The name Above and Beyond needs no introduction to any self-respecting trance connoisseur.  This guise for collaboration efforts between UK’s Jono Grant and Tony McGuinness and Finland’s Paavo Siljamaki has been making waves in the trance community since their first effort back in 2000 – Above & Beyond remix of Chakra’s ‘Home’.  Their other guises include Oceanlab, Tranquility Base, Tongue of God and Rollerball, and side projects – Aalto, Freestate, Nitromethane and POS (see www.aboveandbeyond.nu).

The trio’s DJ career started later – in 2002, the same year their first single, Far From In Love, was released on their own record label – Anjunabeats (www.anjunabeats.com).  By now they have played in many locations around the world, including visiting Australia last year, and their sets received airtime on many a radio wave, including Radio 1 and Marcus Schultz’s Global DJ Broadcast.

Needless to say I was a one excited reviewer-to-be arriving at the door of Arq on the night of this event.  The party was organised by Ruby (www.rubydance.com.au), whose productions are acclaimed especially in the Sydney Gay & Lesbian scene.

This was only the second Ruby event that I’ve been to, and I was impressed.  There were appropriate tasteful Anjunabeats touches on both the stages, and the additional lasers brought into the main room for the event did the trance party justice.  A large video screen was setup downstairs to house the video feed from Above & Beyond’s set.  Whilst at other times, upstairs music was provided by Ruby resident DJ’s, Stephen Simpson and Ric Dreske, downstairs the tuneage was organised by the crew from A Night Of Trance (www.joshandfriendspresents.com), and that was where my adventure began.

Walked in to Chable & Bonicci’s ‘Ride’ being pumped out the speakers of the downstairs area by Cameron O’Shea – what a way to start the night!  The DJ setup was changed for the event – instead of the usual booth, the downstairs stage was utilised for the turntables and all associated electronica, which made it much easier to see and interact with those in control of ‘wheels of steel’.  Unfortunately, that did not come without a price – some minor technical difficulties had to be overcome and/or endured by the DJs, all of which were handled professionally and did not seem to affect the overall quality of sets.

A short while and a Long Island or two later for me (they make tasty ones at the downstairs bar), it was time for DJ swap – Scott Richardson being next in line. Although spent most of the set on the dance floor, even gems like Hemstock & Jennings vs Adam White – ‘Reverance’ could not keep me there upon realising the reason for the commotion in the back corner – the boys from Above & Beyond were hanging out downstairs before they were due on stage.  Paavo and Jono were just as lovely, friendly, and down to earth as they’re reported to be, and were quite happy to endure all the myriad of photo and signature requests, and to casually chat to many a fan.

Nu Nrg’s remix of the classic Jose Amnesia’s Eternal was the last to hit the decks before the downstairs system was switched to combined audio/video stream from the main room – the set of the night – Above and Beyond. All this while upstairs Stephen Simpson has been filling up the dance floor with many a happy punter, with a decent crowd bopping along to the happy melodic trance tunes by 11pm.  By the time Above and Beyond were ready to go there was barely a free spot in the floor.

The honor of opening track was given to Junkie XL’s remix of Sarah McLachlan’s ‘World On Fire’, which was very obviously appreciated by the packed dance floor.  From here the set flowed seamlessly, first part comprising of airy, laid-back and melodic tracks, which later progressed to heavier techier numbers, mostly without vocals.  The entire performance was delivered without a technical glitch, and with such respect for and interaction with the audience that is characteristic of artists that love what they do, do it for their love of it and love sharing their work with others.  There was not a hint of superstar ego, neither in their conversation, nor in their performance – Paavo even jumped down and had a dance with the crowd on occasion.

It was the second half of the set that their most well known productions and remixes were kept aside for.  Their remix of Aurora’s ‘Ordinary World’ (a remake of an older Duran Duran song), Armin van Buuren remix of ‘Sky Falls Down’ (Oceanlab), Gabriel & Dresden’s rework of ‘Noone on Earth’ (Above and Beyond), ‘Satellite’ provided just some of highpoints of the set that the crowd couldn’t help but sing along to. 

Many in the crowd were hanging out to hear one of the boys’ earlier works – their remix of Madonna’s ‘What It Feels Like For A Girl’, which in its time impressed the queen of pop so much that she picked their rework of her song for the video clip.  Paavo and Jono did not disappoint, this got played towards the end of their ‘air time’.  However, the icing on the cake for most came with the fresh-off-the-stove Above and Beyond remix of Delerium’s classic – ‘Silence’.  This is the first time that I heard this version of the track, and although Tiesto’s take on it still holds its ground as one of, if not the best production in its genre, Above & Beyond’s effort certainly stood up to it, and stood up to it well.  It was less tense and more complex, and retained Above & Beyond signature perfect production style, without sounding too trance-cliche, or too Tiesto-ey (in fact, did not sound anything like Tiesto).

Ric Dreske took over the main stage at this point, with Stama jumping on the decks downstairs, both doing a musically and technically good job, although Stama’s was noticeably harder as the crowd downstairs was thinning out somewhat more rapidly than in the main room.  Joshua van Aalst only had a chance to play for a short while before downstairs was closed due to crowd dissipation issues, however upstairs kept pumping into the morning for the feet and ears of those with more stay awake power than the dissipated portion of said crowd, which unfortunately at that point included yours truly.

It was a great night to be had – Above and Beyond met and exceeded all expectations, the party was well-produced, and the crowd was amongst the friendliest and up-for-it clubbers I’ve seen in Sydney, I’d give it three thumbs up if I could!