The long running A Night of Trance series held monthly for over a year now wrote the next chapter of its history after moving to another new venue this weekend. The main level of Space nightclub is set to be the new venue of choice for this event and this month melodic trance legend Steve Helstrip also known as the Thrillseekers and Sydney’s own Mark Dynamix were the special guests. Steve Helstrip has played several times in Australia and each time he has delivered an excellent mix of new and old euphoric tracks that create an amazing atmosphere on the dancefloor and this time was no different. As a producer he is also known under the monikers En Motion, Insigma and Rapid Eye. He has been responsible for a number of huge hits in the trance scene with a couple crossing over and achieving mainstream radio play such as Dreaming of You with vocalist Alexis Strum and the unbelievable Synaethesia. Also supporting on the night was our usual array of quality local talent including Diggs, Rob Noble, Cameron O’Shea, Karvan & Condivi and many more.

Upon arriving to the Space establishment we were greeted by the always friendly A Night of Trance door staff and then immediately shot up to the main level in the elevators which were very effort free seeing as there were people there to escort you. As the doors opened the booming sounds of the side room were readily apparent where Karvan and Condivi were laying down some of their live tracks. The side room was separated by a curtain wall and unfortunately the sound from the main room was travelling into this room however up the front all as well. The main room was already rocking quite hard as we walked around to inspect the venue with the lasers and lighting already in full effect and an very solid number of people had turned filling out the Space main room nicely. It was good to see so many of the ANOT regulars at the event (you all know who you are) and the night also happened to fall on Rob Noble’s 25th birthday so Happy Birthday mate! In the main room Stama was laying down the final few tunes in his quality uplifting set getting the crowd was warmed up for the start of Thrillseekers at midnight.

As Steve Helstrip took over to a huge cheer from the eager crowd he began what was a dreamy, euphoric and all round quality set. He was also a pleasure to watch throughout the set as he had so much energy and made it look like he was having so much fun laying down tune after tune of melodic goodness. Some of the more memorable tunes included Young Parisians – Jump the Next Train (Solarstone Remix), Tranquility Base - Surrender, the Ferry Corsten remix of Thrillseekers – Synaethesia, the storming Marco V – Automanual and the beautiful Balearic vibes of John Johnson – Skydive (I Feel Wonderful). Meanwhile in the side room local trance legends Diggs and Rob Noble who were playing a vs set were laying down some huge tunes in the side room. They were slamming down some huge tunes such as Ferry Corsten – Rock you Body, Oceanlab – Satellites (Point One Remix), and the classic Madelyne - Beautiful Child (Hiver & Hammer Remix).

As the two and a half hours of the Thrillseekers flew by before we knew it, Mark Dynamix was stepping up for another special trance set after the excellent reception he had at ANOT’s first birthday. He once again delivered some more tough edged classics mixed to perfection and overlaid with some frantic scratching. He slammed down a series of monster tunes including classic anthems such as Storm – Its Time to Burn, Ferry Corsten – Punk, Dark Monks – Insane, Chemical Brothers – Out of Control, Oceanlab – Clear Blue Water, Kerncraft 400 – Zombie Nation and the mesmerising U2 – Beautiful Day which received a great reaction from the pumped up early morning crowd. Following Mark Dynamix was Yoshi vs Josh van Aalst who kicked off with some banging tunes which were perhaps appropriate for those kicking on so early in the morning however it was time for us old folks to retire for the evening.

Overall, it was a top night full of quality tunes, an absolutely up for it crowd and great atmosphere. The new venue choice seemed to work quiet well however the sound separation between the main and side room could definitely do with some improvement. However the first of the Space A Night of Trance seemed to go down exceptionally smoothly and there was a great turnout on the night. The lighting and lasers worked extremely well in the Sapce main room and props must go to the Josh and Friends crew for putting on another great event and we look forward to the next one in just under a months time. See you there!