Now that I've got my opening rant out of the way, let's talk about the music. Full Fathom Five were slated to open proceedings, but the lack of ticket sales obviously prompted the promoters to opt for the more economically viable yet equally rocking turntable skills of 2 Dogs. They played a more eclectic mix than you would expect, with an obvious tip of the hat to the ethinic vibes of the headliners, but even they were struggling for enthusiasm as the few people gathered at the Arena herded around the bar. Dave Dog took to the microphone to try and encourage some punters on to the dance floor, only to be admonished by a Rasta dude in the crowd - Katch promptly faded the record out while Dave and Rasta Man discussed the finer points of music, and an eerie silence descended over the crowd. When they finished their chat, Katch hit play, a few punters hit the dance floor, and the rest of us went back to drinking our beers and trying to work out what the fuck had just happened. Yet another surreal rock n roll moment.....

Transglobal Underground were nothing short of a revelation. Their fusion of dub, hip hop and drum n bass rhythms with the musics of India, Turkey and the Carribean was uplifting, their stage presence infectious, and the vibe they managed to send through the small crowd was inspirational. With up to 7 members on stage at any one time, including a female sitar player, a drummer and several percussionists, and a couple of Rasta toast-masters and a wailing banshee on lead vocals, their sound was incredibly dynamic, and the tightness of their musical attack clearly signalled their experience in the live environment. For me it's hard to go past the excitement and power that live drumming brings to dance music, but the un-disputed highlight came mid-set when the sitarist let loose with one of those solos that only a sitar player can - starting off with some long droning notes and building to a furious crescendo as the drummers kicked in to support her. In short, it was like the Woodford Folk Festival had come three months early - I could've listened to it for hours.....

Transglobal Underground were certainly a tough act to follow, but Asian Dub Foundation were up to the challenge. The lead MC was clearly un-impressed with the lack of punters in the Arena(and quite frankly, I couldn't blame him), but that didn't stop them putting in a dynamite set of pure jungle madness. In fact, the small crowd went absolutely nuts, pulling out some wild moves on the dancefloor, and of course, passing around the obligatory spliffs. Like TGU, ADF fuse world music flavours with dance beats and some deep, deep bass, but their tunes also carry a distinctly political edge to them. Songs like "Will The Real Great Britain Please Stand Up" and "Free Satpal Ram" rally against British Governments past and present, and they also took the oppportunity to speak out against Australia's poor history of racial discrimination and the current Mandatory Sentencing debacle.

But most importantly, ADf were about having a good time, and the band were clearly relishing being on stage despite the poor turnout - at one stage the DJ and mixer both stepped from behind their consoles to join the MC, bassist and guitarist (clearly suffering the effects of some hardcore hallucinogens!) for some serious dancing front of stage. And the crowd responded accordingly, with only noise regulations preventing a third encore.

All in all, a top gig, let down only by the exorbitant ticket prices and the general ignorance of the Brisbane music listening public.