The first return of the Italian live trance act Nu NRG to Perth was destined to be a big and successful show; Andrea Ribeca and Guiseppe Ottaviani touched down in Perth last week to perform exclusively at The Church nightclub on Sunday night. The duo are renowned for their many productions on labels such as Dreamland and Vandit as well as their mind blowing live shows. Playing alongside this live trance phenomenon were The Church resident DJ’s Kenny L, Riki and John Paul as well as a quality selection of Perth’s best trance talent.

The sounds of Lanithium and Jon Noonan were pumping the system as doors opened right on 9pm. Their light and uplifting tracks of the trance variety provided the perfect introduction to the music program to ensue. At first look, it appeared as though they were invisible in the usual DJ box, however upon looking up at the second level from the dance floor, it was clear to see the DJ box had a temporary new home (The usual DJ box had been specially decked out and arranged with the equipment used by Nu NRG for their live set). A custom voice over announced “you are listening to the sounds of Jon Noonan and Lanithium” which provided a nice little personal touch to the set at hand. Their smooth mixes teamed with their track selections made for a more than quality opening set.

Dee Jay V and Nato then took to the decks and began to raise the tempo and intensity of the beats dropped. Whilst still predominantly uplifting in nature, their tracks contained harder and much more dominating bass lines which saw a number of eager party people hit up the dance floor already. Some of the tracks dropped by the two DJ’s included Solar Factor – Urban Shakedown (G&M Project Remix) and a remix of Andain – Beautiful Things. Towards the end of their set, the DJ’s had worked up to quite a good pace and their choice of tracks as well as their tidy mixing led to a quality trance journey, the stoked punters on the dance floor a testament to this fact.

The next set consisted of a recent DJ competition winner Rod James back to back with up and coming trance DJ Genesis. Whilst this pair has hardly played out and are relatively unheard of, this certainly wasn’t obvious as they laid down a well crafted trance set with some fairly smooth mixing throughout. One of the tracks dropped: Bossanova – Stone Cold got a massive reaction from the punters on the dance floor below, proof that old tracks are still appreciated and enjoyed by many. Towards the end of their set, James and Genesis had the dance floor rocking to their trance selections, well preparing them for The Church residents to step up for their set.

Kenny L, Riki and John Paul then got their three way set underway with Kenny L doing a few shout outs on the ‘mic’ and generally amping up the crowd. Playing a few tracks each, the residents went through a stack of tunes, both of the well-known and not so well-known variety. Some of these tracks included: Unknown – Cosmic Freefall, Marco V – Automanual and Rigewalkers – Find (Andy Moor Remix). Their track selections, tight mixes and enthusiasm behind the decks led to an overall quality set which was more than well received by the punters loving every second of it down below.

Nu NRG then appeared in the usual DJ box at the front of the dance floor and began to get things ready for their performance. Riki played the last track leading up to Nu NRG starting which was a remix of Tears for Fears – Shout. It was amusing to watch the confusion of the punters on the dance floor as some weren’t too sure where to look (still up at the new DJ console or back down in the usual DJ box). However, this confusion was short lived as the moment Nu NRG dropped their first percussion line and accompanying synths, they had every punter in the houses’ attention. They had an impressive set up of live synths and boards; one of the duo would work the live synths as the other would control the pace through percussion layers.

The first track they dropped was The Shadow which got the set well and truly underway with its infectious sounds and energy. They worked through quite a range of their own tunes including: Astralis, Supersonik Way, Freefall, Dreamland and Mr. Pink. One of the highlights of their set was when they performed their own remix of U2 – Where The Streets Have No Name. The dance floor erupted into a sea of cheers and dancing, definitely one of those ‘electric’ moments of the set. Overall it was a very well received performance, every punter in the club appeared to be stoked by what they were hearing. The duo’s ability to keep time and pace perfectly as well as maintain an overall level of flow led to an impressive and polished performance.

As the duo finished their last track, John Paul gave a massive shout out on the ‘mic’ for the punters to show their respect to the set that was. After some cheers and shouts of appreciation, Riki and John Paul then fired the decks back up and played a handful banging and quite techy tracks before close. These included: DK8 – Murder was the Bass and a remix of Southside Spinners – Luvstruck, all of which gave the punters a final dance session until the doors would close for the weekend.

Yet another successful event at The Church nightclub, which saw trance lovers unite at the holy place for some unadulterated adoration of their beloved genre.