In the past, this weekend has traditionally been labelled ‘Adventjah weekend’ and the Friday night before the festival is usually pretty quite in the dance scene in Brisbane. However, this year Family did something
quite spectacular. They booked German trance superstars Blank and Jones to play on the Friday night before the festivities were to start. This could have been a very bad move for Family, as an international such as
Blank and Jones are sure to cost a fair bit of dosh and booking them to play the night before the biggest festival in Brisbane could have left them out of pocket. So did the crowds come? How did Blank and Jones perform?

Twas the night before Adventjah and this reporter walked into an empty club,
Not a creature was stirring,
I thought this was supposed to be the hub?
The barmen were waiting,
To serve out some cheer,
In hope that the punters soon would be here.
Perhaps all the kiddies were nestled in their beds,
With visions of dance festivals filling their heads.
When out on the dancefloor there arose such a clatter,
I sprang to the railing to see what was the matter.
The lasers shon down into the DJ booth,
While hundreds of trance fans were dancing to their youth,
When what to my wandering eyes should appear,
German Trance gods Blank and Jones were here!

The club transformed from being the emptiest I had ever seen it, to being nicely full of trance lovers in under an hour. Before I go on, I just want to say that this particular night was one of the best nights I think I have ever had a Family. Attendance was perfect. Not too many punters, so
you still had adequate dancing space but enough to fill the club and create a vibe. I might add that the vibe was breath-taking.

Blank and Jones stepped up to the plate at about 1am. Everyone cheered. It became clear right from the start that there were a lot of hard core Blank
and Jones fans in the club on this night. They started strongly, continued solidly and finished on fire. The Piet and Jaspa were really getting into it as well. They were all hands in the air for pretty much their entire set. I love it when I go to see an international act and they are really
getting into their own set. They danced around the DJ booth, I danced and danced and everyone around me danced and danced. They played so many great
tracks, Nu NRG’s Connective, DFF, DJ Culture and Cream all by Blank and Jones and DJ Tiesto’s Traffic to name just a few. It was one of those sets that takes you on a journey.

They played an incredibly uplifting set of awesome trance. I’m one of those trance fans that gets a little cheesed off by huge break downs that go on forever, but Blank and Jones nailed it big time. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of breakdowns that did seem to go forever but their
choice of tracks was perfect and there were enough beats throughout the set to balance out the everlasting breakdowns. And if you look at it from a general point of view this means that they not only kept those trancers
who love nothing more than to get lost in breakdowns happy as well as those that like to keep the beats coming and keep their feet moving. This kind of balance results in one hell of a happy crowd. I don’t think I can say enough just how fantasti
they were.

The only criticism I have is that Family could probably take it easy with the strobe light. Too much of a good thing can turn it into a bad thing.

Blank and Jones were fantastic, so fantastic! Werd to Family for bringing them out. Everytime a Trance DJ/act plays at Family the club always has a large attendance. I think that this is indication enough that Trance is alive and kicking. So much so that a whole club full of punters turned out
to see Blank and Jones on the eve of the biggest dance festival in Brisbane. Go Family! GO Blank and Jones!