One year ago, almost to the day, I found myself in charge of reviewing what was quite possibly one of the very best Godskitchen parties staged here in Perth, both in my own opinion and those of my fellow punters. I honestly thought back then that should I be presented with the opportunity to review Godskitchen 2009, the review would not be much different. Amazing sets by all, incredible light-show, awesome crowd, etc. I am afraid, however, that what transpired on the 9th October, 2009, fell somewhat short of the benchmark set by Godskitchen’s past for a number of debatable reasons.

This year’s lineup, it has to be said, did not exactly leap off the flyer in the same manner as last year’s. The Godskitchen 2009 bill featured the likes of Jes, Blank & Jones, Cosmic Gate and John ‘00’ Fleming, whereas last year’s instalment featured names such as Sander van Doorn and John O’Callaghan, names that are seemingly more familiar to the younger generation of trance followers. This is not to say that I prefer some DJs over others, rather that it made me feel slightly concerned that Godskitchen 2009 would not be quite as successful as pulling in the numbers as previous events. The Boombox was, of course, only set to land in Sydney and Melbourne, meaning that the Godskitchen line-up would be the one and only selling point for the Brisbane and Perth legs of its tour. As it happened, my fears turned out to be truly unfounded.

The only real disappointment in terms of the line-up turned out to be the line-up times. John ‘00’ Fleming’s set would only last for ninety minutes (Sydney and Melbourne both got two-and-a-half hours), while Cosmic Gate and Blank & Jones (officially) received a two-hour slot each (Jes’ performance, as it happened, went on for an extra forty-five minutes). Despite much protest from members of the inthemix forums (even emails were sent to Future Entertainment, including one from yours truly), there was no way the event organisers could budge from the allotted schedule.

Unfortunately, owing to an unsavoury incident that occurred at Cockburn train station prior to our arrival, my crew and I arrived at Metro City rather late, which meant that we missed not only sets by locals Jackson & Perry and Kenny L, but also a good chunk of Jes’ live performance. I must say that during Jes’ vocal performance, the crowd seemed rather flat, perhaps even apathetic. Props to Future for mixing up the line-up a bit, however despite Jes’ best efforts, she could not lift the two-thousand-strong Godskitchen crowd.

Blank & Jones have been around the trance block a few times, however recently it seems as though their name has hidden itself in the shadows. I was, therefore, completely unsure as to what to expect from their set. The two German lads played quite a few good tunes (most of which I have never heard before), however their set lacked in terms of build and flow as it went from vocal housey trance to banging tech trance and back again, tune after tune. As was the case with Jes’ live show, Blank & Jones could not quite lift the crowd into the kind of collective state of euphoria as seen at previous Godskitchen parties.

At 2:30AM the other headliner duo from Germany; Cosmic Gate, took over the one’s and two’s (or is it Ctrls+Alts these days?). Once again I had no idea about what to expect from their performance as in my humble opinion, their productions and sets of late have been rather hit and miss. In the end, their set disappointed neither myself nor the Godskitchen massive. As Cosmic Gate’s set built, the Godskitchen audience generated more and more energy. It all came to a head when the boys unleashed John O’Callaghan & Sara Howells’ Find Yourself and then Wippenburg’s Chakalaka, upon us, and I must confess that both of these tracks have grown on me immensely (I used to despise the latter!).

As 4:30 approached, Cosmic Gate’s set drew to a climactic close as the two dropped their very own Exploration of Space. Naturally the lapped it up, as this epic track is very much a part of Australian trance culture folklore. The Godskitchen 2009 massive was truly and palpably alive by now. Cosmic Gate left the stage, taking with them a deservedly rapturous reception.

John ‘00’ Fleming took over and set about creating the mood for what would be a set of epic proportions. His introductory track, an atmospheric piece of music with no beat, seemed to last for an eternity (in a good way, of course!). As the first bar of the next track kicked in, all tension that had built up within crowd of people exploded at once. Surely the word “palpable” was created for such a scenario. Sadly, however, this amazing atmosphere did not stand the test of time, for as my crew and I observed the happenings around us, it became apparent that something was very wrong.

Now, to say that event security was doing its best to kill the vibe is a pretty bold statement to make, however that was the impression that I – and many others – seemed to be getting. Smiles turned into frowns as the night’s security turned the screws. The upper tiers of Metro City were closed one by one and the cleaners moved in, which indicated in no uncertain terms that the security staff wanted to finish the event early. The atmosphere seemed to be plateauing despite the fact that John ‘00’ Fleming was pounding out some of the very best in dark and atmospheric psy-trance.

John ‘00’ Fleming was forced to finish his set at 5:55AM, and despite the highly passionate protests of the many punters that remained the security reigned supreme and the white lights were turned on. I have needed to raise my voice about over-zealous security in the past however this particular night really took the cake. Completely sober and well behaved people should not be denied re-entry to the club at any time prior to closure and every punter should get every bit of their money’s worth with the event finishing no more early than the advertised time.

It has to be said that John ‘00’ Fleming and Cosmic Gate’s performances rescued the night for both myself and many a fellow punter. Otherwise, Godskitchen 2009 would have to be consigned to the history books as a night that could have been as epic and as successful as its predecessors (particularly Godskitchen 2008), but somehow fell short. Yet, as ever, it will be the good memories rather than the bad that shall be consigned to my memory bank, and there were plenty of great memories indeed.