Last year, my ZoukOut moment came when Armin van Buuren dropped Cosmic Gate’s remix of Paul van Dyk’s “Home” (talking about it still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up); this year, goose bump credit goes not to an international superstar, but to the guys I meet every weekend; our local purveyors of dance music. Nestled between the Main and Velvet tents, the Localize tent saw DJs Seafoam, KFC, Pushin ‘On, Cosa Nostra and Kiat creating a rather special vibe. And boy did I need it—my reservist service finished at precisely 23:59 on the Saturday …
From grubby dub to up-lifting house and retro kickbacks, the 100-odd who patronized the tent were totally up for it. Everyone was dripping in sweat and dancing to every track dropped. Almost all of the scene’s familiar faces were there. Zouk’s resident DJs, JNR, Jeremy Boon and Hong dropped by whenever they could. The Syndicate crew was up in the front of the dancefloor leading the charge. Seafoam was puffing cigars. Funk B*stard and DJ Shellsuit from Pushin’On were dropping murderous tunes, while Kaye jived it up with some insane sax work. It was like a family reunion of sorts; the only difference being that we were not related by blood but by music.
