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Hey DarkFall, you back at WPI? I got back this morning around 4 AM or so.
Yah, it was crowded, but in actuality, it wasn't as crowded as it has been in the past. If you wanna see Avalon crowded, you would have to look back at Halloween 2002 when PvD played. Imagine the same amount of people as last night (if not more), but with half the crowd in obnoxiously large costumes. Now that's crowded!
Anyway, I've seen Paul van Dyk at Avalon the last 3 times he's come, and I can honestly say, this was easily the best I've seen him. I also went to see Armin van Buuren at Roxy this past summer, and even with all my respect for AvB, last night totally blew that night away as well.
My friends and I got there right at the start, and we found Avalon to be totally chilled and ready to go. John Debo was starting off like he usually does; laid back house and breaks, not even mixing between the first 3 tracks or so. He then started back up with some straight four to the floor progressive, but to be honest, he was actually playing a little too laid back for my tastes. I have tons of respect for Debo, and so I was starting to get nervous that he wasn't going to be putting his heart into the set due to the fact that he was originally only supposed to play for one hour (which he didn't of course, but more on that later). Anyway, he plays pretty standard fare for about an hour or so, and no one is really on the dance floor for that time, however, out of no where, he drops this sick track that actually sounds a lot like a track PvD would play. It has the exact same vocal style as Ashtrax - Digital Reason, except instead of saying "You look, you look so dig-i-tal", it was saying something like "Looking inside to find the answers." The crowd goes crazy for it, all my worries about a mediocre set from Debo go out the window, and the floor is packed in seconds. Debo actually plays for another hour or so, however, I wasn't wearing a watch that whole evening, so even though I knew PvD was late, it was not until reading these boards that I realized PvD didn't even come on until around 11:30. That was probably a testament to the remainder of John Debo's set, because I was so enthralled by the music at that point, I didn't even have time to get anxious or nervous about why Paul wasn't there.
Finally, after hearing some really cool tracks (many of which had vocals ), the crowd starts hollering and I look up to the booth to see PvD setting up his Mac laptop and getting ready to go.
Paul doesn't miss a beat and he starts off with this really gritty breaks tracks, and I just get the feeling we're in for something special. He plays maybe a few more harder-edged tracks that really raise the energy level from the already high level left off by Debo, and the crowd is really into it even though there hasn't been any major breakdowns or build-ups yet. Then I start to hear a track that sounds really familar, I don't know what it's called, but then that creepy half-whispering/half-screaming voice comes in, "AF-TER-SHOCK!" and then boom! Then bass comes slamming in and people go wild, and I think to my self, "Hey this is the first song from the Energy 2003 set on tranceaddict, sick!" Paul then blows the crowd away by actually playing the next song from that set, (also didn't know what it was called at the time, but I knew it was the one where the MC guy comes in screaming, "Are you ready!? DJ...PAUL...VAN...DYK!"). That song totally destroyed the crowd in every way possible. Everyone's hands were in the air during the buildup, and the place went bananas when beat dropped back in. Next up was a tune I actually could remember the name of, it was "Crush", and so Paul was basically reliving that Energy set right there in Avalon with us, and I couldn't have been happier! I'm running out of words to describe how cool it was to hear that song. Needless to say, the first time the beat drops and the lady yells, "I Know you want me!" I couldn't actually here her saying it because it was drowned out by people yelling it all around me. Now that's cool! Paul continues the energy playing songs such as "As the Rush Comes" right after "Crush", and then some others including the NU-NRG remix of Carrera 2 and Time of Hour Lives. Then Paul drops another classic; that breaks remix of Breathing by Rank 1, amazing!
Right after that though, Paul totally scraps the Energy 2003 plan, and goes straight for the jugular with some sick, hard trance tunes. These were tunes that pretty much had no melody, no words, just pure banging-ness! He even plays a totally straight up acid tune complete with 303 effects in full force. It's getting late then, and Paul starts dropping some signatures like "For a Revolt", and then transitioning into a bunch of other pure trance tunes complete with epic breakdowns and buildup, and even though I couldn't name any of them, I was totally taken away by each and every one of them. To be totally honest, in all the times I've seen a DJ or been clubbing, that was probably the only time I've ever really been put into a "trance" kinda state by the music. It felt so good to just sway back and forth during the breakdowns with my eyes closed, that's never happened before! Finally after playing some monster tunes, Paul ends with "Nothing but You," the original mix I think. I know that tune gets alot of guff because Paul van Dyk plays it so often, but I get the sense (and I could be wrong) that a lot of tranceaddicts complain that they hear it in too many PvD live sets without ever really hearing it in the club, and to those people I'd say, "I know you've heard this in every PvD live set you've downloaded, but when you hear it in the club, it's a whole other ballgame." That tune still makes me (along with the rest of the club) go bonkers when I hear it on the Avalon system; that song's great!
Paul slowly turns the volume down, and the crowd knows darn well they're not budging an inch until they hear some more. PvD sure enough comes back with a laid-back breaks remix of "Time of Our Lives" and even though it's not the "Dreamland" or "For and Angel" that people were expecting, I still think it was an awesome tune to encore with; very classy. Plus it was pretty emotional to just kinda sway back and forth with your hands up, after such an energy filled night to some guy singing, "Oh these are the times...of our lives!" Great stuff.
Of course, Paul van Dyk is still Paul van Dyk, so we know we can't just leave on a "slow note." So what does he play for his second encore? Well, heh, I don't actually know its name, but I know it's got sick drums and a high pitched Spanish singer in it. Anyway, he's playing this totally bangin song, the crowd is dancing their hearts out and using up their final bits of energy, and just when the song is about to build up....he's has to stop because Avalon has to promptly close at 2 AM! D'oh! Oh well, thus the best night I've ever had with PvD comes to a close.
I just want to say that PvD totally blew me away last night, and that after his merely mediocre show last February, he has totally redeemed himself! Paul van Dyk was so good that he had my friend (who is not even that big of a trance fan) dancing on the speakers like a madman! Speaking of speaker dancers, the dancing girls were amazing! If Paul hadn't been keeping my attention the whole night, I definitely just could have watched them all night. In fact, I was basically on the dance floor just in front of the blonde dancer ( the one on the right if you were facing the DJ booth) all night, so I had the best of both worlds! OK, thanks to Avalon for another great night, even though the lasers are in repair, the club still has my vote for the best lighting I've ever seen, and I can't wait to go back!
I'll see everyone at Avalon again soon!
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