Trance relates to a state of being where a person is detached from his/her physical surroundings. It is a spiritual or paranormal out-of-body experience, an hypnotic, ecstatic hallucination where one is lost in a transcendental vision.
Trance relates to a state of being where a person is detached from his/her physical surroundings. It is a spiritual or paranormal out-of-body experience, an hypnotic, ecstatic hallucination where one is lost in a transcendental vision.
It is clear that from these primal roots trance music received its name- except that at a trance party the music is in control.
Trance music first hit the scene in the early 90s in Europe and is now seen by many as one of the most influential and promising music genres. It has moved from its initially non-commercial beginnings to become extemely popular worldwide. This popularisation has been in a large part due to the DJs, producers and music labels who have contributed so much to the genre. These include DJs Paul van Dyk, BT, Paul Oakenfold, Armin Van Buuren and Tiesto.
Trance is a form of dance music based around rifts and anthems, caught somewhere between house and techno, that follows a free form melodic style with an up tempo 4/4 beat. It can be energetic or chilled and is usually defined by synthesized sounds and massive hooks.
However the true definition of trance music is as obscure as it is ambiguous. It is a genre split by the many sub-genres that it consists of such as euro, goa or psychedelic, hard and progressive trance.
This year’s Festival will be hosting the third year of the trance party, Utopia at Slip Stream Sports Bar in New Street. It will be happening on Friday 3 July with uplifting trance and on Friday, 10 July with hard trance.
The headliner of the event is Tune Raider aka Pamm Legg who is well known for psy-trance (trance with a fast beat that usually happens at outdoor festivals). She was drawn to the scene early on by the exhilaration of the music and eventually decided on becoming a DJ. This was seven years ago and she is now at the forefront of the movement.
Psy-trance is growing more popular in South Africa with a massive movement in Cape Town and growing interest in the Eastern Cape. Tune Raider also created a documentary about it that will be shown at the film festival. The film Under the African Sky traces the 15 year history of trance music in South Africa and is made to educate all about the scene, what the movement means and where it’s going.
If you want to be involved join the likes of DJs Tune Raider, Dr Snuggles, John Reilley, Iggy, Retro head, Skull Monkey and Simon and the accompaniment acts of fire-poi dancers and the Rhodes society DrumSoc at Utopia on 3 and 10 July at Slip Stream Sports Bar.
