May 2nd, 2008 has come and gone, and with it one of the most exciting trance sets I have ever heard. Above and Beyond performed at Pacha, the “It Club” in New York City, and their deep, and uplifting style was dynamic, to say the least. These three have mastered the skill of shaping the Trance Experience. Couple that skill with great taste in tracks, and you have a force to be reckoned with.

Pacha is a club setup with constantly shifting colorful fields of light, huge flat screens displaying psychedelic visualizations, and the best sound system I have ever experienced trance music with. Pacha’s sound system is incredibly clear, full spectrum, and free from any distortion. I can’t tell you how many events I’ve been to with distortion on every beat of the kick drum, and I was ever so pleased to enjoy music so clear that I didn’t notice how loud it was until I left. Pacha’s management has obviously spent top dollar to create an environment that is exciting, colorful, and with sonic integrity.

The one thing that surprised me about Pacha was the size of the club. It has several floors, but is really only a medium sized venue when compared to the likes of the now deceased Crobar. I think that Pacha should be larger, because the main floor, where Above and Beyond was performing, was so crowded, and cramped that surprisingly no one was even dancing. The savages were jumping up and down, and generally going crazy, but there was far from any room for people to dance. Wall to wall people. There was hardly a square foot of floor space unoccupied, and treading a path through the crowd was a slow moving journey. None of those issues stopped me from having a great time though.

Security at the door was tight. I’ve never been groped so thoroughly by security personal, and was glad that I was not carrying any contraband into the place. I think that the only place to sneak something in would be in your skivies. Be warned, and advised. There’s of course plenty of booze to go around. I don’t like alcohol much, so I don’t know how pricey drinks are, but as things typically go in New York, I’m sure you could easily drop $150 - $200 on booze in an evening.

In summary, the evening was all I hoped for and then some. If you haven’t seen Above and Beyond, then you’re missing an amazing trance experience, and if you live in New York City, or near by then you should definitely be on the lookout for cool events at a very fresh club. It could be bigger, but that would probably just mean that they would let more people in, and it would still be just as packed in. Security is tight, so if you’re thinking about bringing anything in then you need to be creative. All in all…amazing music amazing club, it was an amazing night in that ever so metropolitan way.