In the past year, Undertone has brought Melbourne many successful trance nights, featuring big name internationals such as Airbase, Nitrous Oxide, 7 Skies, and more, always backed up by a strong local lineup. Tonight was no exception, as the evening featured Italy’s trance star Manuel le Saux; who was making his first visit to Australia.

The intimate Amber Lounge was today set up with the DJ booth at the back of the room, creating a deep dance floor, and the bar was situated at the opposite end of the club. I found this arrangement to work quite well since dance floor didn’t crowd the bar and was not affected by toilet thru traffic. In addition, a brilliant full colour spectrum laser joined the regular green lasers and Undertone’s famous bubble machine to dramatically illuminate the venue.

I arrived to hear Melbourne’s own Majera playing a beautiful uplifting set. Full of haunting melodies, it definitely put the crowd in the right mood for the next set! A producer as well as a DJ, I think I heard him play one of his own new tracks too.

Next the crowd eagerly welcomed Manuel le Saux. The next two hours of his set took the room on a journey, as he held the crowd in rapt attention, dropping one mind-blowing song after another. Faces, by Andy Moor & Ashley Wallbridge particularly stood out! In the second hour, Manuel dramatically increased both the speed and hardness of his set, and the energy of the dance floor increased to match. The room was packed and literally jumping up and down to the beat. Especially impressive was the set’s closing song, Lost Language by Aly & Fila, exemplifying the intensely beautiful, driving nature of Manuel’s style of trance.

At 3AM, Scoober Steve, who was celebrating his 21st birthday, took over. His set was significantly harder, pumping techy trance. I found his song choices to be very creative and thoroughly enjoyed the set. The boisterous crowd seemed to as well!

Finally, Dan Miatt’s set finished off the night. He opened with a beautiful vocal track, Gabriel and Dresden’s Tracking Treasure Down, and continued with a haunting, melodic set which finished off such an intense night nicely. The night finished with a lovely encore, insisted upon by the eager crowd!

All in all, the crowd, music, and atmosphere of Undertone combined to create an exemplary night of trance.