Written by Bianca Tavitian

 

If you have been living under a rock for the last few months, Transmission - Another Dimension was brought to Sydney last weekend for over 8 hours of trance goodness, and boy, they did not hold back!

If you missed our article back in October, we reviewed phase 1 of the line up, where the team at Symbiotic brought some of the worlds biggest heavyweights in trance music, with the likes of Gareth Emery, NWYR (better known as W&W’s Trance project) Paul Van Dyk, Ben Nicky, and Aussies very own MaRLo. We warned you back then, this was one event not to be missed, and of course we were not wrong!

 

In the lead up to the event, we were teased with information that would best describe the production to be on par with Transmission in Europe; we’re talking top notch stage setup, production, lighting, sound system, and lasers. What is a Transmission event without a multitude of lasers, giving even those of able health a borderline epleptic fit?!

 

But let’s rewind things a little and talk you through to the lead up.

The BTD team comprises 8 of us, with only 2 actually living in Sydney. This meant logistics and prior planning to ensure the smoothest of days.

 

Sydney Olympic Park is actually no where near anything close in Sydney, and for those of you who have been to Sydney for events before, you know what it’s like (or not like) to get your hands on an uber/taxi or having the luxury of being able to get on the last train out of there. Our #1 PRO tip - we booked a minibus, and my gosh, was this the smartest idea ever had. We had no worry going to and from the event, with the bus dropping us off as close as possible, and waiting for us for our return. If it’s one thing I will always suggest, is booking the bus to make life so much easier!

 

Sydney has gone through some of the biggest music event changes in the last couple of months; with the lockout laws being abolished and introduction of measures such as drug amnesty bins, it was always going to be interesting to see how the actual entrance of Transmission was going to treat us. 

For those who went last year, some of the most epic “horror” stories came from the event, with patrons waiting up to 2.5 hours in the DMZ, from bag check to actually be allowed in to the Olympic Showgrounds. We were aware of this, and decided to make the most of our ticket costs, and booked the bus to get us in there by 6pm.

 

I for one, was worried about this part of the evening; I had heard stories of when things HAD gone wrong and people getting body searched, finding nothing on them, and still wrongfully refused entry - I won’t lie, it was not helping my anxiety at all, for no other reason than, I just simply wanted to get in there and dance.

And all I can say about all of my own experience of the above is simply; “what difficulties?!” That’s how easy it was for us. I don’t know if it was the time we were walking in, but I think it took all of 15 mins to go from the front door, through bag check and through the DMZ into Olympic Park. Yes, later on in the night I heard that the DMZ took up to 1 hour, but even here in Melbourne this is to be expected. 

 

And then the fun truly began…

Last year, I opted to attend Above & Beyond in Brisbane as opposed to Transmission (being on the same weekend), and I ended that weekend with some epic laser show regret. Boy oh boy, did this weekend past make up for it.

 

If it’s one thing that Trance events always nail, it’s their stage and production, and Symbiotic did not cut corners with this bad boy.

Parking ourselves only a few meters from front left of the stage, we could watch the stage illuminate and come to life within seconds. No artist’s production was the same as the other, nor did any artists have a production that was more/less than each other; it was perfectly matched for the style set each artist brought to the evening.

As we made our way into the Exhibition Halls, awed by the production in front of us, Finnish DJ and producer Orkidea was half way into his opening set. Warming up the crowd with progressive melodic trance, Orkidea was the perfect entrée to the feast that was to come. What followed was an onslaught of high energy euphoria, with Darren Porter followed by Sneijder. Darren Porter did not disappoint with his uplifting brand of Trance with the highlight when he dropped his collaboration with Jay Flynn, a remix of Strange World by Mike Push which transported us into the stratosphere. Sneijder took the baton and ran with it playing a hard hitting, pure trance set from the get go and The Transmission crowd, which by now had grown in size considerably, were eager for more.

 

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For me, one of the biggest acts I could not wait to witness again, was Gareth Emery. I haven’t been a lover of trance from the get-go, and Emery’s songs were some of the first songs that educated and taught me the essence of what trance music has to offer a listener. For so long I was desperate for those iconic, well positioned “drops” that big room music allows, and while big room still holds a place in my heart, trance has opened my repertoire and appreciation to melodic journeys in a different way.

Emery opened with Mezzanine, and the mood was instantly set for the next hour, wrapping up the set with my (and everyone around me) all time favourite Saving Light. For an Aussie, I am desperate to get myself to the US to witness one of his epic Laserface shows in full effect, however, his Transmission production was second to none - lasers, lights, and the perfect wave of new and nostalgic music, and we cannot fail to mention the true Aussie touch, by remixing Land Down Under into his set.

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Following on from Gareth, we had NWYR bring the energy that we know and love from the Dutch duo, followed by Aussie’s homegrown favourite MaRLo, and UK’s most raved about traveller Ben Nicky. Right through, each one of these artists brought that next build of energy the crowd was ramping up for. MaRLo, in true fashion, brought his iconic sound that completely filled the arena. Add in a high level of production, and an epitome of lasers, if felt like I was right back in Freedom Stage at Tomorrowland watching him again.

We witnessed Ben Nicky bring a hard trance set for the majority of his set, bringing out Sydney’s Sunset Bros. to perform their iconic track I’m Feeling It, which Ben picked up and remixed within weeks of the original being released. Ben ended his set in a way that (I would assume) most of us haven’t seen him do in quite some time, by bringing it right back to his UK roots and playing On a Good Day - OceanLab; a really melodic finish to his set. The final dj to play was Trance godfather Paul Van Dyk, playing a set that is textbook and true PVD style; it was considerably slower, and much more melodic than every set prior, and it made total sense why Ben flipped his set to go back to his roots.

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And we must applaud Symbiotic on structuring one of the best set time lineups an Australian festival has ever seen. When you reviewed it, you could actually envision the build of each artist, in your mind, and it absolutely did not disappoint.

 

The BTD team cannot speak highly enough of the Transmission brand itself, if you find you are crossing paths with the event while in Europe this year, be sure to attend and have your mind absolutely blown away! And as for next year, we will be there, and Symbiotic have A LOT to live up to in order to make this a three-peat for the books!

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