- The long-awaited ninth instalment of Finely Tuned's AGWA Yacht Club featured Mr. Crosstown Rebels himself, Damian Lazarus, along with Canada's meteoric risers, Art Department and UK nu disco champ Pete Herbert. The morning's weather report spelt trouble, though, with a 40C (104F) day forecast—the kind of heat that encourages drunkenness and shirtlessness, and I had no doubt that we would see both in abundance before sundown.
King Street Wharf was already teeming with party-goers as we exited our taxi and made our way to the ticketing desks. Our floating venue loomed over us, casting shadows on the dock. With three levels of glass and polished wood, its impressive visage looked large enough to lose yourself in, but still small enough to find errant friends if need be.
Photo credit: Patrick Munoz
Luke McD (rocking a solid handlebar moustache) set the tone early, playing some great deep house, including the Soul Clap edit of Jamie Foxx's "Extravaganza," but, unfortunately, the bar took precedence for most people, including myself, and I ventured upstairs to the middle deck. The throng kept on piling aboard and, before too long, the boat was full with a strange mix of youthful suburbanites and seasoned clubbing veterans, spiced up with the occasional bearded hipster and expletive-yelling bogan. Luckily, it seemed that everybody was happy to cohabitate for the trip, or at least respectfully ignore each other for the next few hours.
With a drink in hand I began to explore, and I arrived at the top deck, which was bathed in the harsh afternoon sun. A few scattered lunatics were braving the unrelenting rays, taking in some appropriately summery house music with smiling faces, and, although I took in the sights and the sheer reward of being topside on Sydney Harbour, I didn't last long and headed to the main floor to catch Art Department. Jonny White and Kenny Glasgow were in full swing when I managed to get down two floors to the bottom level. As I arrived downstairs, there were birthday celebrations afoot for Kenny, with the pair playing a (very) long happy birthday song for the patient crowd. Although they played to a rammed floor for the entirety of their set, and gems like "Vampire Nightclub" went down a treat, their brand of house music felt a little beige at times, with a string of sounds too similar keeping things levelled and ultimately left me wanting a little more. That wasn't apparent for a lot of people, though, as cheers reverberated around the room for every new melody and bassline that the duo dropped.
Photo credit: Patrick Munoz
After some more wraith-like wandering from level to level without any actual destination, I found myself on the top deck again and it seemed that I wasn't the only one doing so. The sun-drenched dance floor was now packed, soaking up the disco sounds that Pete Herbert was serving up. As the likes of Bottin and In Flagranti pumped through the speakers, I took to waving at people on other boats on the harbour who stared in a mix of awe and horror back at this boat full of cavorting drunks, dancing to music that they would never choose to listen to. Pete Herbert was on form and was really the talk of the cruise. There was not an unkind word spoken about his set from anyone I chatted with, and his set really captured the essence of a summer boat cruise.
As the stars began to show themselves, so did the toils of a long and hot afternoon. The pretty things that swanned around the deck in the sunshine had now become sweating beasts, pumping their fists and howling at the bass. Damian Lazarus, witnessing this transformation (and perhaps too becoming ensnared in the metamorphosis) dished up some hypnotic and heavier beats to reflect the new mood, which were lapped up by the heaving dance floor. As the boat sailed under Sydney Harbour Bridge for the last time, the night came to its conclusion. Looking around at the punters, there were smiles and sunburns all around.