Hawthorn’s premier nightclub, Room680, was tonight host for the first birthday party of Melbourne’s trance brand White Sands. Run by onSIDE entertainment, White Sands has been bringing some of the biggest names in uplifting and driving trance to Australia’s shores over the past year, among them Roger Shah, Agnelli and Nelson, and Jon O’Bir. Tonight, Italy’s Jose Amnesia would help celebrate the occasion with a 3 hour set of the mesmerizing music he is famous for, with a strong local supporting lineup.

I arrived just before midnight, just in time to hear Ahmet Atasever finishing a strong warmup set in the main room. If you’ve ever been to Room before, you’ll know that the club’s interior is uniquely decorated for every single show, generally with outlandishly awesome things. Tonight, there were fuffy giant clouds of cotton wool hanging from the ceiling, and translucent cloth hangings strung all around the dancing platforms. The DJ booth had shifted to the back right hand corner of the room, leaving a wide area for dancing, with raised platforms at the back. Not always a fan of the setups at Room, I was impressed tonight, the higher dance area at the back was perfect for watching the sets. A large red laser was centered over the booth, flanked by a smaller RGB on either side. When I walked into the side room later in the night, I was astounded to find two fake fireplaces in the corners, which lit up the room with eery red glows, and have to have been the coolest decorations, hands down, that I’ve ever seen in a club.

At midnight Jose himself took over the decks, opening up with soft, vocal, uplifting tracks. His own track, Invincible, featuring Jennifer Rene, was a standout hit, the whole room singing along, even though Jennifer herself was not there to do so! (Jennifer had originally be scheduled to sing live at the show and had unfortunately had to cancel) Checking out the side room, I found Nick Asker and Huddy banging out an excellent techy set to a good sized crowd. James Brook and Dan Essential both continued to keep the room dancing. Dan’s set, especially, stood out to me with deep breakbeaty basslines and snappy buildups.

Back in the main room, as the night progressed, Jose’s set became slowly more driving and energetic, very melodic and beautiful to listen to. Towards 3, he began to slow things down a little with some classics, such as his own Wouldn’t Change a Thing, which he closed his momentous set with.

To finish off the night, Steve Strangis, Trent McDermott and MaRLo did a mashup set together in the main room. They immediatly started pumping out awesome, upbreat hits, such as MaRLo’s own remix of Brainbox. The next hour or so was epic as the three DJ’s took turns amusing the full eager crowd, as the side room had by now closed. Rain by Armin van Buuren was another standout classic. I headed home before the end of the mashup set, but I have no doubt the party finished up well with a somewhat intoxicated, rather debaucherous crowd loving the music.

Overall, I think the night was very enjoyable. The size of the crowd was perhaps a bit smaller than some other White Sands events, though that was probably due to the unfortunate cancellation of Jennifer Rene and the many coincidental acts, such as Orbital, in town that night. Room’s decoration was impressive, and everyone was enthusiastic, friendly, and enjoyed the slightly less crowded dance floor.