a ‘something for everyone’ kind of vibe. The music was, unbelievably, well mixed and not boomy at all, with even the indoor dance floors audible and not just a generous heaping of bass. Couple this with the least amount of ditzy girls that I’ve ever seen at a festival and you’ve got a recipe for a good afternoon and night out.

In fact, I manage to enjoy myself. Perhaps it was the company I was with, or perhaps it was the variety and feel of the whole day from stalls to music, and I might even return again next year to give my two cents about the day again. But one thing is for sure – Stereosonic has a long way to go to be at the quality and feel of this festival. From the music mixing to the performance to the politeness of the people, it was a fantastic day and experience of Uni festivals and events. One that everyone should check out next year. Oh, and in case you were all wondering, yes, the festival did stand up to it’s prestige.

In fact, it did one better.