On the 6th of April, trance enthusiasts headed to Birmingham for an electrifying day rave at XOYO, headlined by the legendary Paul van Dyk.
He is joined by an impressive lineup, including Alex M.O.R.P.H, Asteroid, Dark Fusion, and Ruben De Ronde in the main room, plus Anomaly residents Paul Brice, Rich Miller, Russel Priest, Martin Ford, and others in The Roof Garden.
Due to having a little pre-party of my own with friends, we sadly missed Dark Fusion’s warmup set at Trancecoda. I did, however, catch Ruben de Ronde who skillfully maintained the momentum with his eclectic selection of tracks.
The highlight for me was hearing Ruben drop the techno-infused ARTBAT & Armin van Buuren collab ‘Take Off’.
Listen to this track here:
As the night progressed, the atmosphere reached new heights with Asteroid’s electrifying set. Hearing brand new music from his catalogue of trance tunes was amazing, although the lighting in the venue could have been better to suit the atmosphere. In gearing up for the upcoming Annapurna Wales event and Euphoria Weekender, Asteroid also performed his first play of the EW 2024 Anthem, ‘Memories.’
At the same time, Alex M.O.R.P.H was dancing the day away with a pumped energetic set for Anomaly in the Roof Garden. Morph’s set was a testament to his status as a trance luminary, as he effortlessly captivated the audience with his infectious enthusiasm and unparalleled skill behind the decks.
After catching up with Asteroid after an excellent set, we headed back to The Roof Garden to catch Bricey’s set with friends.
Eagle-eyed fans would have caught the old ‘Godskitchen’ esque font on the railings, sparking discussions amongst friends of their best trance events over the years.
To ensure that our reviews are inclusive of others and as honest as possible, I’ll be speaking to members of the UK TranceFamily to get their thoughts on events.
Friends of ours did notice that the atmosphere was better in the roof garden with the warmth from the sunshine and that the ‘room’ was, in fact, an archway.
The smoking area adjacent to it prevented some ravers with asthma from enjoying the trance fully.
In addition, many felt that the music could only be heard if you were near the DJ booth. To improve the audio, XOYO could install surround sound in the area in the future.
As it got colder, we headed back inside to listen to Alex’s ‘MRPHLNDR’ alias, whose masterful mixing and emotive tunes inundate us all with synths, trance, techno, and percussion elements in his music. Outside, Rich Miller hammered out tunes for Anomaly, which provided a good spread of trance for the whole crowd.
Finally, the moment everyone had been waiting for arrived as Paul van Dyk took center stage to close the night. Interestingly, the set started with a dark tone as Paul played a Venture X set. I haven’t heard or seen one of these sets before; I’ve heard some tunes from the label Vandit Alternative, during his 6-hour open-to-close set at DS Leeds a few years ago, but not for the full 3-hour ‘Off The Record’ set.
According to Van Dyk, “VENTURE X allows me to explore the width of what electronic music means to me” and “people know me for trance but there is so much more”, “not just what people expect me to play”.
That’s understandable, as hearing the same classics can become repetitive over time, but I have a feeling the bulk of the audience at Trancecoda wanted those classics.
We also popped back outside to see Russel Priest, who did a good closing set, but when we later returned to catch the final DJ, we heard commercial music and no trance. Maybe it was just the timing of us being there, but it did feel strange.
Back to Paul Van Dyk. With half an hour to go, he played some fan favourites, such as ‘For An Angel’, ‘Time Of Our Lives’, ‘Lights’, and ‘Home’.
In the future, I’d love to hear live PAs from Van Dyk’s vocalists on songs, eg: Sue McLaren and Johnny McDaid during their tracks ‘Lights’ and ‘Home’ respectively.
Towards the end of his set, our highlight was hearing his brand new track ‘Love Is Enough’ with Sue McLaren. This track marks their 10th collab and was released on April 5, so very appropriate to give it a spin in Birmingham.
You can pick up your copy here:
In summary, Trancecoda’s much-welcome return to Birmingham was a success. It was wonderful to catch up with friends from all over the UK and abroad, as we all welcomed Paul van Dyk’s return to Brum. With amazing sets from Asteroid, Alex M.OR.P.H, Ruben de Ronde, Rich Miller, Paul Brice, and many others who supported the event, it will be a day to remember.
Members of TranceFamily UK prefer a day rave over a night rave, as you get that valuable thing we know as sleep.
We look forward to the next collaboration event between Trancecoda and Anomaly, hopefully in the not-too-distant future.
We recommend the following events to attend:
