God bless the TranceTribe crew. They’re a fantastic group of trance die-hards who are working harder than Paris Hilton at a photo shoot to see trance return to prominence in Sydney.

Last weekend’s edition of Temple gave top billing to Chia, queen of Gas (no, not that kind), and promised a monster set of psy-trance to warm the Sunday afternoon cockles of all in attendance. For the uninitiated, psy-trance is an energetic form of trance with non-stop pounding beat and no breakdowns… great for those who love a lively dance floor.

Last time our little group came to V Bar, which itself is a very comfortable space, one of our number (okay, it was me) was denied entry for the errant assumption that thongs were acceptable at a day club… this forced a quick detour to Rebel to pick up a pair of Dunlop Volleys. After taking it up with the TranceTribe hierarchy, and deflecting TranceTribe forum accusations of metrosexuality, we fronted V Bar again with 100% of our group in thongs…

The verdict..? NOT GUILTY of metrosexuality and other fashion crimes Your Honour. Entry APPROVED!

Inside, the V Bar lights were dimmed, and through the gloom the bulky figure of Slim could be discerned getting into the hard trance theme with some pounding bass lines as he closed out his set. The V Bar sound system is a cracker, and trance aficionados are treated to quality listening throughout the venue, even when seated outside in the comfortable chill out area. Tap beers are $5, and with a $6 vodka Red Bull deal a few drinks won’t break the bank.

The set times listed Jumping Jack as being next up, but when Patrik Carrera took over at the decks, it appeared something was up. That something certainly wasn’t JJ, as he’d called in sick with a nasty case of the flu. Get well soon mate. Mr. Carrera, recently returned from a tour of South Korea (and perhaps its air-raid shelters), looked a picture of health however, and continued the hard trance through a couple of tracks, before changing tack completely by dropping Karen Overton’s melodic “Your Loving Arms”, then mixing in a heavily looped version of Kyau & Albert’s popular “Are You Fine”.

Next up was the new 4 Strings mega-bomb “Mainline”, a tune so fresh that the wax was still warm on Patrik’s turntable. When asked how he’d managed to get his hands on a copy so early, it turns out Patrik runs www.recordsonline.com.au (Sydney’s answer to Vinyl Warning in Melbourne), so the lucky man gets his hands on the odd early sample or two. Meanwhile, the crowd was starting to grow in anticipation of Chia’s psy trance set, and while waiting we were treated to an eclectic mix from Patrik, including Scott Mac “Damager ’02”; a bootleg of Police “Message in a Bottle”; and Alex M.O.R.P.H. vs Rank 1 “A Life Less Ordinary”. Quality stuff.

Chia arrived, and as if on cue, the psy-trance fans of Sydney came out of the woodwork. A friendly and interesting bunch to say the least… One young punter was sporting a full length tail, and upon closer inspection (but not too close), it appeared to have been constructed from his own dreadlocks. Others were keen to ensure their friends didn’t forget them and wore adjectival name tags such as “FELICITY THE AMAZING” and “PAULY THE COOLEST”. With psy-trance apparently being a new direction for her (?), Chia served up a technically excellent set, chock-a-block full of tunes from two of psy’s biggest producers, Astrix and of course, John 00 Fleming.

A very appreciative crowd was treated to “Poison”; “3rd Time Lucky”; “Closer to Heaven”, and a huge track from Astrix & Delirious – “Day Dream”… which really got the dance floor heaving… However, the “Temple TUNE of the Week” was undoubtedly Astrix (again) & DJ Highguy “Chaos”, which included a background rhythm akin to a puffing steam train. Choo-choo-CHOOON!

At 7.30pm, Chia returned the decks to Patrik Carrera (his initial timeslot) and the Psydney psy-trancers disappeared, tails and all, from whence they came… as did we in order to catch our lift. The Temple is a great little addition to the TranceTribe event stable, and with TranceTribe’s 3rd birthday celebrations occurring over the next couple of months, now’s the time for trance fans to support the TT crew by attending some of their events.