The Glorious Trance of PAUL VAN DYK

Time of Our Lives erupts over the speakers as Paul Van Dyk takes the stage at the Commodore Ballroom. Within seconds the energy in the room explodes.

Since DJ Magazine’s inception in 1997 there have only been eight number one DJs. Of those eight, four have graced the list on multiple occasions.  Without question Paul Van Dyk deserves to rank amongst these four greatest DJs in the world. Dyk’s company includes: Paul Oakenfold, Tiesto, and Armin Van Buuren.

The dance floor sways as musical energy and stomping feet create a relentless flow of feel-good vibrations.  

The crowd beams as they dance under the soft hue of Dyk’s minimal stage setup: the night focuses on the man and his music.

 For Paul, Trance is about musicality. Effortlessly weaving through decades of musical knowledge you feel an innate connection with the world. Relinquishing control your subconscious takes over. The experience moves you.

Paul Van Dyk’s wheels are turning now. You can see him thinking through the set. Everything is layered in true Trance fashion. He sets down simplistic beats and the audience can feel every detail he adds to the growing masterpiece.

As the set drives toward hysteria Dyk revels in what he has achieved.

The crowd’s energy spikes but Paul is patient. He’s reading the crowd, gleefully waiting for the perfect moment to lead us even deeper into the world of Trance.

Expecting the beat to crescendo into a dark dripping drop (as mainstream EDM would dictate) Paul surprises and slowly begins to peel off the intricately woven layers.  

Minutes melt away and the set slowly simmers and reduces into something rare: a fragile naked synth heartbeat that gives birth to Dyk’s final thirty minutes of glorious trance. The crowd is transfixed as thunderous applause rains down on the Commodore’s legendary dance floor.

Dyk throws down his arms for every drop. He can't stand still – the music excites him as much as it does the crowd.

He jumps. We jump.

His energy is infectious.

Lighthearted euphoric energy whistles through the Commodore. We have collectively reached a world of pure trance, surrounded by nothingness, calm and content.

Suddenly, jerked away from Dyk’s dream world and back to reality, a two ton hammer hits us in the face. We flew too close to the sun – back to pounding bass.

As white lights and bass flood the audience you realize the crowd’s older demographic. This is a true testament to Paul Van Dyk’s legacy and solid evidence of his lasting appeal.

Dyk is a true DJ and a rarity. A genuine DJ set mixed live, on the edge of collapsing in on itself, entirely unique in the era of arena shows. 

Never stop dancing Paul Van Dyk. And stay true to Trance – the EDM world needs you.

The DJ Producer Continuum

If one were to traditionally define a DJ they would be confronted by confusing imagery:

A person who announces and plays recorded music, especially pop music, on a radio programme or a discotheque.

In my opinion the recorded music this definition refers to is not original material, it is a sampling of top 40 hits from whichever genre the DJ is catering to and a smattering of the DJ’s personal favourites. The act of DJ’ing is independent from the task of creating original songs.

While most DJs have their sets partially pre-planned, a true DJ mixes it live: lost in the crowd’s energy, set lists change and beats materialize out of pure passion. They take requests, they artistically string songs together, and work furiously the entire time to keep the crowd dancing.

A real DJ gives off a vibe; they fill the room with an excitement which can only be obtained when the entire audience truly believes the set is 100% mixed live and on the cusp of falling short.  I recently saw Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike and as far as I am concerned they were ferociously mixing their entire set as it progressed: they were hard at work earning the thousands of dollars the audience had forked over to attend the show.

For DJs touring with larger-than-life stage shows this is rarely a reality. One blatant offender of the moniker of DJ is Steve Aoki. This in no way diminishes the prestige that has rightly been attributed to Aoki’s career it merely re-labels him as a jet setting party-starting producer: his sets come premixed with little more required then a few manipulations to keep his well oiled rave machine moving forward.

He spends more time showering the audience in champagne and smashing cakes into the faces of crazed youth then he does mixing live. In saying this, Steve Aoki gives the audience a party experience they won’t soon forget (more than likely a good portion of his audience does forget but only due to overdosing on ‘good times’), and he is an outstanding producer. But is he a true DJ?

From this perspective many of the top ‘DJ’ acts in the world could be defined as producers:

The individual who supervises the arrangement, recording, and mixing of a record. They oversee the stage production of a show.

As concert goers we are paying for an experience. We are no longer paying to be blown away by the jaw dropping mixing skills of a DJ; we are paying to see their productions. Both previously arranged set lists and ever-growing lightshow extravaganzas. No doubt these parties are worth it. With such a boom in popularity you can’t stop DJ’ing from evolving as an art form.

This doesn’t mean true DJ’s don’t exist. There are shades of grey. David Guetta will give anyone who calls him a producer a very polite yet subtly dirty sneer.

*In a greasy French accent*   “Excuse me? I have been at DJ since I was 17. DJ’ing is who I am. I mix beats and make people do naughty-dirty things on the dance floor. Producing good beats expands my audience to the mainstream and brings the masses into my world. The world of the DJ. You uneducated swine.”  ...or at least that’s what I see him saying...nicely of course...he seems like a nice guy.

On top of this, a handful of DJs put on live radio shows once a week and for an hour or two take on the traditional role of a DJ: most successfully Armin Van Buuren and his State of Trance phenomena.

Defining a boundary between DJ and producer is hard because every show an artist plays is different. A few years back I saw Tiesto in Vegas and when I asked the guy at the door when the show would be over he said, “When you invite Tiesto you don’t tell him when he has to leave. You let him do his thing until he isn’t feeling it anymore.”

I’ve seen Tiesto a bunch of times but that night he seemed to truly live in the moment:  he genuinely didn’t have any idea where his set was going to take him. He was fully immersed in the act of DJ’ing and that energy was transferred onto the global audience. When he finally finished at around 6:30 in the morning everyone was exhausted, but the experience had been priceless. 

Perhaps there are DJ safe havens scattered around the world: small self sustaining environments where DJ loyalists can find an experience rapidly disappearing from global landscape of EDM.

As true DJs slowly fade into the past and producers rise from their ashes to become the new rock stars of the world, what will become of the art of DJ’ing?

We love the massive shows. Everyone craves that moment when two songs you never thought would fit together are mashed up. And no one can deny a ridiculously dance worthy freestyle beat.

The world of EDM is growing and evolving at an ever increasing rate.

Will it find a balance between DJ and producer?

While concerts grow in size, will the art of DJ’ing continue to flourish or will it become a relic of the past?

Koan Sound & Gemini at Seasons 2012 Closing Party

The final show of Seasons Festival: this better be good.

A festival with the capacity to draw names like Armin van Buuren has a lot to live up to.

*spoiler: it rocked*

Bullet Bill and Elonious start off the night at Celebrities (where else!?) with classic dub sequences – strong openers, warming the crowd for headliners.

Beats build like galloping horses as the crowd crescendos towards the end of the set.

The lights dim as the staff in the booth ready an army of rainbow flashing styrofoam noodles; ominous melodies introduce Koan Sound, the co-headliner for the night, as the noodles fly out to the eager crowd.

Lost in their electronic dubscape, my rainbow flashing styrofoam noodle is stealthily stolen by one of the many cheeky party-goers. No matter – we all lovingly share our noodles with each other. We all get a chance to wave our rainbows proudly in the air.

Koan Sound’s subtle, light vibe then gives way to epileptic fits of screaming distortion with well-timed falls.

Then a driving crescendo of beats pummel to submission as we make way for Gemini’s transition.

For a second all that existed was the light breeze emanating from the speakers, and then a typical Gemini bass CRUUUUUUUNCH like the air was made of crackers. The man needed no introduction.

The first hour sounded like a piece of industrial equipment having a glorious breakdown – somehow, it was beautiful.

In less capable hands, the sonic risks that Gemini was taken would have fallen flat, but instead we were all treated to a sound and light show that sent us to another reality.

We were warped into another dimension, inside a video game. Inside TRON.

Gemini threw us a superb mix of original songs with great, well-placed remixes.

A storm of bass with quality musicality legitimized his dub-influenced sound.

Looking close inside the booth, every flick of his fingers had a direct and demonstrable effect on the music and on the crowd -- he literally had us at his fingertips.

Knife Party’s Internet Friends was sandwiched by two Nero songs: Crush on You and Innocence.

He seamlessly faded from Skrillex’s Bangarang to his own patented remix of Lana del Rey’s Born to Die.

The young DJ himself was sandwiched between two beautiful dancers, wearing silver pompom angel wings with bright silver LED headlamps, giving us all the familiar feeling of dancing in an underground mineshaft rave with leather-clad angels in six-inch stiletto heels – you literally could not ask for more with this show (the Easter bunny and teddy bear made yet another Blueprint appearance as well).

As his set rolled towards a thunderous climax, the emcee told us to give it up for Gemini.

No…is this the end? It can’t be! Who cares if it’s 3:00am?

ONE MORE SONG! We all shout, grovel and beg.

Gemini began his encore, and respectfully handed the controls to Koan Sound. Koan Sound played with the crowd for a bit, teasing us some more, and then they handed the reigns back to Gemini. After truly giving us our money’s worth, he faded out to finish the set, and he officially marked the end of this year’s Seasons Festival.

It was a light fun atmosphere – a total lack of pretension, typical of all my Celebrities and Blueprint experiences.

It punctuated Seasonsfest with an exclamation mark: I can’t wait till next year.

Blueprint Events Host Vancouver’s Biggest Dance Party

This Saturday night at the Vancouver Convention Center Armin van Buuren and Morgan Page played to a crowd of over six thousand, the crowning jewel of Blueprint’s second annual Seasons Festival.

As you entered the Convention Center’s main hall you were struck by the feeling that you were a part of something elusive in Vancouver: the event gave off the atmosphere of a much larger American/European Festival.

Filling in as co-headliner Morgan Page helmed the DJ booth with fierce conviction -- Steve Angello had to fly off because his wife went into labour, but it was clear that Page was not going to let the audience suffer.

  

Dancing angels adorned the stage, wings alight with LEDs. A steady stream of heavy melodic beats got the crowd's heart racing as we danced under a sea of brilliant lights.

Page kept impeccable timing. He knew exactly when to cut away from hard electro beats and transition into surprisingly tender moments giving the audience a momentary break from rocking their hearts out. As the exceptionally peaceful moment of Adele’s Set Fire to the Rain gave way to Tiesto and Steve Aoki’s Tornado, the music was drowned out in cheers and the crowd became lost in bass.  

From the VIP area the unobstructed view of the stage was priceless: this was hands down the best lightshow Vancouver had ever seen -- better than HSBC’s Celebration of Lights. With a cold beer resting on my private table I felt as though I was in one of the world’s largest clubs.

 Kaskade’s Eyes belted over the sound system, the tempo ramped up, and the night reached a new level. The crowd became enveloped in elegance, fully aware they were witnessing something unimaginably unique.  As the track took a turn you felt bass reverberate through the floor and up your legs. With their own personal dance floor VIP’ers were free to dance in pairs unobstructed, as general admission heaved and swayed in unison feeding on each other’s energy in optimum of communal vitality.

As Page wrapped up his set and the lights faded it became clear Blueprint was offering two separate experiences. The swanky no lines VIP club escape and the Electric Daisy Carnival special.

It was time for Armin and skepticism clouded my mind. How could any one man live up to the hype of being the undisputed greatest DJ alive?

Then Armin stepped onto the stage and I suddenly agreed with the majority. Armin is rightfully the world’s greatest. The energy in the room was like nothing I had ever felt before: it was alive. Buzzing with electric anticipation—a mixture of excitement and ecstasy. 

Most EDM events attract diehard party-goers but tonight VCC was filled with music lovers. Thousands of people who were about to see their idol.

Armin is still the reason why millions around the world discover and continue to love electronic dance music.  

He commands a presence that is not to be denied. Torrents of never-ending energy give the audience no choice but to live in the moment. Time freezes and just as you feel like you are going to run out of energy his music recharges you and you realize that you could dance forever.

His drops are tantalizing. At first you wait patiently. Then, you are overtaken. You beg Armin to drop the beat. You need it. At the same time, you have to trust him, his timing is perfect: he doesn’t read the audience, he knows what they want before they do.

For most of the set you felt as though you were walking through a euphoric wonderland of radiant transcending light. Suddenly a switch flips and the bass drops. The exuberant world you were blissfully indulging in is sucked into a dark vacuum. It was a ride to remember.

Playing for two and a half hours Armin van Buuren gave Vancouver a true DJ experience. We were privileged to take a journey through his fantastical mind and none of us wanted it to end. 

Hands down, this was Vancouver’s best DJ production and perhaps the best DJ set I have ever seen.

I can’t wait till Seasons Festival 2013.

Celebrities' Outrageous Free Party

Go ahead.

Dismiss AN21.

I dare you.

The younger brother of house music royalty Steve Angello, AN21's surge of popularity isn't the result of simple nepotism.

His chops are well-honed.

Instead of coming out hard to demolish any potential comparisons with his brother, AN21 exudes a quiet confidence, feeling out the crowd -- seamlessly transitioning from the high bar already set by his openers.

He delivers a masterful control of mood and atmosphere.

As he dances in the booth he showcases not only his technical prowess but also his party attitude. He grabs the audience by the balls and throws our own raw energy back at our faces -- amplified ten times over.

It's a give-and-take between crowd and DJ. It's how a house concert should be.

His understated remix of Cinema is representative of the whole night -- pitch perfect, masterful choice of breaks, and a HUGE tease with the drop.

The heaviest moment of the night comes when he drops some dirty dubstep for ten seconds then blends it into rough house that takes you by the ass and makes your hips swing and your arms fly high along with the heaving mass on the dancefloor.

Not shy about waxing nostalgic, he plays remixes of Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Otherside, as well as playing Daft Punk remixed with Skylar Grey's Coming Home.

He electrifies the crowd with his original remix of Pendulum's The Island.

Dancers surround his booth on either side, feathers falling off their skirts; people pick up the feathers and throw them up in the air with gleeful abandon.

An absurd Easter Bunny makes the rounds and takes pictures with the happy party go'ers.

Nothing makes sense but it doesn't matter because everything is tied together with the lighthearted spectacle of AN21's tantalizing electric beats.

The high quality light show is complemented with amateur dancers on stools. The visuals are outstanding.

The Easter Bunny gets more action than anyone else, dancing with pools of beautiful women -- his smile never fades from his big furry face.

Bass rattles chests in a way that rivals The Commodore.

At the 2:00am mark, I notice a Teddy Bear joining his Easter Bunny friend. Although this bear had nothing to do with Easter, he was accepted with open arms by the throngs of people still rocking hard on the dance floor.

Stand still for ten seconds and you'll feel the entire building heave with the collective weight of the entire crowd: it's 2:15am and nobody is tired. The night seems to go on forever, and everyone is goddamn thankful for that.

By this point AN21 is joined by the Easter Bunny, Teddy Bear, and feathered dancers, his DJ booth is bumpin’.

Just another night at Celebrities, you might think -- but AN21 made this a night to remember.

Celebrities and Blueprint put on an amazing show, and they did it for free.

AN21 proved that he doesn't need to crawl out from underneath the monolithic shadow of his older brother: the spotlight shines on AN21 because he bloody-well deserves it.

Cultural Flat-Lining: Thoughts on Dubstep Invading the Popular Conscious

Dropping to my knees I throw my head back in agonized confusion. A crowd of thousands pulse as one. My thoughts are ruptured by bass.

WAHBWUHB Damn breaaaaaaa nehnehweeh  you wub wubWOOOOOOOOB Skrillex!

If DJs don't drop the beat, distort the bass, and burst eardrums, pop culture will banish them to the dark nether-region where 98° and Hanson silently weep.

From Britney Spears’ Hold It Against Me (North Americas first Billboard Top 40 dub-drop) to Tiesto fully delving into the realm of house with bass heavy singles like Maximal Crazy and Chasing Summer, dubstep is the new pop music, and dropping a massive bass-line is becoming mandatory within the realm of electronic dance music.

Is EDM evolving towards fruition or is it becoming homogenized as dubstep seeps into the mainstream psyche?

Don’t get me wrong dubstep has its place.  Any EP which reaches out of your speakers and simultaneously double fists you in the junk/face within the first 30 seconds deserves high praise: Skrillex ‘Bangerang’ grabs hold after 29 seconds of Right On and refuses to let go for the duration of the EP.

Dubstep is transporting millions around the world to a strange place where Ozzy circa 1974 and Daft Punk spawned a death metal dance producing robot.

As the hoards of under-aged-pimple-ridden-short-skirt-wearing-party-loving-YouTube-junkies push dubstep further into the limelight, EDM is opening itself to the pitfalls of the plastic mainstream: the same relentless power which dictates that 34 of the top 40 pop radio hits should sound nearly identical. Will this momentum force dance music to create sub-genres?  Indie EDM?

Uneducated in the diverse and varied styles of dance music, pubescent 12-17 something’s have flooded the world of EDM scouring the internet for the heaviest beats with the biggest drops,  and the most bass. This is creating a world where the masses idolize Skrillex and Knife Party, but have never heard of Armin Van Buuren, Tiesto, Paul Van Dyk, Benny Benassi, or Swedish House Mafia (I could name dozens more). Sure a few know David Guetta and Deadmau5, however, at best their knowledge extends to a handful of pop hits.  

I fear that I will lose the artists I hold most dearly because popular culture demands that every DJ drop a fat greasy bass line or be benched as the sweaty mass of wannabe rebel teenager’s clamber to prove to the world the no one understands them.

“Son turn down that noise.” Thousands of parents call up the stairs.

.......No answer.....12-17 something quietly thinks. Never. *Thrashes head around* Skrillex is the best.  I wonder if (name irrelevant) wants to get fucked up later. Lower some girls self-esteem and get some action. *Picks up cell and thrashes some more*

Dubstep and incredible drops have their place within dance music so long as the world of EDM ensures that it does not get sucked into the pantheon of mass consumer society. To this end it would become unrecognizable within the black hole of ‘what’s-in.’  

So long as Armin Van Buuren doesn’t launch into a fifteen minute bass heavy dubstep homage in the middle of his set this Saturday at the Vancouver Convention Center all will be ok. However, if a Trance God falls to the machine all will be lost for EDM as an artistically diverse genre.