The bill read like a recipe of ingredients fit only for an eatery of heaven like proportions for 2009’s Brisbane installment of Godskitchen. Due to the club setting for the Brisbane leg, the infamous boom box was to miss out, disappointing many fans of the world famous brand. Given this, it was interesting to see if the tantalising smell of international artists wafting from Godskitchen at The Met would be strong enough for people to leave satisfied.

It was the biggest Friday night the Met had seen in a while and walking in, it was obvious with an eclectic mix of fans. The popularity of the event enabled it to attract fans of The Met, The Godskitchen brand and of course trance music. In anticipation for ‘Tiesto’s singer’ Jes, I hurried in the club and took position near the temporary sound desk at the back. Cleverly moving through her own hits, a couple from Motorcycle, the track people had arrived early to hear, finally had its’ turn on the backing track. The opening bars of Tiesto’s version of As The Rush Comes played and on cue, Jes beautifully synchronised the lyrics of his enchanting remix. The crowd, captivated by her presence, sang every word in unison and clearly revered in the closing track.

German duo Blank & Jones ushered themselves behind the decks to quickly acknowledge the floor packed with names from across Brisbane’s electronic dance music scene. Cleverly sensing the tastes of the crowd, their set was consistently negotiated through progressive house to progressive trance. Given the artists to come, the genre was generously applied to the floor being careful not to spoil the delights to follow. Including treats such as Pryda’s Miami to Atlanta, Blank & Jones powered through a well-heated set, which the floor was enthusiastically devouring.

Signaling the rise of the evening like yeast to bread, the two German DJ’s made way for their fellow countrymen in headliners Cosmic Gate. By this time, the kitchen was full of fans prepared for the opening spins of their first track. With their new remixes of Deadmau5 Clockwork and Markus Schulz pres. Dakota’s Sin City the set represented the cream of Cosmic Gate’s remix crop. After sampling from their latest album Sign of the Times with the self-titled track and Not Enough Time the duo increased the intensity with Ferry Corsten’s Made of Love. The crowd remained indulged with the storm being cooked up by the boys and their charismatic interaction sweetening the recipe. Meanwhile, the new look Met lighting and resident dancers provided the perfect visual compliment to the audible delights. The anticipation of the inevitable climax of the evening came late set with their remix of John O’Callaghan’s Find Yourself. Every melodic and meaningful Sarah Howell lyric was echoed loud and proud by the crowd realising they were definitely not alone. Those that had dashed off for short breaks in other rooms of the house, quickly returned to the kitchen to drown themselves in the ecstasy of one of the biggest trance hits of ‘09. Being careful to ensure consistency in the mixture of final tracks of the set, their Rain remix of Armin van Buuren’s epic received more vocal stimulation from the crowd before handing over to dance music’s own James Bond, Mr John “00” Fleming. With the crowd still mesmerised from the main course, Fleming’s desert wasn’t going to be for everyone but it was a delicious for those that stayed. He increased the BPM’s slightly and began playing a rich and firm hard-style trance set which true Fleming fans ate by the spoon full. His track with Christopher Lawrence Beyond the Limit was garnished with 2009’s Nervous Breakdown. Although the crowd had thinned as the cooking time increased into the early morning, ‘Joof’ preferred things shaken and stirred dropping his popular mix with Wizzy Noise of Muse’s Knights of Cydonia.

The traditional stadium presentation that is Godskitchen was definitely missed, yet the juicy assortment of international acts cleverly negated this. It showed that while God may not be a DJ, he certainly knows how to throw one hell of a house party where (minus the boom box) no one actually minded partying in the kitchen.