Stop the Press: Trance is dead!
Well I for one have never subscribed to this oft-discussed proclamation, and if Friday night’s Artificial Intelligence hosted by Bear Essential Promotions in association with Lost World Productions, is anything to go by, there’s no credence to this claim. With the Step Inn, Fortitude Valley the favoured venue for this event, the two rooms each with a full trance support line-up bestowed assurance that real trance is indeed alive and well – or has certainly been reincarnated.

From the outset it was made public, Artificial Intelligence was to headline one of the greatest psy-trance acts to come out of Israel – Xerox & Illumination from the HOMmega stable. Supported by our beloved locals CY and Problem Child; organisers Bear, Psycarumba, and Blaylok; as well as interstate newcomer Orpheus, this delightful line-up you’d normally catch doofin’ out in the bush, were as equally comfortable delivering the constant stream of 16th notes normally associated with the goa/psychedelic style of trance downstairs in the main room. Upstairs the eclectic combination of Nomad, Tranceducer, Sammy Gee, Tristan Cameron, and Danny Boy – of which the latter four have played so many times together in previous Bear Essential promoted indoor dance parties – were a perfect adjunct to the downstairs main room, with each delivering their unique style of trance, hard dance, and hard house beats. This was certainly an event for those passionate about real trance – and the way in which the music affects your physiology to want to dance, dance, and dance some more – not to be missed. I was long overdue for such an experience, and like many others, had so much excited anticipation and expectation in the lead-up to last Friday night.

Venturing into the confines of the Step Inn where Artificial Intelligence was being hosted, the speakers of one recently installed 8K Wattage PA system left no wondering where the main room was. Not having been to the previously named Shamrock, at this stage I wasn’t familiar with the premises, so walking straight past the first entrance to the downstairs room, was rather surprised that my being captured into the sonic waves led me to the outside (inside) courtyard area decked with pool tables and lounge chairs. Where’s the goddamn music coming from and where’s the people? For a moment I felt like a deer in headlights, but the crisp and clear sound belting out of that speaker was awesome; get me quickly to the dance floor!

Back-tracking with a little more patience, I found the main room entry, where unfortunately I’d missed Bear’s set, and Problem Child had the room steaming like a sauna – at only half past 10! Feet you’d normally find de-rooting grass or treading dirt into the ground were fully enclosed with appropriate footwear stomping the carpet-floor, whilst supporting the many gyrating bodies that were already caught in Problem Child’s trance. At this stage I wasn’t ready to allow the musical delights seize me to the dance floor where I knew once I did, I would be taken hostage for quite some time. Instead I was paying close attention to the decorations that lined the inside of the main room, trying to immerse myself into the makeshift escape that was intended. Lining the walls hanging from the ceiling, the camouflage webbing at the back and side of the room, with ultraviolet lit jelly fish-shaped mobiles framing the front stage, coupled with long worm-like spiral floor deco, I certainly had the feeling I was enveloped within a discrete abyss. Further to this, the half dozen or so brightly-coloured hanging drapes depicting freaky tripped-out space alien-type creatures amongst divine-beings of sorts, made me feel as though I was in a faraway untouchable microcosm. The few plasma screens around the room (and throughout the venue) as well as the large projector screen at the front, which displayed the magical in-theme visuals created by Psygeni, complemented the out-of this-world ambience rather appropriately.

Come 11:00pm and whilst out in the courtyard catching up with friends, I was distracted by a change in pace and the sound coming from the main room, CY had stepped up to the decks and for the next hour was the control-master. With the main room already rocking, CY whose DJ sets always take on a real smooth journey with the right amount of peaks and troughs, upped the tempo delivering high-energy cybernetic, futuristic and fresh psy-tuneage. Whilst I resisted the urge to not be entranced at this stage, I couldn’t help test the degree of friction between my rubber-soled boots and that of the parquetry-type floor. Though from where I was standing to the side and front of the room, the recently installed PA system which was set up for ‘live’ band play, wasn’t conducive to that crystal clear sharpness of sonority one would expect from such a rig. Nevertheless, for the entire hour leading up to midnight, CY was relentless with his build in tempo and of the journey his track selection took us.

From pumpkin-hour Victorian Orpheus, a relatively new producer of the psychedelic genre, with more than a handful of tracks to his credit – and Illumination’s chaperone whilst in Oz – showcased his best works to date, with insight into his capability of producer and performer. With his laptop set up near the edge of the DJ console closest to the wall, unfortunately Orpheus’ body position was away from the middle of the room, and with him glued to the VDU, missed the opportunity to ‘perform’ to the crowd. Nevertheless, his tracks certainly had depth of character to them with all you’d expect from a well-constructed psy-trance track, complete with psychedelic sounding wobbly noises and acidy sounds, film dialogue samples, whooshes and beeps to stimulate the psychoactive nature of his tunes. However, his set lacked flow: just as you were picked up on the psychoactive sound stream wave crest, you were left suspended, waiting for it to build and continue riding you along with it, but instead crashed in its wake throwing you off, leaving you stranded until the next subtle undulations of sound picked you up again. Not liking this ebb and flow nature, it was time for me to venture upstairs to check out what was taking place.

I was fortunate to catch the last half hour or so of Tranceducer with his faithful disciples paying respect on the dance floor as he lay down each and every euphoric, reach-for-the laser ‘classic’ trance tune. Despite the small dance floor area and dimly-lit set-back DJ console, very much a crowd pleaser and big-room tune DJ, Tranceducer had everybody in the upstairs area motioning along with the melodies. Speaking of such, or rather melodic and harmonious trance, Sammy Gee commencing with the Chill Mix of Above & Beyond’s Tri-State, brought the room back to a mellow tempo, allowing recovery from Tranceducer’s final climactic state. Taking us on an Anjunabeat-inspired musical journey for the next hour and a half, Sammy Gee’s amazing DJ talent always casts a hypnotic net over those within aural reach, and before you know it, you’re consciously lost into the subconscious for quite sometime. When the time comes that you’re again aware of your being, the recollection of where you just were, is that of a memory in the form of an incredible emotive experience. I didn’t stay until the end of Sammy’s set on this occasion as I ventured downstairs to rest, rehydrate and prepare for my upcoming dance assault.

Psycarumba had taken to the decks at 1:00am, and at the half way mark the area of the main room was rather full as the punters were heavily involved with the constant pulse of music as the timbral evolution and accretion carried everybody along the pathway of his trance journey. Not happy with the dull sound, or the sticking of my boots to the pseudo-wooden floor, I ventured over toward the middle of the room directly in the path of one speaker, and surprisingly where movement atop the carpet was relatively frictionless. So this is where I was going to be for the next couple of hours – or until my body wills me to cease grooving.

Well hydrated with stocks close by, I still had that excited anticipation as Illumination – the headline international – stepped up to the decks plugging in his headphones, for what was expected to be a ‘live’ XI set. Okay so most of us avid observers knew by now that Illumination would be playing an XI exclusive set solo, but despite him turning up with his laptop, played only from a couple of CDRs. Rather shockingly surprised and taken aback a little, it didn’t take long to lose myself into the realm of that microcosm I described earlier, with the spellbinding nature of Xerox & Illumination’s tunes keeping me entranced within their powerful kaleidoscopic sound. Touring to promote the launch of their 3rd album The Beast Within, Illumination didn’t have to work hard at all to showcase why, through their productions, that Xerox & Illumination as veteran producers, have played a major role in shaping the psychedelic trance scene. XI’s distinctly raw, ‘dirty’, action-packed epic tunes have traditionally been fused with metallic sounds, highly influenced from techno and breakbeat genres. Hearing Illumination drop their older tracks Nightshift, Battleship, and Oranda are testament to this description. Befitting however, when promoting a recent release of one’s productions in album form, those tracks should be delivered to those in attendance. Not to disappoint, in keeping with their traditional epic music with its rich textural density, their newest productions are induced with a touch of electro music and cross-over appeal, whilst still maintaining the power driven intensity and tempo of each track. Delivering the aforementioned older tracks in amongst these from their new album – No Way Out, Creature of the Night, The Beast Within, Bass Safari and Turbulence – Illumination’s ability to control the dance floor with continuous tempo and intensity surges, building up to a smooth and satisfying climax – all within one hour – was truly incredible, though expected of this veteran electronic dance music marvel.

For the next one hour, Illumination handled his CD wallet more frequently, requiring more than the two CDRs he’s used for his previous hour of XI exclusive tunes. Continuing on with the dramatically epic psychedelic climax that Illumination had built, he kept the energy levels high in his subsequent set, though with a subtle shift in the nature of the music sound, mediated by many of their HOMmega compatriot’s productions, such as Psycraft’s – Feel The Vibe.

Satisfied I was still able to move after 3:00am, it was time to venture upstairs again to catch the tail-end of Tristan Cameron’s epic psy-influenced set I knew was going to be delivered. Much to my disappointment, the Step Inn staff in their infinite wisdom decided to close the upstairs area sooner than scheduled, and as a result TC’s set was cut short – so too that I didn’t even get to stomp once with TC driving the decks! Ah well, there’s always next time. With only 1 hour till the top level was to be vacated, dear Danny Boy the local SEQ darling of hard house and scratch master extraordinaire, provided as usual a quirky and fun hard dance set ala Danny’s unique style, that no matter how much you resist, lures you onto the dance floor as he subtly increases the BPMs before the ultimate crescendo of his set.

Back downstairs with the decks and mixer probably near overheating following Illumination’s two-hour onslaught, Blaylok was to close proceedings of the morning with his very animated ‘cartoon-like’ performance from behind the decks. Keeping the pace in 5th gear, Blaylok fuelled those that were still going hard with an unusual selection of metal-infused hard rock mixed in amongst trippy mind-blowing psy-tuneage. Blaylok in the couple of years he’s been spinning has certainly developed what he delivers from behind the decks into a unique art form – of both the aural and visual nature.

Well in closing, that much excited anticipation and expectation that was building within me in the lead-up to this event, with a long-overdue yearning of a real trance-dance experience, has well and truly been quenched. Long live trance! That is of course until death doth it part!