Submitted by sunrise on 8th October, 07:46PM

The 2008 Gods Kitchen tour has spread its wings again in Australia. The annual event that brings us headline international trance acts from around the world such as The Thrillseekers and Above and Beyond, now celebrates its ten year anniversary. This year’s line up sees the return of Sander Van Doorn (NL), Gareth Emery (UK) and John O'Callaghan (IRE) to our shores as well as some fresh faces - Menno de Jong (NL) and Jon O'Bir (UK), all of whom are renowned for their productions and sets.

The ‘Angel in White’ tour’s first Australian stop was Melbourne’s Hisense (Formerly Vodafone) Arena. Yet another white party theme saw the arena filled with thousands dressed in white. However the novelty is starting to wear off, with some even opting to take a chance on entry by non-conforming in black, and even a pair adorning Teletubby costumes to bring a bit of colour and amusement to the crowd.

As always there was no holding back on the arena décor. Entering the arena; the size of it, the stage, the colours and the mass crowd instantly impresses and overwhelms. The usual angels hanging from the ceiling, and this year’s stage sees the space station leaving us for something resembling an industrial pyramid with the DJ on an elevated platform yet again (DJ worship anyone?). Add in an array of lighting and lasers, and you’ve got a pyramid fit for a pharaoh! Although they didn’t stop there - adding pyrotechnics, a touch of Cirque de Soleil, exotic dancers as well as the reflective mirror suits Oompa Loompa’s throughout the night to bring a real grand production and another edge to the Gods Kitchen experience.

Melbourne's own Steve Strangis got the main floor going and reminded us why we were all there – to hear some Trance! Throwing down Orjan Nilsen's La Guitarra, the crowd got to enjoy an air guitar session, or atleast a few of us did anyway. He also dropped in his latest production – Beam of Light.

The first Vandit of the night Jon O'Bir, gave us a very consistent set. An hour and a half of smooth melodic uplifting goodness, and yet some how kept away from vocal tracks which are usually synonymous with uplifting. Tracks included the Paul Van Dyk remix of his very own Ways and Means, Lemon and Einar K's Anticipation and Andy Moor’s Fake Awake. Ofcourse no genuine uplifting set can go without a track out of Anjunabeats, with Super8 and Tab’s remix of Madness for a little icing on the cake. Anyone who says uplifting is dead was proved very much wrong.

Menno De Jong graced the stage for the next two hours, but tore the place up from the very beginning with much more energy instantly getting the arena excited. While his biggest fans probably weren't surprised, the rest of the crowd certainly were. The intensity was kept high throughout the set, at one point Menno even standing up on the decks with the crowd in disbelief and awe. Lots of sing-a-long favourites here too from the classics of Delerium’s Silence, the Cosmic Gate remix of Carte Blanche to a new favourite - Mike Koglin’s spin of Coldplay’s Viva La Vida.

Next up, Sander van Doorn saw in daylight savings and an end to serving of alcohol within the venue. The opening fifteen minutes came off strongly, but after that he pushed away from trance and opted for a more commercial sound and electro influence getting mixed responses - no surprise to those who had heard his more recent sets, while those coming to hear more of what they heard at 2006's Future Music Festival left disappointed. The bass lines certainly did however leave the sound system well tested. So just how commercial did his set go? Try his remix of Robbie Williams' Close your eyes, Timbaland’s Apologize and Prodigy’s Outta space for a start. He did ofcourse fit in an old favourite – Riff.

Finally, John O'Callaghan continued the style Sander van Doorn left in and delivered the Hacker's classic Underworld – Cowgirl. Eventually the set did break free with John sea-sawing into trance - some may call this inconsistency, others diversity. Either way, he pulled out some real big crowd pleasers rewarding those that had endured to the end of the night. Serving up one of his most well known tracks – Big Sky, Lange’s Out Of The Sky and finally closing the set with his collaboration with Brian Kearney, Exactly and Paul van Dyk’s For An Angel. Those making it to the very end leaving very pleased.

Ofcourse the main room wasn't the only place where it was happening. The side room found Gareth Emery headlining it playing trance and progressive trance. Along with a showcase of local talent from Melbourne's very own Ben Evans, Mike Nichol, Bexta, Dr Willis and Scott Alert as well as Australia’s number one, Tydi.

The 2008 Gods Kitchen tour continues around this weekend and is set to return next year for another instalment of Trance on an epic scale.