It’s official; summer is finally here! Official as it may be the weather thus far hasn’t been overly hot. Luckily the weather has absolutely no bearing on the influx of summer events and the heat will certainly start increasing on our dance floors. For every trance lover, Friday the 9th of December would be a date boldly marked in the diary as Scott Bond would once again grace our shores. Rise would on this occasion be the venue; the stage was set for a trance fuelled inferno to be provided by one of the most well known faces in trance.

At the stroke of midnight I arrived at Rise; like so many others there I only had indulging my senses with the sounds of uplifting trance on my mind and Simon Barwood was serving up just that. Two of this year’s best trance anthems in the form of Ernesto & Bastian’s “DARK Side of the Moon” and “The Other Side” by Paul van Dyk were dropped – the ever increasing crowd was suitably set on fire!

1:00 sharp and the man of ex Gatecrasher fame with that certain fictional secret agent’s name; Scott Bond’ appeared behind the decks. Looking prime to deliver a set rich with classics in the making and unknown bombshells, Mr. Bond began his set in warm and melodic fashion. Enthusiastic, euphoric and energetic are all words which could describe the atmosphere inside Rise.

Did I mention that the dance floors are ready for all that summer heat? The name Scott Bond acted like kerosene on the dance floor, all that would be needed now was a light; enter Andreas Hermansson’s “Larry Mountains 54,” with its funky and jovial breakdown. This diamond shall forever be remembered as a dance floor classic and is definitely in contention for trance track of the year status.

Scott Bond kept on firing gems from those golden guns that were the Rise decks like “Reverence” by Hemstock & Jennings vs. Adam White, a true hands in the air remix of a classic dance floor anthem as well as a top remix of The Police’ “S.O.S.” There were also plenty of unheard and unreleased tracks offered along with Scott Bond’s very own “Red Line Highway, thus making the set complete.

4am came along leaving everyone on the Rise dance floor wondering where the past 3 hours had gone. Scott Bond had once again delivered the goods leaving absolutely no one disappointed. Even though Mr. Bond’s mixing wasn’t perfect, it didn’t matter as his set and the atmosphere it created were, and really that’s more important when it comes to achieving perfection.

It’s been a while since I’ve been able to immerse myself in the purest of euphoric trance but having said that I was left in wanting more! Fortunately there was still a good two hours to go and from 4 until 6 Miller and Ziad would be in control to satisfy such desire. Andy Moor’s beautifully crafted “Halycon” was put under the needle and proved to be yet another highlight of the evening’s proceedings.

As ever there is no stopping the inevitable; when the two hands on my watch divided its face in half it was time head home. Suffice to say like many others I’d be taking with me the memories of one fantastic night of trance. A huge thankyou goes to Rise, Scott Bond, Simon Barwood, Miller and Ziad for making this summer fire starter all possible!