Stacey Pullen. A name that has been hot on the lips of Perth scenesters young and old since the announcement of his return once again to our sunny shores. Though there as some initial disappointment felt at the cancellation of Damian Schwartz from the line-up, upon setting foot inside Shape on Saturday night you would not have known it.

The first thing that must be said is of the venue itself and the noticeable improvements, particularly in the upstairs area. It looks as though a fair amount of time, money and effort has going into a new lighting rig and work on the booth itself, including the addition of some pretty swanky looking flat-screens lining the walls behind the DJ booth. Add to that the brilliant sound quality the upstairs room at Shape sports and you’ve got the makings for a top notch venue for a DJ of Stacey Pullen’s calibre to grace.

On with the show… though my late arrival meant that I unfortunately missed what I’m told were both brilliant warm-up sets from “Mr Lucid Dreaming” Aarin F and Habitat regular Luke Reti, I did manage to make my way through the queue in time to catch one of the better warm-up sets I’ve heard for while, at the hands of Flex. And it seems the majority of those on the dancefloor agreed that the style and progression of tune’s throughout Flex’s set were the perfect precursor to the 5 hour marathon about to be laid down by Stacey Pullen.

As the hour of 1am approached, you could almost smell the eagerness and anticipation in the air as more and more people made their way upstairs, cramming themselves in and pushing forward just waiting for that first tune to drop. With an almost agonizingly long build intro, Stacey Pullen had the crowd almost whipped into a frenzy by the time that first clarinet-laced techno track kicked in, and they began to heave.

For any skeptics who may question the validity of a ‘real DJ’ incorporating a laptop into their sets, I challenge you to find anyone as visually entertaining as Stacey Pullen has proven himself to be. Indeed, it was quite some time before I realised that he was running a Traktor setup, so enthralled was I by his enthusiasm and obvious love for the music he was playing. Whether he was singing along, miming an instrument or simply swaying in time to the beat, there is no doubt that this is a man who loves what he does.

Visually appealing, aurally magnificent. In the just over 5 hours that Stacey Pullen was in the booth (and including the two or three quick dashes to the mensroom he understandably needed) he took punters on a journey of musical delight through the Detroit techno sound, along the way stopping by to say hello to a little deep and tech house. A stalwart of the Detroit techno sound, funky horns, piano, clarinet and saxaphone featured prominently in his set accompanied by driving techno beats and bass. From the time the first beat kicked in the energy of his tunes remained at a high level, something the crowded dancefloor didn’t seem to mind one bit.

Though his track selection did not seem to include a whole lot of vocals, there were a few notable mentions. A white label bootleg of The Doors Riders on the Storm and two Nina Simone remixes, Feeling Good and See Line Woman for those keeping track. And for those who stuck around right through to the end, 6am saw the dancefloor again filled and erupting to the enormously popular remix of Donna Summer I Feel Love. When the lights came up at the end of that epic mix, Stacey Pullen had no hesitation in having them turned back down again for just one more…