Aussie Report: Final Transmission & Sounds of Q-Dance Expectations

Posted by Moe on Mar 19, 2009 in Events | 0 comments

The 17th of March was a sad day for a large number of Sydneysiders as inthemix – one of Australia’s most popular and trusted dance sites – reports that the last Transmission dance event will be held in May of this year.

As the article explains, Transmission events have been running since 1996, with over 50 shows under their belt. With constantly changing lineups, covering not only hard trance acts like Bas & Ram, Scot Project and Marcel Woods, but also regular trance with Sean Tyas and Paul Van Dyk, and even hardstyle sets with Donkey Rollers, Technoboy and Showtek, the massive nights have become a staple in many a Sydney hard trance, and more recently, hardstyle enthusiast’s party agenda.

Also mentioned in the article, the lineup for the final event. It includes local hard dance legends such as our favourite Ferris’s, John and Pee Wee, Chromatic, Nik Fish and Bexta. To entertain the hardstyle punters, the good news (for some) is that Headhunterz and Wildstylez have been included on the bill. This likely means an hour solo set from each, and a joint Project 1 performance. Whether or not these knights of nustyle, loved by many but also hated by lots, are a suitable act for the Final Transmission is a debatable question. To us, it seems like a bit of a cheap kicker.

If you’re an experienced raver or just a newbie wanting to experience the scene, pay homage to Transmission on the 30th of May, at the Sydney Olympic Park.

On the bright side of things, Sounds of Q-Dance: Sydney is only two days away, and what can we expect from this glorious night?

Nitrouz & Shayla, the Australian representation and warmup set of the night. Nitrouz is known to a play a pretty mean hardstyle set, normally focusing on the Dutch side of hardstyle, Showtek in particular. Shayla, known worldwide only for her annoying inappropriate portrayal of Australians in Technoboy – Oh My God and soon to be Technoboy & Prophet – Pyscho Ex also graces the stage together with Nitrouz. There are rumous of a live Oh My God. One can only pray.

Fausto, the half Dutch, half Italian madman that plays a weird fusion of hard trance, dance and techno, will start off the internationals and provide those who enjoy a softer side of harddance with something they can enjoy. If we’re to base his set off his latest release, Raise Up, we’d be in for a techish treat with long melodic break sections.

A-Lusion is the starter for the hardstyle internationals. Coming from an astoundingly impressive backing of solid releases on Scantraxx, A-Lusion starts at 11, which seems to be the most logical place to play the atmospheric Q-Dance movie and turn on the lasers.

Arguably the most technically skilled hardstyle DJ, Isaac plays at midnight. With an older sounding style, amazing scratching skills, and the massive hit, In My Veins, Isaac is not to be stopped. Upcoming release ‘The Sound of the Underground’ and ‘The Afterworld’ is further proof of this. Looking at recent tracklists, it seems we’ll be in for a trip through some of the more recent, raw sounding hardstyle.

Davide Sonar follows Isaac with some Italian style. Coming off from the surprisingly popular ‘Natural’ (and not much else, bar his semi-popular techno-ish roots), Sonar is bound to attract a lot of attention from the crowd. What most people do not know is that he generally plays a mix of old and new, of ‘real’ Italian and modern nustyle.

Luna should play a pretty interesting set, thanks to his involvement with the new and different but brilliant label, Minus is More. Hopefully he’ll have a bit more luck with the equipment this time around.

In the past, Tatanka has had a penchant for playing a great mix of older and newer tracks. From the amazing Technoboy mix of GTP, to the unreleased collaboration between him and his understudies, Bass Modulators, to even his recent work with Zatox under Wild Motherfuckers, punters should be in for a wild ride with one of the kings of Italian hardstyle.

Scantraxx newcomer Scope DJ will likely be playing the most ‘nustyle’ set of the evening. With every release so far being snapped up by the willing crowds, it’s likely he’ll be a crowd favourite. Arguably, he has a talent for writing melodies, but what is Q-Dance hoping to achieve by having the expectedly second ‘softest’ act of the night play as the second last?

Pavo is well-known for owning what is probably the biggest collection of hardcore & hardstyle vinyl in the world. Most of the time, he uses it to either play an awesome early hardstyle set, or a terrible nustyle one.

All in all it should be a fanastic and memorable night for all involved. Australia’s ‘true hardstyle lovers’ have not been heard by Q-Dance, but luckily, most of them are in Melbourne anyway. For the rest of our hardstyle and party-loving folk, Q-Dance’s high production standards and a line-up which is far from bad will do the trick.

Feel like discussing furiously? Here are links to the Q-Dance World Tour topic and Final Transmission thread.

P.S. by Ool: You may have noticed this is the second ‘Aussie report’. With these reports, we welcome a new writer to the blog: our friendly Australian webmaster Moe. Stay tuned for more Australian hardstyle & hardcore news in the future.