I’ll get straight to the point. Sublime delivers yet again. Great DJs, great company, great music and great night. And while Holland’s Bart Claessen may not be one of your more larger-known DJs, but that doesn’t stop him from being large. This tech-trance gentleman came to Oz to prove he’s worth being up there with the best.

I arrived to catch the beginning of Scottie Richardson’s set, and this man could not have started the night any better. He dropped a mix of old – such as Armin’s Sound of Goodbye and newer tunes like The Bizzard Kalopsia and John O’Callaghan’s Big Sky . During his set, the dancefloor was already filling up nicely, albeit a combination of people who loved Scottie’s set, and people who were anticipating Bart Claessen (or just some harder trance in general). As for me? I loved every minute of his set. My highlight was hearing *Maor Levi * Shapes . As this marked Scottie’s temporary departure from DJing, to take on fatherhood (congratulations Scottie and Ness!), he left us with one great, energetic ‘get this into ya!’ set.

Admittedly, Scottie’s set resulted in me placing high expectations of Bart Claessen’s set. Being a fan of his production and remixes, I was expecting the perfect concuction of tech and uplifting trance. Needless to say, I sort of got what I was wanting. Bart opens his set with and awesome uplifter, and slowly progresses it into a bit of electro, before pulling out the tech trance and harder trance in the peak of his set. I remember going nuts hearing a remake of House of Pain’s Jump Around and his remix of Re Con’s Cold Front. When the harder trance came on, I was not really interested in listening to it, so spent some time up in the fresh air. When I eventually came back down, I was welcomed with some tech and uplifting tunes, like 4 Strings Catch a Fall , Sean Tyas Drop and, the tune I anticipated, Shane 54’s mashup of Bart vs Motorcyle As the Playmo Comes . Bart’s set definitely catered for all trance ears throughout his set, and hopefully gained a few more fans on the night, as he was certainly worth them.

Due to tiredness and desire to save my energy for Transmission the following night, I departed from Sublime at the end of Bart’s set. Overall I was happy with the night, and glad to have caught Bart in the flesh.