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-- Utopia - The trance Surprise.

Utopia - The trance Surprise.

Just come back from utopia today , and surprisingly i was quite impressed with the cailbre of trance being played in the trance arena.

I went out to the nite expecting the usual foray of hardcore and the like ( not really my style ) but was pleasantly surprised upon entering the trance arena. The very first track i heard as i walked in was Marco V's mix of Energy 52 - cafe del mar.I couldnt believe my ears, i thought i was imagining it.
A few tracks later i was also greeted by SolarCoaster and an the legendary For an Angel.

From then on i was hooked, as nervous and flipside played great sets that are really pushing the uplifting genre in Sydney.

Great to see something other than usual hard stuff that was being played in the main( thinkee wee ). once again id like to say i was very surprised.

Any 1 else attend last nite?

Indeed... It was a shame the actual room was too bright, darken the atmosphere and add a few more strobes and it would have been fully sick! Only stayed in the mashed-up room for about an hour, my friends thought the music was too soft / "pussy" , spent most of the night in the main arena But the lighting in the superdome was crazy! Best I'd ever seen!

Solstice - Do you remember hearing Barthezz - On The Move in the trance room? If so, do you know the name of the track that was spun after it? I hear that track every club/party I go, and right now, its stuck in my head! hehehe Sounds similar to Veracocha - Carte Blanche main melody, but not as tight and quick - the melody is much smoother.
It was also the first track in DJ Chester's set.

i was there with pimp, spaz and met up with a bunch of friends. initially i was reluctant about going because of the impression i got at two tribes of 15+ events, but i hadn't been to a Utopia before (heard many things - positive and negative - bout it) and my friends already had their tickets. so i managed to drag pimp along, and i am so glad that we went.

although techno, hardcore or even happy, isn't my cup of tea i found the whole atmosphere, energy, crowd, lasers, and hard beats just amazing. i was very impressed by the whole productions. security was nowhere as tight (for us 'old folks') as it was @ TT, and they let me take my camera in w00t

we arrived just in time for bexta's live set in the main arena, and man can she mix. nice track selection too - unfortunately i don't know the names of any of the tracks ;/ if anybody knows what she played i'd like to know coz i want some of them tranc-ier tracks she dropped. she played this one track that had the rift from cafe del mar but was a lot harder. damn it was good.

fenix followed and he pumped it hard. i think he dropped Jurgen Vries - The Theme ? he kept the energy up for ultrasonic vs public domain and boy did they tear it up hardcore styles.

ok for all you ultrasonic fans that were at utopia - what ol'skool tracks did they play?

i remember..

Underworld - Born Slippy
Paul Van Dyk - For An Angel
Crooklyn Clan & Fatman Scoop - Be Faithful (Remix)
Ultrasonic - 1,2,3,4
Ultrasonic - Obsession (excellent track to close the set)

not sure if the top two were played by ultrasonic or dj fenix but it was awesome.

somewhere in the second hour of ultrasonic's 3 hr set i went to get some water and nervous was playin in the "mashup" room and i happened to walk past when he dropped Energy 52 - cafe del mar (marco v remix). nothing like that track to make me go nuts

i then returned to the main arena to watch the rest of ultrasonic and then caught about 20 mins of peewee. he dropped a really crazy track (i think it was the 2nd or 3rd one of the set?) and i heard him play it @ TT but i have no idea what it's called. fook, it's a top tune !

anyways, after that we headed on home as a couple of us (not including myself) had to work.

all in all - i had a great time. really good first impression of utopia that's for sure

here are some pics i took...

quote:

Originally posted by eRRaTiK i then returned to the main arena to watch the rest of ultrasonic and then caught about 20 mins of peewee. he dropped a really crazy track (i think it was the 2nd or 3rd one of the set?) and i heard him play it @ TT but i have no idea what it's called. fook, it's a top tune !

You probably mean a track called "the race". its an awesome track and its one of his signature tracks he pumps out all the time (like Jurgen vries - the theme).

On another note, did any 1 happen to get on the jumping castle? , was a pretty insane experience bouncing and listening to SolarCoaster at the same time .

Utopia in Sydney sounds like it kicked arse over the Melbourne leg of the trip. Unfortunately as most of you would know, Mark Spoon from Jam&Spoon, Storm cancelled which was the main reason heaps of people wanted to see. Commander Tom played alright (bit techy though) and then Midro came on and put on a show. But overall the party was a bit of a bummer unfortunately and obviously wasnt anything like the Sydney leg.......

quote:

Originally posted by Solstice On another note, did any 1 happen to get on the jumping castle? , was a pretty insane experience bouncing and listening to SolarCoaster at the same time .

dayammmmmmmmmm that woulda been so cool

OMG I SOOO DIDNT WANT TO GO TO THIS considering i had to go see anne savage the previous night (friday), then work saturday day then UTOPIA (saturday night) then wok sunday day... damn..

BUT IM SOO GLADD I WENNNTTTTT OMG IT WAS AWESOME
IM SOO IN LOVE WITH BEXXTA AT THE MOMENT HER SET ROCKED, I think im gonan stalk her.. anne savage is a bit of a hottie to.. hmm yumm lisa lashes too .. yeah what a threesome...

DAMN not enough sleep.

Yeah But i definitely will be back next year!!!!! The atmosphere was soo cool... i couldnt believe That every babe I asked to pose for a photo did happily... AWESOME NIGHT...

PAULIE I LUBBB YOUUU LONG TIMEEE

PS. OMG WHEN I HEARD SARAH MCLAHCLAN VOCALS - FROM HER TRACK POSSESSSION I JUST DIED A THOUSAND TIMES.. SARAH IS MY GODDESSS AND IT SERIOUSLY MADE ME CRY ... OMG I LOVE THIS SHIT.

And yeah when ultrasonic dropped OBSESSION... THAT WAS BRILLIANT >> I knida knew that was gonna be played... was expecting that all night... but it still was perfect when it came on... those guys are seriously world class DJs even though they play techno....

But it seems to me the techno is slowing down and getting as melodic and uplifting as Trance now adays.. maybe soon it will be hard to tell them apart.

This was my 4th time at a Superdome Utopia, and it was amazing!

The main room still looks spectacular. The production standard has improved even more. It was apparent that effort was put into making this a high quality event.

A very important factor of a rave event are the visuals. This time there was a big improvement with the lighting. There were lights ("Varilites"?) all around the entire arena (placed in a seating row) rather than all just at the front.

Instead of just one big mirrorball, this time there were many mirrorballs of various sizes, and the configuration produced very beautiful effects whenever the lights and lasers reflected off them.





There was a laser coming from the back. This helped in producing the feeling of being surrounded by lights and lasers... which is not an easy task for a venue like the Superdome main arena! I think they did a good job with this, surely moreso than the previous Superdome events in which all lighting and lasers came only from the front.

This time the lasers were better. Rather than just blue and green, I could see rainbow colours being shot out, it looked very nice. I think they were more powerful too than previous.





There were sets of small loudspeakers hanging from the ceilings on either side of the stage in the ain arena. The sets were shaped like a honeycomb, with each set holding around 20 small loudspeakers. I hadn't seen these before, so they looked interesting. I had no complaints about the sound in the main arena.



As much as I love uplifting trance, I did not go to Utopia for trance. So I hardly stayed in the trance room, other than for a bit of Phase One's set... yet he was playing trancecore, which, for a rave, is what I prefer more than trance! This time they used the area that was previously used for the hardcore room, and which also used to be the entrance.

I wasn't too impressed by Public Domain and Ultra-sonic. It was mostly quite boring and slow. Though there were a few classics which were good to hear, a couple of tracks from the "Tekno Junkies" album. Though what made my night was Ultra-sonic's final track, which is also my favourite Ultra-sonic track:

Ultra-sonic - Obsession

I went crazy as the first few deep epic atmospheric sounds began to fill the air. I turned to a little girl next to me and told her "I love this track, it's called Obsession by Ultra-sonic, it's awesome!", though I don't think she comprehended. She's probably too young to know Ultra-sonic's music. An epic and euphoric classic rave track it certainly is, which makes it so appropriate for the huge main arena of a large rave event like Utopia. I think this track must have had an influential part in the development of the style of uplifting trance, which at that time was non-existent.

The main arena was great for the visuals, but because the music was mostly hard trance I spent most of my time in the hardcore room, where the real rave music was played. Both Sharkey and Kevin Energy played trancecore for 2 hours each. I loved it. The music was very fast and intense and often melodic, as trancecore should be, though occasionally diverging into breaks and hardcore.

I spent the final hour in the hardcore room during which time Team Rocket (Dave PSI, QT, Destiny) was on and playing happy hardcore. The classics never die, and there were quite a few, such as Bang! - Shooting star, Dune - I can't stop raving, Dune - Million miles, and of course A-tension - Angels which was the final track of the night. As I danced and sang along to this track I was in tears... an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia fell upon me, as special memories of my rave past resurfaced.

The Superdome Utopia events seem to be popular for people attending a rave event for the first time. I think it's a good example of how a well-run and polished large-scale rave event is. I know a lot of people who had no idea of the rave scene or culture attend a Superdome Utopia, and all invariably have a great time, some falling instantly in love with the whole experience. However I don't think that the hard trance that is played in the main arena is representative of the rave scene. Hardcore, happy hardcore, and trancecore are the music that the rave scene is made of. The smaller, somewhat underground-style rave events are better representatives of the rave scene.

I urge anyone who has never been to a rave event to experience it. Ideally attend at least one good small underground-style event like Mystic or Scattered, and attend atleast once a large scale rave event, the best of which is Utopia at the Superdome.

Hi eRRaTiK, the photos are nice, I like those laser shots.

quote:

Originally posted by eRRaTiK man can she mix. nice track selection too - unfortunately i don't know the names of any of the tracks ;/ if anybody knows what she played i'd like to know coz i want some of them tranc-ier tracks she dropped. she played this one track that had the rift from cafe del mar but was a lot harder. damn it was good.

I believe she played live, which means she played her original stuff using her equipment such as keyboards, drum machine, etc rather than just play vinyl.

I wasn't there though, I was in the hardcore room for Sharkey's set.

quote:

ok for all you ultrasonic fans that were at utopia - what ol'skool tracks did they play? i remember.. Underworld - Born Slippy Paul Van Dyk - For An Angel Crooklyn Clan & Fatman Scoop - Be Faithful (Remix) Ultrasonic - 1,2,3,4 Ultrasonic - Obsession (excellent track to close the set)

Ultra-sonic - Annihilating Rhythm
Ultra-sonic - Check your head

and a couple of others I recognise from their Tekno Junkies album.

AWESOME PICS HYPER!!!!

YEAH IT WAS A GREAT EVENT>>> BUT I LOVE TRANCE AND I WAS SOO HAPPY THEY PLAYED ALOT OF TRANCE IN THE MAIN ARENA WHICH ABSOLUTELY ROCKED!!! LOTS of BREAKS TOO... They may aswell get some BIGGER trance DJs like Tiesto or PVD to play there... caus theyve got the crowd and most people seemed to be enjoying the TRance...especially when Ultrasonic dropped "FOR an Angel"... i m quite sure that got the loudest crowed response.

quote:

Originally posted by Hyperdimension Hi eRRaTiK, the photos are nice, I like those laser shots.

thanks dude, your shots are awesome. i guess that makes us the official TA photographers @ Utopia ;P

quote:

Originally posted by Hyperdimension I believe she played live, which means she played her original stuff using her equipment such as keyboards, drum machine, etc rather than just play vinyl.

Yeh, she did play live. That made it *that* much better i think.

I would have to agree with Hyperdimension that the type of music played in the hardcore room was definitely more of what you'd expect from a "rave" event (and the lineup on the advertising material), and the stuff pumped out of the main arena was a cross between the raver age of the 90's and the (progressive/melodic/uplifting) trance style of today. However, it's not quite a trance event and i hope it doesn't become one.

It was good to go to something different (from the usual trance parties) for once and to get some (to me anyway) harder energy happening.

If only we could get that kind of production (crowd, visuals, arenas) for Two Tribes / GodsKitchen.

Nice pics

Sure looks like u had a good time...


So when's the next big party happening in Melb?? Joof? Solar Stone?? Tiesto??

Anyone??

quote:

Originally posted by Master_Yoda Nice pics Sure looks like u had a good time... So when's the next big party happening in Melb?? Joof? Solar Stone?? Tiesto?? Anyone??

fk id die if solar stone and tiesto were playing on the same nite!!.

Im praying godskitchen is in a bigger venue in sydney ths year tho, GAS is way too small .

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