Armin Van Buuren in Dubai (5-2-2009)

[DIONYSOS]

It's been long since I last wrote a review. It's been even longer since I last wrote a review immediately after coming back home. That's how good tonight was. (It's also facilitated by the fact that parties in Dubai are compelled to stop at 3AM, so I landed home at 3:30, not around noontime as I would in Beirut).

I will quote my good friend Trancestral's opening line in his review of AvB in Doha, just one night before Dubai: ARMIN IS THE ONE.

Anyone who's been on TH long enough might recall my review for Armin's Beirut gig in 2005 that many people consider to be my best review to date. Well, that's for a damn good reason. His long set in Beirut left us all entranced (as no other word could possibly do it more justice), and it wasn't all too different tonight in Dubai, except that it was shorter.

Peppermint Experience were behind the event, they're pretty much the best in town when it comes to EDM. It was hosted in a huge club called The Lodge that's divided into several mini-clubs, each with its own name/design/music, with the external outdoor arena called Chi, where all the magic happened. Prior to Armin I had seen Nick Warren, Christopher Lawrence, and Marcus Schossow in that very same place. It's beautifully designed with a massive sound system. Some might disagree with me here, but the crowd was much better than the usual crowd you get in Beirut: no underaged, no emos, no shirts off, barely any noticeable drug use, equitable male/female ratio, super hot chicks, while the energy level and interaction was easily comparable to what you get in Lebanon, something I was really surprised with, as the Dubai crowd is usually dull... Perhaps this was because half of Lebanon showed up! Warm up was by DJ Remy who seriously impressed me, playing strictly Techno, but that Techno with the hard kick and an intensive use of melody, so at one point I felt I was behind the decks myself! My highlight was Sasha - Coma (Gabe & Dimitri Nakov remix).

But that's all details. Minor, trivial details. The night was clearly all about Armin, the way it was intended to be. As soon as he showed up behind the decks, even before taking control, the crowd was roaring with energy and excitement, yelling out his name from the top of their lungs. Famous for his exquisite choice of intros, Armin opened with Rank 1 - L.E.D. There Be Light, and the energy level did not drop once ever since. Starting off with slightly short of an hour's worth of Progressive Trance, track by track I was realizing that Armin is still as melodic as when I last saw him in 2005. His track selection was so tasteful and fresh too, reasserting to the the doubters that Trance sounds are far from being outdated or repetitive. Building up the after about an hour or so he had already peaked, and he maintained that peak throughout his set, alternating between mostly Uplifting Trance and some Tech Trance every once in a while to ignite the masses, while the overall theme of the set was melody, with a lot of aggressive basslines, and a non-exaggerated use of vocals. Armin's quite famous for his energetic interaction (that some consider to be acting but that's another story), and it was precisely the case tonight as he never stood still for a second, not even during his transitions, not did he stop smiling, to the point that got me wondering if his cheeks hurt after his performances! It's really hard to put into words the sensations that Armin's set radiated across the energy fields, but it's really something that only Trance can induce. Love it or hate it, you can not deny that the purpose of Trance music is entirely different that other EDM genres - it's M first, D second. Which other genre gives you that energy outburst stemming straight from your guts, making it way up to you throat and prompting you to scream something out and start jumping? And the mental state that Trance enraptures a crowd into is truly a psycho-social phenomenon worthy of bewilderment, all you see is smiles surrounding you... Other genres serve other purposes that Trance does not deliver as good as House or Techno or whatever, but when it comes to MUSIC that moves your FEELINGS, Trance is still above and beyond all other EDM genres, and as long as there will be human beings driven by emotion, Trance will always remain the master of its game; luckily, there will all always be human beings driven by emotion, which is why the expression "Trance Is Dead" is void and obsolete. At least not while Armin is still serving his term as the Trance ambassador of the globe. A 10/10 set rated by an extremely conservative trancer who's been living off this music for over a decade now (me, in case you didn't draw that conclusion), which is why I'll be flying to Lebanon when Armin's there just to re-experience his altered state of consciousness, his higher State Of Trance.

See you all soon... in Beirut!!! \o/


Incomplete Tracklist:
L.E.D. There Be Light
Need To Feel Loved
Sliding Off The World
Children
Unforgivable
Lost
In & Out Of Love (mashup with a crazy techtrancer from last year that I recognized but couldn't ID)
Smack My Bitch Up vs Radio Crash
This Is That vs Silence (one of the best mashups I've ever heard)
Going Wrong


INTRO VIDEO COMING SOON

[Fawzi]

[mzy]

[lebanese_raver]

[Omaro]

Saleeem!

Brilliant review! As usual
Been ages since I posted here, I know, been slacking BIG time …
Set was immense, the crowd was actually better, less ‘wazwaz’ in a way, which was weird for a trance event in Dubai (And I disagree about the men-women ratio, it seems you were in the VIP area! The ratio I’ve noticed was more like 10 men to each girl!)…

Back to the music though- Got there at around midnight, just in time to find a half-decent spot with a semi-obstructed view of the booth. Expected him to start at around one, but he started sooner than that (At approximately 12:15). Started of with Rank 1's "There Be Light", the first hour or so was proggy and a tad techy, with Armin slowly building up the tempo, playing some rather familiar tunes which the crowded responded to brilliantly (Such as the remix of Reflekt's "Need to Feel Loved"), he carried on dropping bomb after bomb with the set 'emotionally intensifying' in the last 30 or so minutes with Aly & Fila's remix of "If You Should Go", Shah/Lounger's "Man On The Run" and then the unexpected mash-up of "Smack My Bitch Up" vs. Ferry's "Radio Crash" *Crowd goes to raptures".

Personal highlights:
"Off The World", 'Gaz' Emery's remix of "Heartbreak", Sied's "M.M.E." and Sunlounger's "Shah"

From a set and tracklist perspective, it was aptly built-up and progressed through quite well, but the only thing I wished for was for it to be BIT more uplifting perhaps in the middle or towards the end (Not that I mind the vocal and melodic tracks, obviously), but still loved every bit of it! As ever, Armin's interactions were priceless with he crowd, he is so hyper and energized for someone who's 30+ (He is, isn't he? ). I will try to upload some of the videos from his set soon.

About your comments on the club, I am actually rather amused to see the positive stuff, Chi has never been a place for top djs to play at (As proven previously back in ’07 when Tiesto played there). Layout is rather tight and makes it hard for a lot of people to maneuver and move around easily (As opposed to the Madinat Jumeirah MPV/Arena, where big name DJs usually played in the past), it was extremely hard to organize things in my opinion (Perhaps testified by the fact that I’ve seen at least three fights happen near me, with no security personnel around (It would have taken them ages just to get there anyway). The main reasons why I assume the other more suitable venue has not been picked this time are either due to it not being available to begin with last night, or the cost involved in setting-up, installing everything and renting the space itself (Not a time to spend now). Fluid Productions (aka. The guys behind the whole Peppermint concept) have high standards, and they have done quite a good job looking at how limited changes could have been done at a place like Chi (An established club, not an empty huge ass hall where you get to control every single detail)…

I don't think there will be many trance events happening again on these shores anytime soon, but heck, this was supposed to be a massive event, and it certainly did no disappoint, but then again it's Armin (For the ranking loving people- The number 1 dj in the world), but still... Trance would be in safe hands as long as this guy with his brilliant marketing and PR machine are charging forward.

In short- not the best venue/club for a big night like that, but a brilliant set nevertheless! I literally felt like going back home and booking my ticket to see him in Beirut, aakh April, 2008 with the THers, Jono & Toni all over again!

Here is my attempt at the tracklist:
Rank 1 “There Be Light”
ID
Reflekt “Need To Feel Loved” [Adam K & Soha remix]
ID
ID
ID
Martin Roth “Off The World” [Remix ID]
ID
ID
ID
Kyau & Albert “Hide & Seek” [Lange Remix]
AvB “Unforgivable” [First State Remix]
Sunlounger “Shah”
ID
Rosie & The Goldbug “Heartbreak” [Gareth Emery Remix] (My highlight of the night)
Ferry Corsten “Made of Love” [Remix ID – Either the original or the Super8 & Tab remix, not sure]
Sied Van Riel “M.M.E.” (Another big highlight for me! Was hoping he’d play it)
AvB vs. Jochan Miller “In & Out Of Love vs. Lost Connection” mash-up (Thanks Fawzi!)
ID (Fuckin eargasmic tune, never heard it before but dammit!)
Aly & Fila “ID”
AvB “If You Should Go” [Aly & Fila Remix]
Dash Berlin, Cerf, Mitiska & Jaren “Man On The Run” [4 AM Remix]
ID
This Is That
Ferry Corsten “Radio Crash vs. Smack My Bitch Up” mash-up
Delerium vs. Gareth Emery “Silence vs. This Is That” mash-up
AvB “Going Wrong”

[silver_edge]

Did any1 get the shivers while readin DIO's review?
ur 100% right bout trance bein different than any other EDM genre...

[DIONYSOS]

[silver_edge]

[TranceFusion]

[lebanese_raver]

Naive eh? well i hope that Armin will prove me wrong! bass that's the truth! big djs are playing almost the same TL everywhere.

[Fawzi]

^l_r's got a point. I remember reading tracklists of Gareth Emery 5 days apart, exactly the same.

[YOSFA]

1- Was too techy for me, less melody and vocals, but in all fairness, 2008 was not as good as 2007 in trance music, not as creative, not as versatile, not as generous, however, if you listen to ASOT 384 '08 yearmix, you realize that there are some good material produced, non played that night,

2- Man that place was jam packed, peppermint: STOP bringing big names in small holes, seriously, I got stepped at, pushed over, and almost got to a couple of fights just because the place was overloaded with people... not very nice

3- Sound system was terrible, lots of high pitched frequencies translated into fuzzy noise, I think maybe because of the lack of synergy between all the different equipment tied up together, originally each belonged to to a different che room,

4- girls to boys ratio 1:7 at best, but I have to acknowledge that not all girls are fans of EDM, not like us boys, but still, less than standard ratio, I cant blame anything or anybody, I mean, all we do is buy tickets and go, emirates has the highest gender imbalance in the world, I guess its something we have to live with anyway,

I’ve been into AvB in Dubai 08, which compared to this one, there was an amazing sound system (tailored to the room it was fit in), lots of room, much better visual effects and other gimmicks, better music, better gender ratio, all that for an extra 80Dhm, thats a very good deal for me, and I can easily say, I was entranced, and it was a night to remember,

despite all this, the party was still pretty good, and the energy was pretty elevating and everybody seemed to be enjoying their time, I’ll have to give it up to AvB for his unshaken talent and good stage present,

[TranceFusion]

Here are some tracklists of Armin's gigs in 2007:
http://forum.arminvanbuuren.com/index.p ... topic=8083

Here 2 tracklists in 2008: (Armin Only Melbourne and Bal en Blanc)
http://forum.arminvanbuuren.com/index.p ... 11367&st=0

I don't see a lot of repetitions. Obviously some tracks were played a lot simply because they were very successful on the dancefloor (Perspective Space, Torrent, Sean Tyas' tracks, Cosmic Gate's remix of This World Is Watching Me, Firefly, etc...) but overall Armin wasn't repetitive. According to Dio's thoughts about the set (mainly uplifting with some tech and few vocals) i can compare that Dubai set to the Sunrise Festival 2008 set. In July his set was more techy and vocal, melodic mostly but with many vocal and techy tracks.

So yea don't expect repetitiveness from Armin here anyway Dio will tell us at the end of that night!

[Nicktalopia]

Even if repetitiveness occurs you can't blame him, not because he is Armin, but because of his busy schedule and the expectations people draw before going to his show, everyone has a favorite track hoping it gets played and i'm sure a lot of people find their favorite tunes among his track list most of the time in every event regardless of the geographic location..that's why he is [s]good[/s] great!

Awesome review Dio!
You forgot to add your icon to the review
or maybe Armin couldn't bring the evil in you ?

[A-Cube]

You used to write longer reviews...way longer