Few names conjure up the same kind of excitement that Armin van Buuren’s does. For the third time in the space of twelve months, the World’s Number One DJ (according to the DJ Mag Top 100 Poll) graced our golden shores for a four hour marathon set at Metro City. Joining him would be one of The Netherlands’ hidden treasures in progressive house music, Mattew Dekay, plus Perth’s favourite support acts in Darren J, Kenny L and Piet El.

Arriving at 11:30, in time for the commencement of Matthew Dekay’s set. Matthew Dekay is something of a quiet achiever in the world of electronic dance music. Since his debut release, One Star, for Erick E’s One Star Records, Dekay has gone on to release tracks on labels such as Deep, Little Mountain and Nascent Recordings. Dekay’s sound spans the spectrum of progressive house, progressive trance and even techno – and he is known to closely study the crowd’s reaction to every track that is played.

Matthew Dekay’s set, I must confess, was very hit and miss. Although it provided a good sample of where progressive house is in 2009, some of his tunes bordered on almost irritating, while others brought out the devil in me. My subjective opinion aside, the crowd seemed to love what was a fantastic set for maturing the mood of the night.

Not wanting to miss the commencement of Armin van Buuren’s set, my friends and I took what we thought was going to be a quick trip to the bar and the ATM. While waiting in line to use said facilities, shock and surprise hit me like the 5:45 train to Mandurah. The music was cut. “Oh Lord, not again,” I thought as the fire alarm sounded for what would be the third evacuation to have occured at a Metro City trance gig. Fortunately everyone remained calm (although this took some cajoling from a handful of people, who reminded those who became aggravated that everyone would have to wait much the same amount of time). They say bad luck comes in threes, and with that in mind, hopefully the alarm will not go off again during future trance events at Metro City.

Once back upstairs, it was time for the show to really begin! The visual display, which it must be said looked strikingly similar to those as seen at Tiesto’s “In Concert” events, looked even more brilliant than before. Red ribbons of light that coursed across the ceiling gave way to all manner of brightly coloured patterns and effects. To top it all off, the DJ booth sat elevated above the crowd and gave the biggest grin in dance music a God-like stage presence.

Armin van Buuren’s set, as I had foreseen, began in progressive fashion before he sent the tempo and his audience into full flight. Early on, highlights included Dash Berlin, Cerf, Mitsika and Jaren’s Man on the Run. Armin is known for creating a varied mood rather than building up tension progressively, and it showed as his set ebbed and flowed from one mood to the next. The crowd, as expected, followed on his every move.

Heading into the second half of Armin’s performance and it was time for some proper hands-in-the-air fun. I felt like I was in my element as Armin dropped Nothing At All, Chakalaka’s Time Gate and Magenta by Nitrous Oxide, but a real personal highlight occurred when he banged out Free Fallin’ by Claudia Cacazu ft. Audrey Gallagher. The huge melody and passionate, Irish-folk tinged vocals from Gallagher evoked an electrical storm of feelings within me. It is impossible to stop oneself from letting go during moments like these.

Armin closed out what had been an epic set with This is Silence (a mash up of Gareth Emery and Delirium). Fittingly, Armin left the stage having received an enormous applause from his appreciative audience, who clearly wished that the conclusion of his performance had not arrived so quickly.

Piet El and Kenny L took control of the rig for the final hour of the night, and it was a huge shame to see a steady stream of people leaving the venue. Not even my friends stayed with me! I, meanwhile, remained until the very final beat. Piet El and Kenny L banged out a dirty, techy set that for me put the icing on the cake.

A tremendous thankyou must go out to Future Entertainment, Mellen Events, Metro City and of course, the performers, for putting on what was a blissful night of trance and progressive. Here’s hoping that Armin’s traditional June visits continue and the almost traditional fire alarm evacuation is extinguished once and for all.