Some Sunshine and a Whole Lotta Bass

This post is dedicated to Mr JohnnySpade. Save up & dance for me at Sun & Bass. X

Thursday
One Aussie, one Kiwi, One French & One English fly from London Gatwick to Olbia for Sun & Bass. It's an hour wait (that's an hour twenty in Italian time,) for the airport bus, but the sun is shining and the cafe shakerato is good.
(Below from L to R: Random, the English & the French)


Can you tell that we're excited!!!!?!!!

The sun's setting over la Cinta beach camp when God tells the Aussie that she really shouldn't be camping. A tent borrowed from her cousin is opened, and the rods and the pegs are missing. The Aussie messages her cousin. "Are there suppose to be pegs and rods with your tent?"
The cousin replies back, "Yeah, there should be, you mean they aren't in there?"
"No," says the Aussie.
"Well hopefully the weather's nice and sunny," says the cousin.
The French and the Kiwi offer to let the Aussie sleep in the front opening of their tent. "You better check the weather," they say.
The Aussie ambles up to the campsite reception. "What's the weather forecast?" she asks.
"Hmm, let me check," says the campsite manager. He checks on the internet.
"Thunderstorms." he says.
Oh fuck.
The Aussie then checks to see if she can buy pegs.
"You should be able to buy some from our store," says the campsite manager.
Two trips are needed to the camp ground store - ("What's the Italian word for 'peg'?" the Aussie has to ask back at reception) - only to find out that the camp store has none.
Panic sets in.
"What's wrong?" asks the campsite manager.
"My cousin's given me a tent with no rods and no pegs," the Aussie says.
The campsite manager's eyes widen and he gets his son to cycle around the campsite looking for discarded rods and pegs.
"You can try putting these rods into your tent," the son says.
Nope, they don't work and just when almost all hope is lost, the campsite manager finds....a spare tent large enough to fit six people.
"Do you want to borrow this?" he asks. "I'm sorry, it's a bit dirty."
Dirty by Italian standards but clean in any other culture - expect maybe the Chinese.
"OMG, thank you sooo much!" says the Aussie. "I'll rent it off you."
"Just take it," says the manager and with that, the Aussie owes la Cinta campsite her first born child.
"Can I be next in line if the manager doesn't want your kid?" the Kiwi girl asks.

The Aussie's pledge to stop drinking is out the window. With the sunlight fading, it's a team effort to put up the tent.


Then, the Aussie, the Kiwi, the French and the English go out for dinner to celebrate with a bottle of Bolla prosecco and seafood risotto. Mmm, divine.

That night, rain and lightning. And boy, did it rain hard.
On a sub-note, the Aussie also forgets to pack a torch - yet another sign she shouldn't be camping. "What else do you need when you go camping?" she had asked. "A tent, wet-wipes.... and you're all set." is what people had said. Nobody had mentioned anything about a torch. The Aussie didn't think to bring one. Luckily, the French guy has a spare.

Friday Morning
Duo cappuccino e cornetto - Italiano stile!

Then it's time to head to the beach!


Saturday
It's time to check out of the campsite and into the villa. The campsite manager offers to let the Aussie keep the tent, but she declines and also cancels her reservation to stay at the campsite at the tail end of the trip.

It's time to fill up the fridge. The Aussie, the Kiwi and the Frenchie make the monumental journey to the cheap supermarket with a roller suitcase and the English in tow - (all the more to cart back groceries,) and end up wheeling two shopping trolley's worth of food back instead.


The tall French guy arrives in the evening and it's time to collect the wrist bands.

Sun & Bass has officially begun!

The menu of the week: fresh endive and plum salads, Turkish meatballs (walnuts added to the mix), BBQ octopus, fresh sea bass and sea bream.

Saturday Night: Opening
Indoor Area
Delicat * ARP XP* Utah Jazz * Zero T * Phace
Outdoor Area
Kred & Handy * E.Decay * Ulterior Motive * Bailey

The Aussie bumps into German friend Soundsurfer. Too much prosecco is drunk. There are guys touching the Aussie throughout the night......trying to move her out of the way so that they can have a better look at the dj mixing.
That's when you know you're at Sun & Bass. You're there for the music. Picking up is secondary. :p
Through the Aussie's drunken haze, she still thinks the sets are so-so and leave at around 4am with Soundsurfer.

Sunday Day
The Aussie is hung over, but still makes it to the beach. The short(er) French guy has the biggest m*therf*king hangover and stays in bed. The sun is sapphire and the hawkers are out in full swing.

There's only a short time to rest because it all starts again.......



Sunday Night: Metalheadz Session
Indoor Area
Jubei * Lenzman * D Bridge * Bailey * Storm
Outdoor Area
Storm * Utah Jazz * A Sides * Marcus Intalex

It's time to put on some lippy and get ready for round two.....
There's a really funny story going around that could be something out of Harold & Kumar that goes a little something like this:
Police with sniffer dogs stop a car of snb revelers.
"Do you have any drugs on you?" they say.
The boy makes the mistake of freezing.
"X!!! Say Something!" says the girl to the boy.
Anyway, the boy has a bit of weed on him. The girl pretends to have trouble opening the lock on the car door to give the boy enough time to get rid of it. The boy comes out of the car on the opposite side to the police and manages to put the weed in his mouth.
So there is the boy, chewing and swallowing the weed while the dog sniffs around and start jumping on him.
The police are suspicious and take the girl and boy to the station and go through their entire suitcase. There is nothing and meanwhile, the boy is standing there, getting more and more stoned.........

Hahahah. You guys know who you are!

The walk to Ambra Night is a struggle, multiplied by the hangover and lack of sleep. The Aussie has vowed to give up drinking again, but ends up drinking beer and wine. The Aussie finally meets up with the Dubai crew who tell her that they got lost the night before trying to find their way to their hotel. They tried to flag down people to ask for directions, but nobody would stop..... "We were lost for like three hours and practically walked to the mountains," J says.

The Aussie's stomach starts protesting from too much alcohol. D Bridge plays a really good set, but the Aussie is just struggling. It's time to go home mid-way Bailey at 4:30am.



Monday Day
Beach
Audite * Soundsurfer * Bassline Generation
Ambra Day Live
Soultrain * DRS * Kemo * Alaska * Jenna G

Another hangover, another beach day. The Aussie is too lazy to do the 30 min walk in the afternoon Sardinian heat to Ambra beach to listen to her friend Soundsurfer play..... Sorry A....... She also has a large bruise on her forearm but is unsure how she actually got it.
"It looks like somebody gave you a hickey," Soundsurfer says later that night.

Four ambulances go screaming down the road that day. The Aussie wonders how many are for Sun & Bass revelers.

Ambra Day is missed due to another round of supermarket shopping. The Aussie later regrets missing the wonderful Jenna G.

Monday Night: Soul:ution & Club Autonomic
Indoor Area (Soul:ution)
Soulsurfer * Presha * Calibre * Marcus Intalex * S.P.Y.
Outdoor Area (Club Autonomic)
Delicat * Doc Scott * Instra:Mental * D Bridge

The Aussie is feeling much better tonight, and the walk to the club isn't as much of a struggle. The Aussie meets up with the Dubai crew, and the tall French guy gets asked to take a photo for D Bridge and some of his pals.
"Ooh, ooh. Take a photo for us then," says the Aussie to D Bridge & crew.
"Oh you mean you want me to be in the photo?" asks D Bridge expectantly.
"No man, you take the photo for us." says the tall French guy.
Talk about Sun & Bass cool attitude..... JK..........

In the end, a photo is taken with D Bridge. How do you prove you got a headlining DJ to take a photo for you otherwise?
(Below with the man himself, D Bridge!!)



The "I'm not drinking anymore" doesn't work with the Aussie as some Russian guy buys her a Vodka Red Bull. They pour their drinks strong over here in Sardinia, but luckily not as strong as the year before.....Still, the Aussie only manages to drink half of the vodka Red Bull before giving it to the plants. The Aussie later helps another struggling Aussie buy water at the bar.
"Water, I want water," says the guy.
"Huh?" says the barman.
"Agua," pipes up the Aussie and is then high fived. Woohoo.

Calibre play a decent set but the Aussie starts to get bored midway thorugh Marcus Intalex and decides to leave around 4:30am.

Tuesday Day
Bal Harbour Pool Detail Pool Party
Marcus Intalex * Lenzman * Lynx * Kemo

There is a massive downpour so there's no beach today. The sky clears up in the afternoon in time for the Bal Harbour pool party.

Massive combo from Lynx with vocal support from Deeizm




There are unidentifiable "meat on a stick" things that look as though it came out square from a tin before being cut up into pieces. The Aussie gamely try one for A. and then immediately regret it. It is like spam but 4 times worse. That and the pina colada that has a funny chemical tasting coconut flavour to it - the Aussie's stomach starts to churn.



E. & A. kindly offer to let the Aussie stay with them for her last two days. The Aussie also gets a chance to hang out with the Slovak crew :)



H. tells the Aussie that she has to stop drinking tonight. "If you see me drunk, slap me," she says.

Tuesday Night: Commercial Suicde meets DRP
Indoor Area: Lost Sequence * Chris Su * Fierce * Klute * Dom & Roland
Outdoor Area: Shroombab * Triad * Valinme * Hayze * Freesteppa

The villa is visited by a random sun and bass-er.
"Is this the entrance to the club?" he asks.
"No," we say.
The tall French guy is drunk. "That idiot wanted to join us for a free meal," he says. And somehow, some 20 minutes later, the conversation turns to tying the random snb-er......
"He would have nice, juicy legs to BBQ," says the tall French guy.
"Don't even go there G," the Aussie says. "This is not a Quentin Tarrantino movie."

Ambra Night is full of Italian people who are off their faces. As the Aussie walks in with the English, an Italian guy comes up staring unblinkingly at the Aussie.
"Who are you," says the Italian in faltering English. He obviously ants to ask, "what is your name," but the Aussie isn't about to give him a break.
"I'm just another Sun & Bass reveler enjoying the music," she says as she disappears into the crowd.......

Commercial Suicides ends up being the best night. The Kiwi decides not to go and regrets it for the rest of the week. Fierce is fierce. The build-ups are great and the sets are consistent. Epic tunes are played. The Aussie finally bumps into the Notts boy P.
"I saw you at the pool party, so I thought I'd come say hi," says P. "I'm looking for a nice girl, do you know any?"
The Aussie contemplates before telling P. that no, she doesn't.
The Aussie bumps into H. halfway through the night.
"I'm drunk," says H. "Best not to talk to me."





Tonight's the night of really annoying guys. There is another guy who approaches the Aussie towards the end of the night.
"EXCUSE.........ME..........DO......YOU.....SPEAK......ENGLISH.....?" he says in a very slow and patronising voice.
"Yeah, what...?" the Aussie says looking suspicious.
"Oh, just to let you know, you've got something strange in your hair," he says pointing to her feathered hair fascinator.
"Well, just to let you know, you've got something strange above your neck," retorts the Aussie. "Oh, what do you know.....it's your FACE!!!"
Oooh, score!!
The stupid boy stands there for a while stunned, before slinking away. The Aussie gets high fived by the French guys who can't stop laughing.
The Aussie revels in that right place, right time retort for the next couple of days..... I know, it's a bit sad, but hey, the timing was soooo good. It's the kinda thing that you usually think of long after the event has passed. :)
So now you know why the Aussie is still single.

Wednesday Day
Beach
Big Island Sound * Triad * Jubei * S.P.Y.

Yeah well, nobody can be bothered going..... Too far and too hot. Soundsurfer tells the Aussie that there is another snb-er who had his rental car stolen yesterday.
"All his money, clothes and his passport was in there." he says. "The guy's had to spend the whole day at the police station."
"Oh shit," says the Aussie. "You wouldn't think this would happen in such a small little beach town."

Wednesday Night: SunANDBass Session
Indoor Area
Rumba * Jenna G live * Kabuki * Nu:Tone * Logistics
Outdoor Area
Enea * Alaska * Lynx * John B

The Aussie tells the Kiwi about the boy and the hair fascinator comment.
"What an idiot," says the Kiwi. "Hey, you should make friends with him tonight and invite him over. Maybe we can tie him up and scare him."
"Erm, it's okay. I've already dealt with it." replies the Aussie.

The Aussie sees the balloon man selling balloons at the markets earlier in the night.
"I really want one of those pink unicorn balloons," she tells the English boy. "If I see him later on, I'll go and get one."
"What's the word for unicorn in Italian?" the Aussie asks the group later on during dinner.
"Dunno," says the short French guy. "You may have to do this," placing his index finger on his forehead and whinnies like a horse.
"Oh great," the Aussie says.

The Aussie leaves early for the club as she wants to catch Jenna G's set. One her way, she sees the balloon man all packed up, and heading towards her..... It's a sign.
"Ooh, ooh," says the Aussie. "Uno........pink unicorn? Crap, what's the name for unicorn in Italian?"
"Ah," says the balloon man. "I know...... Cinque."

As the Aussie walks alone to the club, she begins to think that maybe the balloon was a bad idea..... There's going to be a lot of shit from the guys, the annoying types. She is pleasantly wrong. The bouncers smile at her and try to feed the unicorn beer. She then bumps into her friend Soulsurfer who laughs and says, "Where the hell did you get that? That is the most awesome thing ever." Then, all of a sudden, there are girls running....from every direction screaming, "Pink unicorn!!! I want a pink unicorn!!!!!!"
There you go boys, if you want girls running towards you in every direction, bring a pink unicorn balloon into the club.

"You have to give it a name," a guy says to her.
"All right...... It's Chelsea." says the Aussie. And with that, Chelsea disappears to listen to Jenna G.



Jenna G. is awesome. The Aussie spies one of their Aussie neighbours who points to Chelsea and then gives the Aussie a high five.
"Where did you get that?" asks the Aussie neighbour.
"There was a balloon man on the way to the club," says the Aussie. "Wanna hold her?"
The Aussie neighbour shakes his head and quickly retreats. None of the boys want to hold Chelsea. Oh well, it's their lost...... If you want the girls, you know what you have to do.......


Chelsea is glassed later on that night.
"I think your unicorn isn't feeling very well," says James from San Fran.
"Yeah well, somebody's glassed her, " the Aussie replies.
"That's really not cool, man," says James.

Chickaboo is dynamite with Kabuki & Nu:tone. Logistics plays jump-up which isn't the Aussie's cup of tea so she heads home at around 4:30am again.....

Thursday Day
Beach
ARP XP * Mad Vibes * John B
Ambra Day: BassDrive Session
Big Bud * Ross D Bassdrive Crew

Yup, you guessed it..... Nobody makes it to the beach. The shopping trolleys are finally returned to the cheap supermarket that afternoon. The Aussie does make it to some of the Ambra Day set. Some epic tunes are played. Thank you Soundsurfer for identifying the tunes.


"Did you know that A Sides came with his parents? They're over there on the dance floor." says Soundsurfer.
"Really?!! That is too cute for words," says the Aussie. "I can't imagine taking my parents to something like this."
"They've been staying out later than A Sides too," says Soundsurfer.

The guy whose car got stolen? It turns out that it wasn't stolen after all. The guy got wasted and then forgot that he had parked it at Bal Harbour. The idiot later celebrated with lobster and champagne.

Thursday Night: Renegade Hardware
Indoor Area (Renegade Hardware)
Cold Fushion * Loxy * Rockwell * Ink * Raiden
Outdoor Area (Mainframe)
Kidd Ruff * Body & Soul * Disaszt * Camo & Krooked

The walk to the club is getting harder and harder.
"I can't believe there's only one taxi for the whole of San Teodoro," says the Aussie. "Anybody who does a taxi service from Al Faro next year is going to make a mint."
The Aussie & the English bump into the Dubai crew outside the club.

The Aussie is frightened by the Renegade Hardware session and soon disappears home at around 3am.

"I'm getting really tired," she says to Soundsurfer.
"I think having the gigs at the same venue, with the same people is getting a bit much," replies Soundsurfer. "I think I need a break from seeing the same people."

Too bad the Aussie missed this:


Friday Day
Bal Harbour DJ Competition Final
Mike: L * Outline * Coldsnap * Kokalokas * Jazzatron * Easyboy

The Kiwi & the shorter French guy pack up and leave for their flight back to London that afternoon.
"I've been waking up feeling depressed," says the Kiwi. "All that drinking is just too much."
The Aussie is officially over drum and bass. "I feel like I don't want to hear drum and bass for the next six months," she says.

The Aussie has a chat with the Aussie neighbours during the day. One of them tells her of another friend who going to Monza, Italy for the F1.
"He was suppose to fly out this morning, so he decided to stay up all night.....and was found passed out in the garden this afternoon. His flight left this morning."

The tall French guy and the Aussie make it to Bal Harbour. They're serving bbq steak marinated in sea salt and red wine which is surprisingly good.
"The music's too hard for this early in the afternoon," says the Aussie to the tall French guy.

Friday Night
Indoor Area (Feline)
Alite * Alley Cat * Adi J * Flight * Storm
Outdoor Area (Samurai & Kokeshi)
Madd * Calibre * Presha * Alley Cat

The Aussie invites Soundsurfer over for dinner. The Aussie, the English, the tall French guy & Soundsurfer sit over dinner very subdued. Everybody's tired. The English really looks worse for wear.
"I keep on getting dizzy spells," says Soundsurfer.
"You look like you've had a bout of alcohol poisoning," the Aussie tells the English.

Soundsurfer leaves to try and get some sleep. The English soldiers on and goes out to the club. The Aussie & the tall French guy can't take it any more and have a night in with Italian dubbed "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".
"The Italians are REALLY good at dubbing," says the Aussie to the tall French guy. "The voices are really similar to the original. When they had the Simpsons on at the campsite, I initially couldn't tell whether it was in English or Italian."

Saturday Day
Beach
Loxy * Flight * Craggz * Ly.Da Buddah

Time to check out of the villa. The tall French guy says goodbye and leaves for the airport with the English boy. The Aussie goes to Al Faro to hang out prior to staying with E. & A. She says goodbye to Soundsurfer (who's flying out today,) and meets two boys who tell her of their villa horror story. Long story short, they rented a villa with a couple who ended up coming to Sardinia with no money for accommodation or food. The guys ended up having to cover for the couple and spent the first three days extremely stressed as they are running out of money trying to support two additional people.
"The couple spent the whole time getting totally wasted and were breaking things in the vila," says one of the boys. "There were a few times when people would come up to our friend's girlfriend and ask us whether she was okay, and whether she needed an ambulance. In the end, we had to bail and stay with other friends. We just couldn't afford to pay for two extra people for the whole week. I don't want to sound like somebody's parent but..... If you want to go on holiday, you should be able to pay for the basics, like a roof over your head."

When the Aussie moves into E. and A.'s villa, they tell her about a couple they saw at the beach gig on Monday afternoon.
"The waiter from the bar was cleaning up the beach." says A. "He comes back carrying a large plastic bag filled with rubbish, and then goes back down and brings up a girl and puts her on top of the wall. She's drunk to the point of not being able to stand, and crying and saying, "My boyfriend and I have no accommodation! Our friends just packed up and left us one night and we don't know what we've done wrong!"
"Hang on," says the Aussie. "I think I know who their friends are....."

A few hours are spent at the beach before the Aussie finally makes it to a beach gig.


The music is okay, nothing special, but the company is spectacular :)





Saturday Night
Indoor Area
Mad Vibes * Big Bud * Craggz & Parallel * A Sides * Doc Scott
Outdoor Area
Soulsurfer * Rumba * N-Zine * A Sides * Bailey


After a yummy dinner of lobster linguine, the Aussie drags herself one last time to Ambra Night.
The Aussie, E. & A. walk pass a group of Germans on the way to the club.
"HEY GUYS," says one of the girls, blonde and with many piercings. "WANT TO BUY SOME ECSTASY?!!?"
She says this loud enough for the whole of San Teodoro and the whole island of Sardinia to hear.
"No thank you," say the Aussie, E. & A. in union.
("Not especially from you," is what they all think but don't say out loud.)
"Did she say that loud enough?" says the Aussie. "Haven't they banned the pre-cursors to ecstasy a few years back?"
She spies A Side's parents dancing right in front of the dj booth taking photos of their son.
"They're so cute," she says to E. & A. "What are they, about 70....?"
At around 3:30am, the Aussie just cannot take it any more. "I'm just over it." she says to E. & A. "I'm just going to go home."

Sunday
Sunday's pretty much a write-off. E. is so hungover that he actually sits down to watch Jersey Shore. (Even the Italians know not to wait their time dubbing this show.)
"You know what?" says the Aussie. "I just want a whole week where I'm doing nothing except watching tv."
We also notice something else interesting: there appears to be an obsession on cleaning - even on MTV. We see advertisements on hair shampoo, body shampoo, laundry detergent, mops and toilet duck.

Monday
Before she knows it, it's time to say goodbye to Sun & Bass and all the new friends made.

The Aussie heads to the airport with H.
"I'm never taking off my wrist band," says H.
They get to the airport early (as airport buses in Italy aren't particularly reliable or on time), so there's plenty of time for too many cafe shakeratos - "I think I'm getting heart palpitations," says the Aussie - and some shopping, before it's time to really say farewell.




"Goodbye and see you next year," - and with that, Sun & Bass 2010, is officially over.
Miss you all already. X