Ferry Corsten in Lebanon (17-11-2006)

[DIONYSOS]

When commenting upon Paul van Dyk, the multi-talented DJ Eddie Halliwell said: there are people who play records, and there are DJs who blow minds. A statement perhaps worthy of the calibre of van Dyk, but were we to divert it towards Ferry Corsten, it would signal sheer injustice and depreciation. For the likes of Ferry, ney for Ferry alone, a single statement may do him justice: there are DJs who play Trance, and there are maestros who create and evolve it.

The influence that Ferry Corsten - the producer - has radiated upon EDM in general and Trance in specific is indisputable and needs to debate really; the man literally forged the early Trance sound, and has not ceased to morph it to improvement and freshness since. This is perhaps a general fact by now, one we just nod our head in inarguable approval to whenever it’s discussed, but last night a new fact was established, at least for those who were not yet aware of such a fact: Ferry Corsten is as good a DJ as he is a producer.



But let’s just place last night on hold for now, and travel 24 hours back in time to the preparty at the prestigious L-Bar. Because for some ravers the main gig is not enough, because for Ferry the main gig is not enough, MixFM & Bacardi B-Live were generous enough to offer us an additional night with Ferry at L-Bar.

Our dear and talented Johnny was assigned the warmup duties, and he sure as hell lived up to the assignment, merging the past and present of Progressive Trance in a delicately selected set, lighting up the club with his signature smile, and heating it up with his gradual increase of energy. It was not a very long set, but surely a very enjoyable one, in what I personally appraise as Johnny’s top performance to date, both technically and taste-wise. Kudos to you my good friend!
Just as Johnny was doing what he does best, I was hanging around the bar with some THerz, when out of the blue appears a middle-sized green-eyed blond man, entering the club with a similar-looking younger guy, behind whom was our very own Amadeus. It was Ferry alright (along with this brother), and I couldn’t but follow the line to meet and greet the one man who got me into Trance back in the days. After a small chit-chat and a photo-taking session, we handed Ferry a humble gesture from the part of TH: a wooden figure of the cedar tree, made from cedar wood, on which is carved a loving message from our side along with the logo of TH, and that drew one big smile on his face!

Sometime around 1AM, Johnny hands over the decks to Ferry, who respectfully mixes over Johnny’s last track and initiates his preparty set. I will refrain from going into minute details, but I can safely say that from that moment onwards, Ferry kept SamEr and I in such a state of daze which almost each track he played that we didn’t even bother to ID the playlist, and at one point we stopped giving each other looks whenever a bomb was dropped and simple stood in our places and smiled, Yes, we stood in our places, and we did not dance. Not because the club was too packed, not because we were too tired, not because Ferry didn’t make us dance, but because sometimes, Trance gets so damn beautiful that it compels you to halt your dancing and just stand there in awe, listening to what the music has to offer to the ears, not the feet. And this is precisely why I am such a Trance purist, why I place Trance music in one category and all the other EDM genres in another: because Trance is for the ears just as much as it is for the feet. Ferry enraptured our ears alright, showcasing a teaser of what is to come on the following night, taking the crowd beneath his wings to rise and fall as he wishes. Another remarkable observation is how Ferry managed to get the entire club on its feet by not even exceeding the 135BPM margin, which for a Trance DJ is quite the achievement.

Ferry’s set at the preparty impressed those most hard to impress, SamEr and I, and left everyone else along with us wondering: if he was that good tonight, what does he have in store for us tomorrow night? We went back home in scorching anticipation of the big night to come, and it came.


And it came. I enter Forum De Beirut to behold an army of ravers distributed in a stadium-like position: on the left is an elevated VIP section, on the right is an equally elevated Marlboro section, and in the center is the regular section, all three sections being already fully packed halfway through Amadeus’ warmup. The sound system was not quite the best of what the organizers had to offer, but it was good enough for the big night and the music that was going to be played. The light system, giant screens, projections, and whatnot were just as good as ever, and the venue design was worthy of the likes of Ferry Corsten, with gigantic posters of him, his album, and the Let’s Party For Peace slogan.

Amadeus. DJ Mag’s #24 DJ of 2006 had his first mega-exposure after being crowned among the globe’s finest jocks, and so all eyes were on him more than ever, meaning more pressure, meaning higher expectations, but it seems Amadeus knows not failure. I’ve been attending his warm-ups ever since the very first one, and it’s truly amazing how different each warmup is from its predecessor, and how Amadeus evolves his sound from one gig to another. I was asked by a friend what Amadeus was playing, and I couldn’t say Progressive Trance, I couldn’t say Progressive House, I just said Amadeus. He manages to portray a different personality at each occasion: Amadeus on Rhythm Nation is different than Amadeus in a solo gig who is different than Amadeus in a warmup. To many this is a sign of a really good DJ, and to yesterday’s crowd he was next to God with what he played. I’ve even had House purists come up to me and say: “your friend is really going at it tonight!”, and that can never be bad coming from House purists, can it?

But Ferry’s time had come, and this ambassador of peace to whom Lebanon is grateful for inaugurating our local clubbing scene post-war had so much in store for us. Starting off with Mike Koglin’s and Jono Grant’s remix of Touch Be by Rui Da Silva (featuring Cassandra Fox), the crowd went nuts since they already knew the song back from the radio days of the original. Onwards from then, the tracklist that SamEr will post shortly will be self-explanatory, but for now I can say this: oh my God. What a DJ… what a DJ! We know Ferry as a musical avant-garde and a studio genius, but we didn’t know Ferry as the insane, mental, crazy, mindblowing DJ who literally raped the crowd all over! Staying true to his Loud Electronic Ferocious sound at times, and going back to his trancier SystemF/Gouryella sound at others, while incorporating a great deal of chunky progressiveness and filthy techyness, Ferry succeeded in showcasing the entire spectrum of the modern Trance sound in all majesty, giving each and every single clubber a taste of what they came to hear, intelligently shifting from style to style without even making the expert ears sense the transition. At times we’d dance, at times we’d scream, at times we’d smile, at times we’d just stand there gazing at him with amazement, at times we’d drop our jaws and widen our eyes in shock to what we heard… Ferry artistically manipulated our emotions throughout the night, employing the one and only weapon of mass construction known to mankind: his music. As I already mentioned, the tracklist will depict the flow of the night, so there is no need to get into each track alone in this review, but this needs to be mentioned: Rock Your Body Rock. Those who were there know what I’m talking about, but for those who weren’t, I strongly urge you to sing along with me please:
I’m on a mission
Let it take you back and forth
Another ham that’s gonna make you scream for more
(Are you singing? Sing! I mean it!)
From New York, London, to Lebanon…
To Lebanon…
To Lebanon!
Let’s rock…
Let’s rock!
Let’s rock!!
I WANNA ROCK YOUR BODY ROCK!!!
Yes, indeed, Ferry had created a special edit of his smashing track just for Lebanon, recorded using his own voice to which he added the vocoder, and the Lebanese crowd had never, ever, never ever went more mental! This was, unquestionably, the peak of the night for all the Lebanese youth, tormented by the atrocities of war, seeing this DJ, this producer, this musican, this maestro, but above all this human being playing a track just for Lebanon, whilst holding up the Lebanese flag. Mr. Ferry Corsten: chapeau-bas. After this special moment, Ferry just wouldn’t stop, and his set really peaked, up until around 5AM when it was time for him to catch his plane (believe me, were it not for that he would’ve stayed on till noon!), he was playing River Of Light by the Flashover Recordings producer Breakfast whom Ferry himself unearthed, followed by a couple of other tracks, and then it was time to stop… as if! As if the Lebanese crowd would have it this way, as if we’d allow him to stop when we were still thirsty for more, and we screamed that out from the top of our lungs: we want more! Ferry, being the nice bloke that he is, surely responded to our shouts, and dropped in the masterpiece of all masterpieces, the remix of all remixes, the classic of all classics, the trancer of all trancers: his remix of Adagio For Strings. Consequence? Mayhem. Or to borrow a lyrical expression: murder on the dancefloor. I cannot really say much more than that, else I’d be devaluing the musical moment with trivial words. But of course, even that was not enough for us, and so we screamed for more even louder, and Ferry in a rush quickly scanned his DJ case for anything to play for us, to finally settle for an Encore of his hit single Fire, which was the grand finale of the grand night. Ferry Corsten was historic, enough said.

But who said Lebanese ravers would want to go back to the comfort of their bedsheets at 6AM? Gunther & Stamina sure as hell didn’t! Over at the preparty, Stamina promised me a full-on Psychedelic Trance set, and I expressed to him for how long I’ve been wanting to hear PsyTrance from the hands of those who truly know it, and the time had come. Most of you might not be into this sound, but I sure as hell am, and clearly so are Gunther & Stamina. Twisted, chaotic, pacey, filthy, edgy, techy music as it should be, the best possible alternative to a followup session for a Trance DJ, the only possible alternative even, delivered by its regional connoisseurs, the dynamic duo whose name continues to spread over local clubland, and whose productions will soon see the light of day on a well-established record label: Gunther & Stamina. They offered just what the night needed to wrap up, and they were just what we needed to wrap up.



To wrap things up myself, in brief since I already bored you to death with my big mouth, we partied for peace with the musical ambassador of peace and with the finest selection of local organizers, local DJs, and local ravers. Yet another success in the neverending streak of success for Bacardi B-Live and MixFM, yet another night that shall remain carved in our minds for a long, long time, but above all (perhaps for me alone): yet another assertive affirmation that Trance is far, far from dead.

[samer]

[TrancApex]

[mzy]

the Setup : it was good the lasers and Lightnings were great as usual ! DJ Booth not too high ! but the stage in the middle (for the fire-man [lol i dunno what to call them] and dancers) ma 2elo me3na ...
the Crowd : overall good crowd and educated crowd ! all the people responded positively to the DJ !!
the Music : extraordinary amazing ... ferry played various types of trance moving also to house a lil bit !! it was gigantic ! amadeus played a very good set !
the Man of the night : Ferry Costen : what a positive attitude he has !! this guy is amazing he wsa really happy we could feel that !! FROM LONDON TO LEBANON LET S ROCK LET S ROCK YOUR BODY ROCK !!
it was on of my best raves i went mad !!! respect to Ferry Corsten and congrats MIXFM & B-Live
it was nice meeting some Thz (Trancer 1084 - Spyro) and it was fun raving with Tax & l_r

[Aleco]

[A-Cube]

[A.H. DeeJay]

[Trancelvania]

[Lza]

[Tala]

[align=justify]Ferry Corsten, the man who got me into Trance, I love you.
I love you for performing in Lebanon after the war took place.
I love you for delivering such mouth-watering tracks.
I love you for making us go wild.
I love you for being such a great DJ.

The night went perfect starting with the Cool AMADEUS whose set was insane. He kept on delivering too much energy to fulfill the Trancers needs.

Ferry Corsten came and I was just too excited that I didn't even notice!!
While he was offering a diversity of oh-so good tracks, the crowd was getting crazier. I know that from myself, I didn't stop dancing!!
I was exhausted till the point that I had to sit, but Ferry's aim was to make us fall on our knees. He jumped into something stronger, much more powerful. Much "techier"!
.. And I couldn't but dance again!

It was a great night. Lebanon will for ever owe you this night Ferry Corsten!
Thank you THerz for making my night an unforgettable one![/align]

[kevo21]

amazing gig!i didnt belive it!from new york london to lebanon lebanon yeahhhhhhhh!!!thanks ferry

[raysak]

[font=Times New Roman][/font]

[DJ_TRACID]

Amazing night indeed as if it was my 1st gig i attended really it has been a VERY VERY looooong time since we partied hard great tracklist great crowd great THers it was my pleasure to party with u guys! we ROCKED!!!

[c-rouge]

While Ferry playing live on stage, Watching all the happy & inspiring faces of the amazing crowd, I was thinking for a while...."EVEN THE MOST DESTRUCTIVE & THE TERRIBLE WAR BY "THE DEVIL" CANT AFFECT OUR LEBANESE CLUBBING SCENE!"

Thank you Ferry for uniting the Lebanese clubbers once again!!!

[PsyleNce]

glad u guys enjoyed and had fun. im sure it was a blast.. too bad i missed it .... this event surely was a stress sucker to all of u hungry ravers.....