You'd better pack some spare batteries for your body if you want to keep up with the sheer pace of life after dark in Buenos Aires. And one of the best places to charge them is undoubtedly Pacha, the club that has powered most of the changes in South America's dance music scene since opening in the mid-1990s.

For it was beneath the two cherries in this luxuriant Argentine outpost of the Pacha empire that Hernan Cattaneo held down the residency that not only cemented his own status in the worldwide DJ elite but also South America's reputation as one of the most fecund breeding grounds for fresh electronic music on the planet; a legacy being built upon by producers like Oliverio, Deep Mariano and Martin Garcia to this day.

Favouring deep and progressive house over the more obvious trance records that reigned at the turn of the century, the musical direction of Cattaneo and promoter Martin Gontad resulted in an extremely educated crowd who not only knew how to party the way only South Americans can, but also respected the quality of the tunes - and it's still the same way today in the hands of current Saturday night residents Fran Percamilli and Matias Sundblad, who have played host to such international big-hitters as Justin Robertson, David Seaman and Pole Folder in recent years.

Pacha Buenos Aires is an awe-inspiring venue too, with a voluminous main room fully tooled up with top-grade sound and lighting and an outside terrace beneath the flightpath for Buenos Aires airport, where hands are regularly raised in the air to salute the aircraft soaring overhead, just like in the good old days at Space in Ibiza.

But it's the energy of the crowd that's the most overwhelming thing to take in when the place begins to reach boiling point after 3am, although with slightly strange South American rituals.

"There's this thing there where everyone sits on the floor during the breakdowns," reveals Nick Warren, who describes Pacha Buenos Aires as one of the Top 3 clubs on the planet. "Then, as the beat builds, they all start to slowly wind up before leaping in the air and going mental when it kicks back in.

"It's a staggeringly good club with a killer soundsystem and fantastic lighting but what really makes it are the people. The music has always so been carefully programmed and the quality kept so high that everyone there is so clued-up because they've been raised on records and DJs of such a high class. You can tell that just because they scream during the clever bits of tunes, such as when the hi-hat comes in, rather than the obvious 'big room' moments. Pacha Buenos Aires is perfect every time."