From the opening chords of Fatboy Slim’s late 90s British dance anthem ‘Right Here, Right Now’, Christchurch Arena erupted in a sea of glow sticks, raised hands, whoops and partying like it was 1999 (and a decade either side) and didn’t let up until the last strains of Darude’s ‘Standstorm’ some 75 sweaty minutes later – and it only let up for mere seconds as legendary Kiwi DJ Greg Churchill came on stage to rock the late shift.
Sufficiently primed by our own DJ extraordinaire Craig ‘Shawsy’ Shaw, Christchurch came out in force to relive the dance anthems that defined a generation (or two) at the now iconic Synthony, a genius melding of electronic dance hits backed by Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in badass mode and a retina-dazzling lighting display.
George FM’s DJ General Lee kept the hosting short and sweet, amping up the crowd with enough energy to power the city while conductor David Kay displayed some mastery baton waving – having to lose his dinner jacket early on as the blistering bangers continued.
Lending the vocal talents, bodacious belter Ria Hall – surely one of New Zealand’s best voices – left if all on the stage, nailing 'You Got The Love', Cherie Mathieson knocked Eurthymics' ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)’ out of the arena, Nate Dousand added timbre with a side of swagger to Amand Van Helden’s ‘You Don’t Know Me’ and Jason Kerrison raised the roof (and brought down the wall) turning out Pink Floyd and Eric Prydz’ ‘Proper Education’.
Notable mentions in the all killer, no filler set list include Delerium ‘Silence’ (natch) and the track that would change dance music forever – Faithless’ irrepressible trip ‘Insomina’ – during a truly epic late night rave down memory lane.