“Thank goodness winter is on its way out,” I thought to myself as I wandered down James Street in the cold. The reward for this solo trek into Perth was a night of pure and uplifting trance at Rise and on this occasion Scotland’s Kuffdam (of Kuffdam & Plant) would be performing a headline set. Pure golden trance nights are few and far between in this fair city and to be quite frank; I would hike the Scottish highlands in the middle of January to reap such a pleasurable reward.

Trance fanatics should be all too familair with the name Kuffdam & Plant. This Caledonian duo are best known for their seminal tracks; “Summer Dream”, “Dream Makers” and the recently released “The Ones We Loved” (the former and the latter can both be found on Paul van Dyk’s famous Vandit Recordings). Even as a long-time trance supporter; I had no idea that either of the two artists toured as DJ’s, so it came as a welcome surprise to discover that Kuffdam would be making his way to Australia for the very first time.

For me, a long queue is something of a good thing, but on this occasion I wanted to get inside Rise to enjoy the winter warming sound of trance as quickly as was humanly possible. Arriving at just after 11, I found myself enjoying the peak of Simon Barwood’s warm-up performance. As was promised Barwood offered a selection of airy, drifty, vocal and clubby trance rather than something a lot harder. I had no intention of sitting down. I needed to warm up my blood, so I set about some fancy footwork so as to get the heart racing. For the first time in quite a while; I was clubbing alone, but I use the term “alone” loosely as you are never alone when there are so many familiar faces at Rise who are all too happy to say hello and have a quick chat.

At midnight DJ GeRmAn took control of the 1’s and 2’s from Simon Barwood. As the tempo increased, so did the crowd. A truly special atmosphere was steadily building. DJ GeRmAn’s hour long performance seemingly provided a perfect warm-up for the main act; Kuffdam, as he dropped one sumptuously melodic tune after another. My arms began aching from holding them up in the air on such a regular basis – and the half-way point of the night hadn’t even arrived yet!

Kuffdam made his way to the DJ booth at 1am. It almost goes without saying that his presence was met by a famous Rise massive reception. After a short break from the dance floor towards the end of GeRmAn’s set; I got back into the thick of the hands-in-the-air action that was taking place around the venue. I find that when I go out clubbing by myself; I spend a lot more time on the dance floor which suits me just fine. As was the case last week; I didn’t get a chance to dance or take pictures on the podium but this is hardly a major complaint given how enjoyable the night was overall.

As I had hoped; Kuffdam dropped “The Ones We Loved.” Suffice it to say that this evoked a massive reaction from both myself and the entire Rise collective. I had always hoped to hear “Summer Dream” live as this track is such a quintessential uplifting (non-vocal) trance classic and I was utterly delighted when Kuffdam dropped it during the peak of his performance. With three hours of solid dancing under my belt it was time for a quick break. I enjoyed the remainder of Kuffdam’s set whilst sipping on a beer on the sidelines. Sometimes watching can be as enjoyable as partaking when partying at Rise.

Kuffdam received a (well deserved) rapturous applause as he concluded his solid and seemless performance. Perth’s up and coming trance prodigy Nato had the daunting (but rewarding) task of picking up where Kuffdam left off and his one hour performance did not disappoint. The level of tech and electro influences throughout the night had been maintained at a non-excessive, satisfactory level which came as something of a relief (for some including myself). Nato upped the ante to keep the crowd interested but with tired legs I decided to continue watching whilst taking in Nato’s flawless performance.

At 4am Steven Tranzor took over from Nato to close out the night. I would like to have enjoyed the night right until its very end but after one last jig I could go on no longer. After one of the most enjoyable nights I have ever had at Rise (especially from a musical standpoint), I headed back down the stairs just after 5am. I left with a smile on my face knowing that spring was but a single week away – which can only mean one thing; lots more fun in the sun to come in the weeks and months ahead.