From 2001 until 2009, I lived in Melbourne and became fully immersed in the dance scene there. I attended regular club nights and pretty much every big event on offer. I loved it, and like most Melbournites, arrogantly believed that Sydney clubs and events were inferior. However, in the last couple of years, the scene started changing – and not necessarily for the better. It has not been unusual for Melbourne trance-addicts to make the journey to Sydney for certain events. We needed a change and were impressed by the organisation and relatively trouble-free events that Sydney was providing.

Attending Liberate at Space last Saturday night was reminiscent of the Melbourne scene in the early to mid 2000’s. I felt at home as soon as I entered this well-planned club with its two rooms easily accessible to each other, plenty of seating, clean toilets and fast (though expensive) bar service. The club could easily have catered for more patrons as the side-room was pretty quiet but this is a fairly common problem when international DJs descend upon our shores. It is a shame though, because they guys in the sideroom – VLN, Rossco, Scott Richardson, Nathan Cryptic and Scotty G – all played terrific sets. The main-room, at times, became a little overwhelming and loud, so the side-room was perfect for some chill-out time and the music was generally more classic trance with the inclusion of favourite anthems such as Menno De Jong’s _ Better World” and Jon O’Bir feat. Fisher Found A Way.

I arrived early in order to hear Steve Strangis and Ahmet Atasever and was surprised at how packed the main room was by about 11pm. I have seen Steve Strangis play many times and his sets always surprise me by their diversity. He is continually adding to his repertoire of tracks and mixes which is why he is one of Australia’s most successful trance DJs. He and Ahmet worked well together but I must admit, the pace they set was a little scary, as the night was just beginning.

I was so enjoying Rossco’s set in the sideroom that I missed the beginning of Tritonal but when I went next door, the place was jumping. I haven’t seen these boys before but what a joy they were to watch and listen to! You just have to love the enthusiasm of youth. They were like two little Armins bouncing around behind the decks, coordinating their movements and inciting the crowd to greater levels of excitement. Their uplifting, melodic trance had a freshness about it that was infectious. Perhaps not as technically advanced as the more mature trancemasters, they more than made up for this by playing some fantastic tracks and they had the crowd wrapped around their skillful fingers. I especially loved the way they dealt with a beat-mixing catastrophe half-way through their set! Actually, I am not sure who enjoyed this set more – the punters or the Tritonal boys themselves!

Mike Dierickx played under the alias Push in 2008 but this time he was M.I.K.E – which meant a darker set. The contrast between M.I.K.E and Tritonal was stark. This second international, from Belgium but now living in New York, played a more mature and serious type of trance. It would seem that there are many differing opinions about M.I.K.E’s set. Some people loved it whereas some considered it too cheesy/fluffy. Personally, I am not adverse to cheesiness/fluffiness occasionally. And I certainly didn’t see anyone walking away when Universal Nation was played! It seems to me that anthems tend to be branded cheesy, but admit it: we all love them. There were plenty of hands in the air at the end of M.I.K.E’s set.

John 00 Fleming appeared during the final stages of M.I.K.E’s epic version of Universal Nation and you could feel the excitement in the room build. One might expect a gentle introduction to a 4 hour set but the tempo of the night so far had not allowed for this. John started off hard and fast and continued in this vein for the next few magical hours. I am used to more progressive DJs like Sasha and Digweed playing long sets so it took me a while to understand what John was doing. His set covered so many different genres that it was difficult to get into a groove but then again, it showed what an exceptionally talented and diverse DJ he is. The one genre that I was really looking forward to was psytrance and I was not disappointed. I was delighted when John went down the psytrance road a few years ago and I have seen him a couple of times at bush doofs. He has managed to bridge the gap between hard trance and psy thereby creating his own very special sound.

The only negative about this event for me, was the sound quality in the main room. It was too loud and was diminished if you were standing towards the sides of the room. However, the lasers were fantastic – some of the best I have seen in a club. The crowd was friendly and well-behaved and the security (even though they looked like they were expecting the President to arrive any moment!) were polite and helpful. Watch out Melbourne – the Sydney trance scene is fighting back!