Trancetastic Oxygen


I'm pleased to say that there's a trance revival currently hitting the Auckland club scene, led by the likes of Justin Sane with Fragile and Jay Kay with Oxygen. There's also a couple of new venues that have opened recently, like the lushly furnished Starzz by Albert Park. With clubs and promoters making more of an effort with production and comfort, more people are coming out to play.

What struck me most about Oxygen was the wide age range, with some people easily in their forties enjoying the house and trance rooms. Since hard house become the dominant genre in Auckland, old skool ravers like myself have stayed away. You can't dance all night to music at gabba speeds, unless you're chewing your face off on party pills. Thankfully the BPMs are coming down and it's starting to get fun again.

Starzz is a gorgeous new venue with two rooms, lots of comfy sofas and LCD screens, so even when you are lounging on leather you still feel part of the action. Once you get past your early twenties you need social spaces to meet, greet and rest your feet, if you are going to spend up to 8 hours out partying. I never once had to queue in the ladies loos, and they even have their own chill out space. As someone used to partying in warehouses back in the UK, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.



The music was great all night (no more Nails - yay!), and we got to be in amongst the action all night. Even though I love doing the big gigs, being up in our control room sending eye candy to the big screens, sometimes the smaller ones can be more fun as you get to connect with people on the dancefloor. People notice what you are doing, and it was lovely how many people stopped by to say how much they enjoyed our Mohawk Media VJ show.

I'll have some video clips to put up soon but in the meantime you can check out the Oxygen Photo Galleries at the following NZ dance sites:

NZRave 1: Photos by Gouba, NZRave 2: Photos by Yu_Angel, Twisted: Photos by Claire, Biggie: Set 1 / Set 2