DAMMIT... I forgot to post my Trance Energy Review for everyone here..... Well, here you gooooooooooooooooooo
You could feel the energy from the train station. There was only one place for everyone to go from there, Jaarbeurs! As groups of partiers met up with each other and trance fanatics shouted with excitement, we turned the corner to see massive light fixtures and the Trance Energy logo.
We walk indoors to thousands of people clumped together. As we wondered how long it would take to get in the doors, we noticed we still had no idea where the front doors were.
Herding in, we found our way through the gates to a arena or lockers instead of a coat check… makes sense when you have 30,000 people! Stuffing our coats and bags and sweaters into the locker, we walk to the security check point only to have a quick pat down and sent in, some people searched more thoroughly than others. We were in!! the music playing faintly in the background, the group slightly spreads out from the congestion as we jumped and hooted and hollered at what we were in for. Walking past t-shirt vendors and food stands, our first room we enter is the massive mainstage!
Walking into Trance Energy
Less than ½ full still, the stage was still such a distance away we immediately felt the power and energy from the set-up.
As we approach, we see Kyau & Albert already jumping around and playing to thousands of people with smiles ear to ear. Finally reaching a close enough spot with enough room to dance, we all stood and watched in awe as to what was happening around us. We were here! Feeding off each others excitement we pointed at everything around us in amazement. The grand scale everything was on, was like nothing I had ever seen! Lighting and stage rigs that made no sense, but I knew it would when the show really started to get going. As we settled into our spot, the first dj we were all in excitement to see is about to come on. A quick silence when Kyau & Albert are done, then the whistles and screams start just before the first massive intro for a legend comes on… Ferry Corsten.
Ferry Corsten - Intro
Ferry opens with his track Into the Dark. I nice way to start the musical flow of the night for everyone. As his set progress, I wasn’t really feeling the energy from him. He was playing some good tracks that were nice to hear on the massive soundsystem, but there was a real lack of energy in his set. Suddenly a giant F (Ferry’s logo) raises up in front of the dj booth. It torches up in flames providing a great visual spectacle!
Out of the Blue
Hoping this would really spark more energy in his set, I became a bit more involved in his music than the party around me. He continued along the same path as typical Ferry would. Dropping a mix of his newer electro-sounding tracks and older classic tracks was nice, but I’ve heard him play Gouryella and Out of the Blue enough now that I didn’t find it sparked the same emotion in me as it used too, or what the rest of the crowd was feeling. I think I’ve seen Ferry enough now, that he’s just not doing it for me anymore. I really think it had a lot to do with still taking it all in and trying to find our whole group and trying to get ourselves comfortably situated. He’ll go down as a legend and one of my all-time favorites… but I hit the point where I just wanted the next dj to come on. I understand he played an early timeslot… but I think for Trance Energy, I expected his energy to be more prevalent! By the end of Ferry’s set, we found ourselves closer to the back taking in more of the massive lightshow surrounding us.
With a roaring cheer for Ferry from a more than appreciative crowd, his time was done and it was time to make way for the real pioneer of out time. With a crazy computer generated introduction, and lights flashing and waving in every direction, the energy that suddenly consumed the arena was insane! Everyone knew who it was time for… Marco V!
Marco V - Intro
Coming in with Richard Durand – Submerge, I knew were going to be in for a treat! Marco delivered some amazingly hard hitting basslines Playing like Marco V always does, he pumped out tunes no one plays! Playing some dark gloomy melodies with a raw techy edge to them. We made out way towards the centre of the dancefloor for optimal sound and visual effects… best decision we ever made!
The centre of the floor is where we found the most energy. Mostly been feeding off the crowd around us, we were now a part of the energy people were feeding off. Hands were in the air for almost every track, people ouuuwing and awwwwing and thunderous beats, Marco had us at his mercy! The lasers swinging from side to side, flashing, rotating, and spinning. Highlight of his set was definitely once I heard the sweet bassline of False Light come in. As amazing as he was playing, False Light, for me, was the best part! Everyone singing along, hands in the air, it was a great moment.
False Light
When Marco’s set was almost over, we made our way towards the back of the arena again. With the crowd shoulder to shoulder, it took us a long time to scramble through everyone. I never seen so many people at a party in my life.. it was unreal!
With people trying to push by and find a good spot for what was up next, we found a small spot and claimed it amongst everyone else trying to get a good view of what was to come. As his set ended, another thunderous cheer from everyone, as Marco V played an outstanding set, one of the best, if not the best, I’ve ever heard from him!
ID Please
So the moment has arrived! The 1 reason that I came to Trance Energy this year, for the first time ever. The vibe was electric and I felt this amazingly anxious feeling take over my body. As the intro began, the crowd came down to a stir. I must not have been the only one with the feeling I had. As the intro continued, the excitement took over the anxiety and then it was time for the best dj of our time to come to hit the Decks… Trance Energy… Please welcome…. TIESTO!!!!!!!!
Ok, so how do I begin to explain what I felt as soon as the first note hit the speakers? How about a little background history?
It’s always been a dream of mine to see Tiesto @ Trance Energy ever since I first heard his set from Trance Energy 2000! To me, that is, and always will be, the pinnacle of trance! It goes down with me as the best set of all-time (and many will agree)… also… One of the best set I’ve heard also came from Tiesto when he played Innercity in 1999. That’s the first time I ever heard Push – Universal Nation (Live Mix) and I instantly thought it was one of the best tracks I ever heard! As soon as I heard that set and him opening with it, to this day, I could only imagine how insane that place would have been. So…. I’ve had visions or what those 2 parties would have been like to be a part of. It has always been moments I wish I could have experienced… and then it happened…. Here I am… There he is…. Finally…. Tiesto @ Trance Energy… and he’s opening….. with Push – Universal Nation!!!!!!!!! I instantly knew this was a moment to remember for the rest of my life… almost life changing, but more like life realizing. As the melody pushed on, I felt my eyes water up and a tear stream down my face. I was completely overcome with emotion. As I struggled to keep my composure, and keep my camera-hand steady… suddenly I found myself submerged in a deep passionate kiss with the most wonderful woman!!! Enthralled by the music in my ears, the energy in my body, and the passion in my heart… I had never felt so full of love, and life.
When the emotion of the moment started to retreat, I looked around at my friends and the people around me, and could tell I was not the only one captured by the moment. At this time… Mainstage was RAMMED! We decided to take our mission to the centre of the dancefloor once again. With the ridiculous amounts of people crammed in to see Tiesto, the vibe and energy was incomprehensible! Pushing our way a good spot in the centre, we struggled to find room for us to fit. With our minimal dancespace starting to form, I notice that we are in the thick of everything! There were hands up at all times. People smiling and feeling the music everywhere.
We had all gathered in at this one spot for one love… Trance! And the best kinda of trance… Tiesto-trance! Now I’ve seen Tiesto many times before. And I’m not going to say that this was the best set I ever heard from him… but this was one of the best sets I ever heard from him!!
He pounded the shit out of the speakers! Killing us with bomb after bomb. Super hard hitting basslines mixed with emotion melodies.
ID Please
Track after track, Tiesto had Trance Energy at his fingertips! We could not see the walls round us, we were surrounded by 30,000 partiers all trying to get a glimpse of Tiesto. He was at the top of his game! His mixing was amazing, and his track selection, like usually, was nothing less of perfect! A few memorable tracks Tiesto dropping was Saltwater – The Legacy, and Rank 1 Airwave. He’s a Pirate got a huge response with fireworks exploding everywhere! But the peak of the night was when Tiesto played his 2nd last track, Platinum! I never saw the crowd get so involved the rest of the night!
Hands were waving everywhere from the front to the back, left side to right side, and people jumping all over each other like a friendly mosh pit. Tiesto’s last track was Marcel Woods – Advanced. Another track that got the entire place jumping! I have such a hard time explaining how the place and crowd related the entire time to Tiesto.. but it was definitely magical! When Tiesto was finished, there were a lot of wet eyes in the crowd. He touched a lot of people, the only way Tiesto can. It was very emotional when he was finished, as we all knew that the best part of the night was over….. Or so we thought!!!!!
Not much time wasted between dj’s as the next intro came on and announced Sander van Doorn!!
Sander van Doorn - Intro
I really got the feeling, that a lot of people were not there to see him, as the mainstage room cleared out… or what seemed like cleared out compared to what Tiesto drew. Finding ourselves with more room to dance, we moved closer to the front where we could see the dj better and still have plenty of room. Sander played AWESOME! Full of deep dark, dirty beats… much reminded me of his set from Labor of Love @ Koolhaus in 2007, in Toronto. With relentlessly pounding beats, the looks on people’s faces was as if they couldn’t believe what they were hearing! Lots of tracks I never heard before, in typical Sander fashion… it was fantastic.
For the first time since arriving, I finally left the mainstage, only to escort my Dutch friend back to the doors as he was going to leave. He had never been to Trance Energy before I had convinced him to come only hours ahead of time. He’s really not into the music and to have him “experience” trance at an event like Trance Energy… he was HOOKED! I give him mad props for staying til 5:30am. When I came back from escorting him out, I stopped by a few t-shirt stands to buy a t-shirt… and they were SOLD OUT! DAMN IT!!!! The only regret I have from this party is not buying a t-shirt earlier!!! L Anyway, I’d have to give Sander the 2nd best set of the night, next to Tiesto’s of course. Sander just kept pumping out the tunes and he, also, had Trance Energy at his fingertips.
When Sander was done, there was only 1 dj left to catch, and that was Mark Sherry. We stayed for the first few tracks of Mark’s set, then realized that we hadn’t left the mainstage ALL NIGHT!! We took a walk around the complex, which was massive!!!!! We finally found our way to the Hard Stage where Joop was playing. He was playing awesome tracks and the room looked really nice. I would have loved to stayed there longer, but lets face it, mainstage is definitely where it was at!!! After returning and finding the rest of the crew again. Mark was playing some really hard banging tunes! As he was about to end, the last track he plays is…. Wait for it…. Westbam & Red Jerry – Wizards of the Sonic (Matt Darey Remix)!!!!
Wizards of the Sonic
I couldn’t believe I was hearing it! Another alltime classic fave I never expected to hear! It was such a great way to end an epic night!!! Mark got a great response from what was left of the crowd, which was still a good 10,000 – 15,000 strong. He came in with one more encore track, some hard trance remix of his Public Domain track (the Bass in your Face London, track).
Finally the night had ended and it was all over L With the crowd slowly dispersing, the ground was finally visible of all the waterbottles and cup left behind by the massive. No wonder our feet and ankles were so sore, they hadn’t hit flat ground all night, lol.
As everyone exited Jaarbeurs, there was a sense of accomplishment.. like we all did it, we made it through Trance Energy with nothing but a sense of relief and astonishment!
So there it is! My review of Trance Energy 2008. It was a truly inspirational, monumental and unforgettable experience that I would highly, HIGHLY, recommend anyone to try to be a part of. If you love trance as much as I do, Trance Energy is the experience you’re looking for! There was much more to tell about, considering I spent 4 full days in Amsterdam… but that was my Trance Energy experience summed up. If anyone is interested to go next year, I will be someone you can count on joining you!
Unfortunately youtube is really pissing me off and I can't upload my other like 10 videos, such as Saltwater - The Legacy, He's a Pirate and a whack of SVD ones too :whip:
"IF" I ever get them up, I'll post them here... cause they are insane too!!!
