Well, at long last comes my review for Trance Energy 2006.

I went out near 6 P.M. to pick Fahima up from her hostel to bring her back to the hotel where Eric was waiting. When we got back, Jordy, Rodrigo, his friend Scott and Chris from Italy had already arrived. We went out to BK for some pre-party food, but I had made prior arrangements to catch a ride with JP. He met us around the corner and we took the 30 min car ride to Utrecht. It was cold as hell but at least it wasn't raining like last year. :nervous

JP got in through the VIP line (since he's press) but he would call us later to meet with us again. The line to get inside the Jaarbeurs was massive, but the wait wasn't too long. There were 2 checkpoints once we got inside: one to make sure you had a ticket, the other, security. After getting through the 1st checkpoint, Fahima, Eric and I rented a locker and put all our jackets and stuff in there, but I kept my hoodie with me...just in case, which proved to be a good call on my part. Afterwards, I got a call from Jordy saying they had just arrived at Utrecht Centraal station, so we waited for them just beyond the 1st checkpoint. As soon as they came, we went through security itself. They did not mess around whatsoever. They patted us down, and if you were holding a wallet, they would take it and thoroughly inspect it. Not even at ULTRA in Miami were they THIS thorough. However, there are ways around this...but that's another topic altogether.

After getting through there, we met with JP again at the entrance to the mainstage area. When we got in, Ronald van Gelderen was already doing his warm-up set just like last year. The moment I got in there, I shouted "I'm HOME!!" Followed by "FUCK HOUSE!" A few minutes into his set, I went totally berserk when he played my prior track of the week,

The Thrillseekers featuring Gina Dootson - By Your Side (Martin Roth remix)

I got video of this, naturally. Will be posting it to YouTube soon.

Two years in a row, and RvD has done nothing but impress me time and time again. Absolutely amazing. RvD also played a song, which according to JP and Jordy, was 13 years old, and the vocals went, "James Brown is DEAD." It was nasty, brutal, very hard hitting. Totally loved it. He also played his remix of Ferry Corsten - Fire. I will post more track IDs as I can remember them. RvD also dropped Giuseppe Ottaviani – Linking People (Marc van Linden remix). Hearing this song live at Trance Energy was AMAZING. Got video of that as well, and it will also be on youtube soon.

On to Cor Fijneman & Mark Norman. I didn't recognize ANYTHING they played, but it was all good stuff. Eric IDd Tom Porcell - Not Tonite. They showed a lot of crowd interaction. I also missed most of the set due to the TA meet-up in the Chill Out Room. On the way there, I was stopped by kaidreas from BETA (Belgium TA) and we chatted then headed for the Chill Out Room, where RobDawg and some of my other crew were. I got to meet magik54 from NLTA as well as another BETA whom I don't remember at this time.

Above and Beyond: Opened with a real nice ID, then Air for Life (got vid) and then the track I wanted to hear the most, Alone Tonight. Many people shun this track, but I love it and it sounded so nice in the Jaarbeurs. They exhibited a LOT of energy behind the decks, with all 3 members jumping back there, having a GREAT time. Everything was going great......until their last track.

Oceanlab - Satelite.

Um.......fuck that. I gave a disapproving thumbs down, yelled "FUCK!" half a dozen times and just waited the song out. Fuckin' shit. Great set, minus that fuckin' shit song. NEXT!

Ernesto vs. Bastian LIVE: Probably the weakest act of the night, but I still liked them. Opening with Dark Side of the Moon, then Who is the Starter and probably one more song, which I can't remember now. Onto the next...

Armin van Buuren....

I had seen Armin live 3 times up until this point. Last year's Trance Energy, @ Space in October, and recently in Los Angeles for Armada night. Everytime I'd seen him, I thought he was kinda average to ok, but as I kept on seeing him, he kept getting better, so naturally when I saw him this time I wasn't expecting too much.

Boy was I wrong.

He absolutely fuckin' RIPPED it last night. Like never before. All banging, hard-hitting stuff. NO sleepy, progressive trash ala....well, you know who I mean. Someone gave me a theory that he was saving that for the Armada stage, so that was even more reason NOT to go there. And so I didn't. Armin played like maybe one weak song, but even then, it didn't ruin the flow of the set. Energy.....from start to finish. Eric IDd Control Freak, and I got some video of that for Lis. The real moment where I knew that Armin, IMO was the DJ of the night for Trance Energy 2006, was when he dropped Marcel Woods - Advanced (Original) and the entire mainstage area just became unglued. Insanity everywhere, and got some video of that for Mel <3. GET THIS SET. His set was accompanied by the sickest FUCKIN’ lasers I have ever seen. I got a ton of pics of those. They were too good to pass up. He closed with John O'Callaghan - Vendetta. TOO SWEET. That's all else I'll say about Armin. BIG thumbs up this time around. If he kept playing like this, I wouldn't shun him so much. They should book a separate area for him to play the slow, retarded progressive filth like Tracking Treasure Down at all his gigs. And funny thing is, I heard a certain DJ who shall remain nameless played that autistic song at the Armada stage. So glad I didn’t even CONSIDER going to that fragfest of a stage. Nice job on keeping the garbage tracks off the mainstage! NEXT!

Johan Gielen (Live) I was a little too trashed to recall what he played but it was all right. Can't say more than that.

Johan DJ SET: oh YEAH. So much energy, crowd interaction. And he dropped Second Sun - Playground (NU NRG remix) Defintely put a smile on my face. A great, great set. Played other tracks which I can't recall at this time. Eric told me Johan dropped Play it Louder, which I was barely able to hear, and he also dropped Incognition, which I got a little video of. Positively SICK sounding in the Jaarbeurs.

Push LIVE: Don't remember much of this but I do recall them performing Gouryella - Gouryella and Strange World.

Marcel Woods: We had a dilemma with locating some people from our crew so I missed most of his set but the stuff I DID catch was nothing but the sick, hardtrance that I've come to enjoy listening to from the man.

Scot Project: Again, with the missing people situation, I missed most of his set, but somewhat similar to Marcel, Scot ripped it with hardtrance, and dropped a REALLY sick remix of Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams. Amazing song. I would defintely like to see him again...(hint hint Metropolis! Get on the case, n00bs!)

Overall, a great, fun filled night...minus the missing people thing... I defintely had more fun this year for sure.

Many, many thanks to JP for giving me, Eric and Fahima a ride to Utrecht and for the other thing. You are the man. Awesome meeting and chatting with you on the ride to Utrecht. I also met Summer from TOTA, along with her fiancée, now relocated to the Netherlands. Really nice meeting you! Fahima, it was awesome meeting and partying with you at Trance Energy. Thanks to RobDawg for the custom T-Shirt. A thank you to Ivan for giving me and Eric a ride to and from the airport and a VERYYY special thanks to Ambs for lending me her cell phone which worked PERFECTLY over there.

Until......Trance Energy 2007......



DarkAngelofTRANCE.

Last edited by DarkAngel on Feb-20-2006 at 16:03