The Gathering G2000

Well, what can we say about G2000 - the million dollar party to welcome the dawning of a new millennium? That it was the best of times, and the worst of times? Maybe. It was the biggest ever Gathering, with 15,000 people onsite, including 1,500 crew and 500+ DJs, live acts, VJs and performers.

Is it on? Is it off? The demise of Sweetwaters and the demand for gear meant that prices skyrocketed, and at one stage we weren't sure we could afford to make it happen. The crazy "skinhead" rumour that morphed into the tallest tale (with the least substance) ever. Dancing in the trance zone at midnight with 15,000 other Gatherers thinking "if we're wrong and the rumour is true - they'll be coming through the trees right about now - and I reckon we can take 'em!"

5,000 forged tickets, 5,000 new Gatherers unprepared for the extremes of weather up the hill, half as many people again as we had catered for, half a million dollars made by someone else who had put no effort into the enormous undertaking that was G2000.

And the rain. It began as the first beats rang out across the fields, and it didn't let up until well after the party was over. G2000 became the year of the rain, and the mud, and the cold wet Gatherers. It became an endurance event, one which about half the people decided to give up on sometime on January 1. That left the rest of us - the die-hards, those who'd brought warm and waterproof clothes (and many who hadn't) - to dance on until the very end.

What a party! We made the TVOne news on January 2, as Ali described conditions up on the hill and the efforts by the crew to keep people warm and dry and to put hot food and drink in their bellies. Gatherers, crew and the local community came together to help each other out, and keep each other safe. Despite the worst weather we'd ever had (or perhaps because of it) no-one who was there will ever forget it. There's nowhere else in the world we would rather have been than at G2000.

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