|
Oh man, what a night!
Where do I start?
Got to the venue at about 10pm, tightest security I've ever seen - Nazis confiscating lollipops, chewing gum, cameras etc. Stupid sniffer dogs out in force, they mustn't have very good noses cos I didn't see them catch many people. Finally through all the security, let's have a wander around.
First thing that strikes me is that the place seems very disorganised compared to last year - no posters with set times, nothing indicating what arenas were where, no rides, and no Red Bull tent 
Find the Godskitchen arena, Jumping Jack, Nervous and Pee Wee all played their standard brand of hard trance, though Nervous did slip in a couple of uplifting tracks - closing out his set with The Theme. Hooray, time for the meetup! Wander outside, and just stroll around aimlessly looking for vaguely familiar faces.
First I find Sel and James (Chookie + Bragi), then another dude wanders up and asks me if I'm webmeister. G'day to Justin (Eff_Bee). Keep looking for more people - hey I recognise those people over there! Werd to Matt, Vanessa, Helen, S_madis (sorry dude I forgot your name :/), Phil, Cameron and the others. Get a big group photo and charge for the Godskitchen arena!!
Find a nice space front row centre and planned, last half hour of Pee Wee was OK but nothing to write home about. Next up was the man that nobody was waiting to see - Judge jules!! Sadly, there's no way I can get those two hours of my life back. The best thing I can really say about the Judge's set was that his mixing was tighter than I'd expected. For the most part, his set was slightly cheesy hi-nrg type stuff, didn't really go anywhere or build towards anything. Though he did drop System F - Solstice, Solar Factor - Urban Shakedown, and the new Three Drives mix of Born Slippy 
Finally Judge Jules was off the stage and there was just one man commanding our attention - the one and only Armin van Buuren. He stormed onto the decks with the Hiver & Hammer mix of Yet Another Day, and built from there - huge tunes non-stop, lots of prog-trance type stuff, but still with that melodic, uplifting trance that nobody does quite like Armin.
Tracklisting:
1. AvB feat Ray Wilson - Yet Another Day (H&H Mix)
2. James Holden - Nothing (Returning 93 mix)
my memory gets hazy after that, but the following were all definitely played:
GTR - Mistral
PVD - For an Angel
AVB - Sunburn
Airwave vs Rising Star - Sunspot
Solar Factor - Urban Shakedown
Roc Project - Never (Filterheadz mix)
AVB - Communication
Frozen Fingers - February (not sure of track name but it's the new remix of Flaming June)
Prime Mover - The Weapon (Grinder mix)
AVB & Ferry Corsten - From the Heart 
Sirocco - Destination
Solar Stone - Solarcoaster (Midway Mix)
Solar Stone - Seven Cities (AVB Mix)
I think between all us TAs, there was only one or two tracks we couldn't ID??
Personally I thought that Armin's set was slightly better than Godskitchen last year, big call I know but he was fucking brilliant!
Respect to all the TAs who packed the front row centre: waxology, efff_beee, dj_helen_k, hyperdimension, s_madis, crasher-kid, jace, gilmista, chookie, bragi, crasher-kidd, orpheus, trancey ash, ves, and trancey ash's mate in the Holland jersey (sorry didn't catch your name), and anyone else I've forgotten! Best AU.TA meetup ever?
After Armin was finished with his magic I intended to chill out for a bit, then head over and catch the end of Sander K, then Layo & Bushwacka, but sadly my ride decided that since his gf was asleep, it was probably time to leave. Not wanting to catch public transport home while still off chops at some ungodly hour of the day, sadly I had to bail too.
Hope you all had as good a night as I did - see you all on Friday for AVB @ Gas (FOUR HOUR SET!!!!)
___________________
|
TwoTribes SYDNEY! - the Verdict!
