“Fuck yeah!” writes Above & Beyond.

The crowd cheers ecstatically. Festival Hall in Melbourne is hot, sweaty and pumping to the sounds of the UK trance producers. The final night of their hugely successful Australian tour, one that was highly anticipated ever since it was announced last year, is here. The hype surrounding this night was…well, “above and beyond” expectations (I know, I know, but I had to do it).

To watch the Anjunabeats/Above & Beyond journey over the past ten years is one to admire. I remember seeing Above & Beyond back when they were relatively new on the scene, I was blown away by their early productions, they were doing something fresh and new at the time, their sound was exciting.

The launch of their now infamous Anjunabeats label and new artists were introduced to us, artists that had a sound that deserved to be heard yet hadn’t had the chance to be exposed. One such artist was our very own Jaytech, who thanks to A&B was able to pave out the amazing journey that he has now been on.

A&B have travelled down under several times in the past – who can forget their practically washed-out gig at Future’s Global Gathering several years ago, where only the diehard fans stuck it out in the rain and mud to soak up the melodic and uplifting trance sounds of A&B. Looking around at the heaving crowd at Festival Hall in 2011, I mentally stepped away from it all and wondered – just when did A&B’s star truly rise here?

Just when did all these people discover A&B, when did they finally join the rest of us who had loved them and their label from the beginning? I’m not sure but one thing is certain – A&B are now huge and I suppose could be said to be giving trance head honcho Armin van Buuren a run for his money for a share in the global trance pie.

I arrived at Festival Hall to Melbourne’s own MaRLo warming up the crowd with a strangely short 30-minute set. Festival Hall has this bizarre knack of locking people into sections, without providing any notification on its ticketing prior to the event so attendees can come in aware and can plan appropriately.

Understandably it is to control the flow of people but the lack of communications about it prior to the event created a very volatile and hostile crowd locked in the side balconies, frustrated to be split from friends and not being able to hit the main floor if they wanted to. That resulted in a rough start for many punters and as MaRLo finished with a rework of classic Sasha’s Xpander, and then Mat Zo hit the decks, the sides opened the gates and a sense of calm came over the crowd, which was a relief for all close to this action. Now, finally, the party could really get started.

To put it quite frankly, Mat Zo stepped up to the decks and smashed it. Never having seen him play before, I was suitably impressed with his set and loved the driving trance and old school acid he was banging out, avoiding any cheese.

He naturally included some of his own productions including Frequency Flyer, Be There 4 U and Superman. The mixing was solid and he ought to be commended for pulling out New Order’s Confusion (Pump Panel remix).

Our beloved Jaytech never disappointed when he hits the decks. He rocked it when he was here for the Interview Rooftop Party and although this gig was a more driving trance crowd than I’ve ever seen him play before, he saw the challenge and stepped up to the plate.

Jaytech kept true to his proggy Anjunadeep sounds but giving it an injection of serious energy – so great to see lots of people dancing to him here in Australia. He deserves it. His productions are quality, such as his track New Vibe that I was able to ID. And I loved that he played Prodigy’s No Good for Me & Opus III’s It’s a Fine Day. Between him and Mat Zo, some classic dance was pulled out with a refresh for ‘now’. Jaytech finished on a high after with Soundprank’s Beginnings and then the baton was passed.

There was no denying it – A&B were adored and revered. Their set was loved, the crowd went nuts for everything they played, particularly off their new album Group Therapy. Personally this gig was an eye-opener to just where the trance scene is heading, and A&B’s direction as their star continues to shine beyond belief. For many, this was obviously the first time to see A&B play, and they were absolutely ecstatic. Scattered between them were obvious long-time fans as well and it made for an interesting crowd and vibe.

As the screens read: “Tonight Melbourne is our home!”

Beyond their own productions, Russian trance DJ/producer with Anjunabeats, Arty got a real good push by A&B, with numerous tracks and remixes of his appearing throughout their set. Without doing an entire tracklisting (hit the forums for that!), standouts definitely included hearing their own tracks Home (Wippenberg remix), Sirens of the Sea (Kyau & Albert Remix), Can’t Sleep (Super8 & Tab Remix), You Got To Go (Club Mix), plus Arty’s Around the World, Daft Punk vs. Kyau & Albert’s I’ll Be There For You One More Time, plus a big new track from Mike Koglin that got the crowd loose.

A&B’s Sun & Moon definitely brought goosebumps – the whole place sang along, was a proper dancefloor moment. On the other hand, I still don’t know why Ferry Corsten’s Punk was dropped, although it was a new version (Arty’s Rock n Rolla remix) was played. It’s been overdone at all the festivals and gigs over the years in Melbourne, I personally I’m kinda tired of hearing it. But the crowd did love it. But then many of them are too young to remember when it first came out!

The finale consisted of A&B’s own Prelude, Above & Beyond & Gareth Emery pres. OceanLab’s On A Good Day (Metropolis), and Above & Beyond’s Sun In Your Eyes. Real hands in the air moment for the crowd and many people seemed truly happy with this ending, satisfied that they had had a great night.

“The future is in your hands” – to finish, A&B expressed complete love for Melbourne and claimed that Melbourne was the loudest and best crowd that they had played for. Awww.

Speaking to many people after the gig, I got the feeling that there was definitely a love-hate feeling towards Festival Hall. Sound-wise, Festy Hall was a bit hit and miss, depending on where you stood. The visuals were great and the crowd interaction with the LED wall was cool, but some lasers thrown in would have be a nice addition.

Now I know A&B’s latest album is angled a bit differently to their Tri-State album but all-in-all, I couldn’t help but feel that A&B have gone a bit cheesy in their increased fame. There definitely were big moments and without a doubt, there were loads of quality tunes but as with every other time I’ve seen them, I can’t help thinking this: amazing producers, definitely. Amazing DJs, not so much.

Their sets sit comfortably at one level for me, full of big tracks and warm moments, but never taking you on a proper journey like you used to hear with trance DJs. That said, the big moments were very big and being down on the main floor, you couldn’t help but get swept up in the electric atmosphere. Thanks must be given to everyone at Totem Onelove for bringing A&B out though to play a proper large venue – it was due time.