Future Entertainment wheeled in the almighty juggernaut that is Godskitchen for it’s annual October long weekend blowout on Sunday. As a drenched Parklife crowd sloshed home in blackened Rabens, we made our way to the Entertainment Quarter hoping that the much maligned production company had laid on a musical feast to blast away the memories of last year’s meagre effort out at Homebush. With a respectable line-up hugely boosted by the much anticipated return of one of trance’s true dignitaries, a pumped up crowd of 5,000 was theirs for the taking.

As the sometimes misunderstood Pee Wee Ferris played out the close of a typically robust set to a packed Hordern, we got our first glimpse of the Boombox, and boy did it look grand. Any concerns about a crappy scaled down version were laid to rest when I turned to a newfound friend and recent graduate of the UK Boombox showing who confirmed that it was the real deal. Nipping out for a beer and a quick look at the last minute Oldskool Arena (what constitutes an arena these days?) in the RHI, we turned back after a short spell saddened that the classic tunes were not matched by the sound. Come on, that pair of modest speakers belonged in the back of a Civic not the Royal Hall of Industries!

We joined the swarm in the Hordern for the intro of scene stalwarts Blank and Jones as the crew put the Boombox through its first real paces, flashing up images of speakers which pulsated perfectly with the beats, a rainbow coloured graphic equalizer and the inevitable spinning turntables. From their perennial classic Cream to jollied up pop tunes from MGMT and Coldplay, the boys from Cologne played out a surprisingly decent set, although it was a little back to front, starting techy and chunky before mellowing into sugary territory perhaps in response to the crowd.

Fellow countrymen Cosmic Gate took to the stage to an almighty roar, the likable duo played to form, a solid if somewhat unspectacular offering which opened with the superb Anjunabeach from Above & Beyond, then flittered between painful ( Find Yourself ) on the pulse ( Inside Of You ) before settling on nostalgia ( Simulated , Exploration of Space , Firewire .) As the rasping synths faded, Jes stepped up and I took a breather with Imagination ringing in my ears.

With no seating in the Hordern and heavy-handed policing of the side areas, the only place to take a back seat was the foyer. Luckily the bars were well stocked and well serviced. Venturing back in for the second half, nothing turned me on apart from a decent crack at As The Rush Comes but all in all Tiesto’s singer was more miss than hit, the thirty minute set not really fitting well into the grand scheme of things.

I would like to both thank and curse Mr ‘00’ Fleming at this point. I cut my clubbing teeth listening to club regular J00F at Camden Palace in the late nineties, but I hadn’t seen him in a month of Sundays. On no less than three occasions did I make it to the foyer in the last two hours only to be sucked back in by a slamming set that rubbed shoulders at times with acid and at others with techno. I felt like Michael Corleone – “Just when I thought I was out… they pull me back in.” From the immense O’Fortuna (it’s a Big Ad) to the Astral Projection remix of Push’s epic Strange World, and an interesting edit of Born Slippy, Fleming delighted the crowd with a deft definition of trance music which respected the Goa roots of the genre and bitchslapped convention with stunning power.

A pair of busty ladies shamed their mothers with some extraordinarily sexy dance moves in the centre of the Boombox as images of some of the world’s most famous cities peppered the screens and the lighting crew brought out the big guns, illuminating the stage like a Dr.Seuss Christmas scene to a fine psy-close soundtracked by Infected Mushroom.

All up a solid night that delivered the goods in most areas. Sure the crowd wasn’t the friendliest, you couldn’t buy a seat for love or money, and the bottles of water were about as tall as Rove, but at the end of the day it’s all about the music right? Bring back the Box next year guys, and get ‘00’ Fleming a permanent visa while you’re at it!