If you weren’t hitting up the post-Christmas sales on Boxing Day, you should have been at Trinity Bar, enjoying an afternoon and evening of Canberra’s best DJ’s, and of course headlining act and DJ superstar, Flume.

Things kicked off at around 2pm. It was still relatively early, and I almost had the bar to myself. I laid back in the sun and sipped my drink, enjoying the music being spun out by Canberra DJs – Offtapia then Lady Bones.

It didn’t take long for the bar to fill up though. Within a few hours Trinity Bar was starting to get crowded, and as JK Rollin and Ben Colin worked through their sets the place hit capacity, and a huge line outside seemed to form in minutes; snaking it’s way up the street. It was almost twenty metres long! Quite clearly, this was going to be a huge night.

I surveyed the crowd who were sneaking closer and closer to the dance floor, the sun was still up and quite a few patrons were dancing as their friends looked on; cheering and laughing.

The outdoor seating area was full, and as the Sangria poured and the warm afternoon slowly transformed into evening, the beats grew louder and the songs more familiar. I admit I started to lose track of who was playing, the line up of DJ’s was huge (at least eleven names on the list!), and it seemed every time I ordered a drink a new DJ set had seamlessly transformed into another. Tunes were spun out by Nay Nay, Deep Cuts, Eldred, Girl Shaped Love Drug, Fro & Mo and Trinity’s newest resident DJ, Amine Allali.

As the Sangria worked it’s magic, more and more people gravitated towards the dance floor. The cooler night air had energized the place and though the line was still long outside, more punters were slowly trickling in. It seemed that half of Canberra had turned up to dance the night away.

Dance tracks and club mixes blasted from the speakers, the bass was so heavy it vibrated right through the crowd, causing ripples in drinks that were sitting on the bar. Time was flying by and as the many DJs worked through their sets, each offering a different taste of dance music, the crowd worked up a sweat. Shoulder to shoulder, they were all dancing and yelling to one another.

The more I spoke to people, the more I learnt about how huge the fan base for Flume was. I was excited to see them play, but not nearly half as excited as the rest of the crowd seemed to be. I was starting to grow tired, I had been there since two and it was now almost eleven, I was amazed at the enthusiasm and endless energy everyone in Trinity seemed to possess. It was certainly not what I was expecting for a Boxing Day gig!

Finally, I felt a ripple of excitement sweep the room, and as I looked up to the decks I saw DJ Alphabeck handing over to Sydney based DJ Flume. The crowd went nuts for the surprisingly young lad, and if I thought the place was full already, I was wrong. Everyone jammed in to catch a glimpse of Flume and as he launched into his set, my fatigue suddenly left me, and I was caught up in the crowd on the dance floor, battling to keep my place and dance.

Flume’s set was amazing, his music had a futuristic techno sound, with a taste of hip hop and soul. With some new favourites from his recently released debut album spliced in here and there, he had the crowd in the palm of his hand all night. Hands were in the air, and as a song came on people recognised or simply approved of, a cheer would surge through the crowd. I wasn’t even that close to the front, yet the power of the speakers and the volume of the music was all encompassing. There was simply no way you could avoid getting caught up in moment, and why would you want to avoid it? It was Flume!

After one final spectacular spin of the decks, Flume’s set was over. My heart was still pounding and I couldn’t tell if I needed a drink or just to sit down. I staggered outside into the cool summer air, and watched as people slowly started to leave. Trinity sure knew how to put on a show, and Flume had certainly given it all they had.

Canberra is infamous for it’s Christmas time exodus, but if you were wondering where everybody really was on Boxing Day, they were dancing up a storm to Flume at Trinity Bar in Dickson.