Virtual Energy joined forces with Antistatic Productions to bring the Perth trance massive a night of unadulterated aural pleasure; in the form of the finest progressive and trance tunes spun by some of Perth’s best DJ talent. The occasion of the evening was to celebrate local trance DJ Jon Noonan’s 21st birthday, hence the title of the event, Blackjack XXI. The entire room at The Kitchen was transformed into a ravers delight with brightly coloured UV glowing drapes and backdrops as well as decks of cards scattered on the floor to enhance the Blackjack theme.

Arriving just in time to hear the last of Slade’s set, there was a small but growing number of punters filtering through the doors and hitting the bars both up and downstairs. Slade’s impressive set came to an end and then Tigger’s to come, provided the perfect lead on to the beats Slade had just dropped. Progressive beats on the slightly trancey side at times set the tone nicely for the night of music that was to ensue.

The birthday boy Jon Noonan then took control of the speakers and for the next two hours, took the room on a trance excursion, playing across the spectrum of trance whilst still maintaining a constant and steady flow. Exploring the more techy side of trance at the beginning of his set, dropping a very quality techno crossover tune Filterheadz – Yimanya, Noonan then worked through some more uplifting tunes and then levelled this out with some smooth driving trance. Tracks like Marco V – Automanual, Nenes – Turbulence and Mark Norman – Rush provided the perfect techy laced edge to this rocking set. Smooth mixes and excellent set programming made for one of the best sets of the night, which saw many punters hit the dance floor and let loose. Towards the end of his set, Noonan dropped his own production C Minor; a melodic, winding and enchanting trance tune characterized by some very sharp yet flowing piano riffs combined with the perfect amount of beats and atmosphere. The crowd seemed to really like the melody which attracted even more to the dance floor.

After Noonans impeccable trance journey was over, Adam Kelly worked the room for the next hour delivering a tightly mixed set of driving to tech induced trance beats and the crowd responded accordingly, dancing and even singing along when he dropped Andain – Beautiful Things. Nato then stepped up and for the next hour pulled out many big names from his record crate which was received very well by the crowd. CJ Bolland – The Prophet was one of the highlight tunes of his set much to the crowds approval. Combining many crowd pleasing tunes together with some very good mixing led to an overall top notch set by this young local.

Lanithium was next up to the decks and by this time the crowd was beginning to dwindle a little as was the amount of people on the dance floor. Expecting the usual uplifting and epic trance journey of a set I have come to expect of Lanithium I was surprised when he busted out with his first track Ronski Speed – E.O.S (Club Mix). Quite a bit harder than his usual style, Lanithium kept it on this line firing up the techy trance bombs all the way with killer tunes such as Pro – Sonic – Ready 4 Life (Riley & Durrant Remix), Mark Norman – Phantom Manor and Mojado feat. Mr. Sam – Terremoto. Armed with this seriously stacked arsenal of tech trance, Lanithium combined some of his trademark smooth mixing and introduced a more techy inspired feel into his mixes which complemented the style of tunes perfectly. The dwindling dance floor was no more as Lanithium delivered a very high quality and rocking set which ended up with the techy trance flavourings of M.I.B – Keep Pushin’.

DJ Miller then took over after and kept the room alive with the sounds of uplifting and at times driving trance until close. Overall it was a quality night of trance indulgence with Perth’s finest jocks showcasing their talent and tunes to a more than up for it crowd. Blackjack XXI was definitely a night to remember!