Public Domain, comprising of James Allen, Mark Sherry and MC Neil Skinner kicked off their September 2009 tour of Australia in their self-proclaimed second home, Perth. Their greatly anticipated return to Rise had been forcast by Rise head honcho Simon Barwood as one of the biggest nights of the year. This was perhaps due to the fact that Public Domain’s last appearance in 2005 had the club positively bursting at the seams, and their energetic live performances are something of a rarity in the club scene these days.

After witnessing a clash between the boys in blue (and fluoro) and some people that were outside in the line it was upstairs to catch the end of Simon Barwood’s 2 hour set. Simon came in at #97 in the national ITM 51-100 Top DJ’s, and as you would expect, was playing some wicked tunes, the basslines were shaking the whole club and it was a good preview of what was to come.

As Simon’s set ended he introduced Mark Sherry to the crowd as the “Tech-Trance Master”, which sums him up very well. Mark seemed extremely excited and grateful for the warm reception with which he was met. Chants of “Sherry, Sherry, Sherry” went out for this legend of the dance scene, and after a lengthy buildup the bassline dropped and the packed dancefloor erupted.

The vibe throughout was awesome! Mark was showing why he is up there with the best in the world for what he does, putting on a great performance combined with seamless mixing. Not to mention the great tracks that were being dropped! A bit over halfway through DJ Sherry’s set he played a version of Adaggio that was new to me. That was a great moment in his set, as with the Billie Jean new remix that Mark dropped, that was totally insane and had the entire place grooving along with him. By this stage Mark was joined in the booth by his buddies James Allen and Neil Skinner, and they too were soaking up the great atmosphere that Mark had created.

As Mark’s set drew to a close, punters jostled to get a good position on the dancefloor for Public Domain. It was elbow to elbow, and after Simon Barwood handed over to the trio, MC Neil spoke of how much they love the Perth crowd and that the first track they would play is dedicated to the club. Rise got the place jumping, and that was about the limit of the dance moves permissible on the d-floor as it was absolutely chockers! The sound levels and quality to begin with left a little to be desired, but this was soon fixed. During their 2nd tune the sound was completely gone few a few moments, not sure what was going on there, seemed like a plug had been knocked out or something. Such are the downfalls I guess, of having a more complicated live setup, but nobody really seemed to mind because there were no lengthy pauses.

Operation Blade, Public Domain’s worldwide hit from 1999, had all hands in the air at about the halfway point through their performance. This was followed by another crowd pleaser Here Come The Drums. The energy levels from the legendary dance troupe remained through the roof all the way to the end of the 1hour set. It was time to wind it up, and as Rise resident Rousa took back control of the decks, the PD lads were kind enough to hang around and meet some of their fans. They had to be off to Albany early in the morning, so there would be little rest for this wicked trio. Thanks to all involved for a great and memorable night.