Yesterday ended up being a really good event, even if a group of us did disappear two thirds of the way through for dinner…. The DJs of interest to freeform/NRG fans had already played by then, mind, so I didn’t miss too much.

It was my first trip to Club Asia (next door to the fabulous ATOM), and the main floor is nice enough, if a little cramped. The second (Hardcore, this time) floor is a different story though – feeling like someone’s refitted living room, there are only two tiny speakers perched up at the back of the room – resulting in a weak sound that seems to be coming from the wrong direction. Not the best idea, eh?

Cogi was first up, unfortunately having to open the event….why oh why wasn’t he playing later on? Anyway, despite only playing 40 minutes, he came up with a brilliant set, showing why he really is one of the best around – not only for his long mixes, but the always original track/genre choices. Mixing from Painkiller (so that’s the name of that tune) into Halcyon, he followed with an enormous mix into psy-trance track Tost. Finishing with another high bpm psy-trance tune, Cosmo vs Osom’s Instrumental, this was almost an extension of his recent NRGetic Romancer sets. Here’s the tracklist in full, look and admire:

01. Helix & Tekno Dred – Mindless Pleasure
02. DJ Fury – De Sensitize 98
03. Carbon Based – Painkiller
04. Full Circle DJs – Halcyon
05. Narcosis – Tost
06. DJ Rx – Frozen Flame
07. Cosmo vs Osom – Instrumental

To be honest I missed most of DJ Yousuke’s set this time, as he started almost the same time as Guld down on the main floor. I caught the last few tunes though, including Invader’s newish remix of Spiral Life. It’s a good remix, but doesn’t quite have the same power of the original, in my opinion. Here’s the full tracklist though, another great set:

01. Sugar Is Sweeter (Armand’s Drum ‘n’ Bass Mix) – CJ Bolland
02. Life Is Sweet (Daft Punk Remix) – The Chemical Brothers
03. Flash (DJ Sneak Mix) – Green Velvet
04. Samba Magic – Basement Jaxx
05. To A Nation Rockin’ – Metro LA
06. Time 2 Dance – Peacemaker & Billy Bunter & Whizzkid
07. Edge Of Madness (Stu Chapman Remix) – Luna-C
08. Money Maker (Cube::Hard’s 0% Finance Option) – Kid Alaska
09. Use Of Weapons (Dub Mix) – Invader & Cube::Hard
10. Spiral Life (Invader Remix) – DJ Yousuke & Buzzmasta
11. Indecision – Invader Featuring Indigo

Guld’s set was absolutely fantastic, but no tracklist for this one – there were too many promos. The final few tracks though, were what blew the place apart – particularly Last of the Mohicans followed by Hase’s original Galatea. There was also a bit more talk of Guld’s European tour – it seems it’ll be kicking off in November.