Amy and I got to the Pima County Fairgrounds around 7:30 pm. Amy is a friend of mine who came to give me a ride and help with some of the photos. She even bought me dinner... and it's not even my birthday. This was gonna be a fun night! Thanks Amy:)

There were only about 30 or so kids at the gate. I wanted to go in to photograph the set up and show what it was like before the party got started. But, they said once we got in, we couldn't leave and return. So, we decided to go eat and come back for the night. We had a nice dinner at the Cup Caf�', strolled around a bit and came back. We were gone for only a couple of hours and it looked like in that time everybody had showed up. There must have been at least 5-600 people lined up at the gate with more swarming in by car loads. Lucky for us, we could get in through the crew entrance.

It was already getting chilly and I realized my mistake for not taking my jacket with me again. But, I knew I would be moving around a lot to keep warm. DJ Jimmy came on the same time I got to the stage. The lasers and strobes were just warming up, much like the sea of people in front of the stage. By the time Pharcyde came on, almost the entire ground was covered with people.

I don't care much for rap and Derrick May was a no-show so, I spent a lot of time strolling around the grounds, checking out what else was there. Groovetribe had a cozy little canopy set up and making cool music to keep people warm. Although, Deidre was sitting down, rocking her body back and forth and approaching hypothermia. Later, I found her in the back of the truck, warming herself in front of a bright halogen light.

Next to Groovetribe's setup, there was another big canopy where they had a neat glass blowing table, making all kinds of cool looking pipes on the spot for the crowd.

There was also a massage table where you could get a full body rub performed on you by a group of masseurs for a donation. I was about to go for one when I heard Donald Glaude come on. Sorry guys! Gotta go, bye! I and just about everyone else there ran towards the stage in unison with gigantic smiles. The lights, the speakers and the human energy exploded into the night air. Donald Glaude spun a solid set of progressive trance and the crowd loved it. No one was cold any more!

After Donald, Doran and Jason Blakemore from LA continued the trance tradition for the desert dancers. Last, but not least, Nicholas Bennison from London came on and spun yet another awesome progressive trance music. Everyone danced until sun up and continued to dance even as the cops began to slowly clear the land of people.

I was sad to have missed Musik 99 and I was even more sad when I heard it got shut down by the Phoenix police but, I was so grateful for the night I had, the great music I heard and the wonderful people I saw and hugged. What an energizing night!

Props to Darren and the others involved with making Tranceformation 99 possible. I only hope next year we can have Musik and Tranceformation happen without any competition or incident. I hope we can all remember then why we are in this scene and be guided by our shared love for the music above all else.