Trance is NOT just a genre. Its NOT just a style. Its NOT just a trend. It simply is, in all its spatial limitness, a feeling. And no artist can invoke that feeling better than Armin Van Buuren. Joined by a breathtaking roster of some of the biggest Trance artists on the planet, Armin bought the illustrious A State Of Trance Stage to India once again, albeit this time bigger and better. In partnership with India’s premier Dance Music brand Sunburn, the ASOT stage glistened on the auspicious night that the rains arrived to the city of Mumbai. It was certainly no accident by the Gods, that one of the most blessed and blissful seasons of the country began with the coming of the alluring A State of Trance experience.
The ASOT stage had visited India and Mumbai before, back in March 2013. Many would look back and say how it set the tempo for the ever burgeoning Dance Music scene here in India – creating history so to speak, just another day in the office for Armin! The 700th Episode has already been backpacking its way around the globe through cities like Sydney, Miami & Buenos Aires before Mumbai was added to its exclusive list. Just before the event arrived to Mumbai, Armin made a short stopover at Hyderabad, where we had the chance to speak to him exclusively about the event, its history and his forthcoming plans as well. The event has marked plenty of excitement over the years, but the familiar fanaticism that Indian fans have for the historic radio show was evident on social media for many months. Fans and loyalists had been waiting for this day, literally counting down hours and days till the doors opened for Armin‘s warm-up set.
The event was live streamed, every minute of it, from the opening of doors at 4 pm till closing time midnight. The reactions on social media on the live stream were of wild excitement, ever since Armin dropped Croquet Club‘s ‘Only You‘, till 8 hours later he dropped a definitive Hardstyle remix of his yesteryears classic ‘Shivers‘. Every moment of the night was shared, uniting the world into one giant dancefloor.
Armin opened proceedings with the much anticipated warm up set, where he set up shop backstage with the stream being screened at the giant screen at the venue. The warm and effervescent tones of the warmup lit up the venue and dazzled the crowd. Intricate and textural tones caressed the heat-lorn listeners as they made their way into the venue. Every reason we anticipated that the Warm-Up set would be unmissable came true, as Armin carved out a beautiful ambiance with his sonic tools. Tracks like Nissim Gavriel’s ‘Love District (Shai T Remix)’, Dousk’s ‘Look Good Tonight (Soulwerk Remix)’ and Scarface’s ‘Source Of Life’ simply opened up avenues of new musical destinations to this Progressive starved audience. Armin further discussed with stand-in performer Ruben de Ronde, the reasons for the absence of Simon Patterson, who suffered some VISA issues at the very last moment, breaking a few hearts. However, after the warm-up concluded with Grum’s ‘Lightspeed’, Ruben De Ronde showed how he was more than capable to make for Simon’s absence.
Super 8 & Tab opened their first Indoor arena set in India with their own tune ‘Patience’ with Julie Thompson to thunderous roars from the crowds, who offered them their warmest welcome. Just before they stepped onto the stage, we had a chance to speak to the Finnish legends exclusively. The ‘Helsinki Scorchin’ legends beat the heat outside with a super set of some of the best tunes from the club trance spectrum, including tracks from Fatum, Jason Ross as well as some stunning and innovative mashups! Everyone was taken aback when they mashed up Above & Beyond’s ‘Mariana Trench’ with Ilio’s classic ‘Rapture’. Another mashup that aroused everyone’s state of Trance would definitely be the merger of two iconic classic tracks through Armin Van Buuren & Nadia Ali vs. Super8 & Tab’s ’Helsinki’s Scorchin vs Who is Watching (Above & Beyond Mashup)’. In truly stunning manner, the Finnish legends ended their set with the fantastic Above & Beyond feat. Zoë Johnston’s ‘Peace Of Mind’ that has every person in the venue in euphoria with arms raised and wide smiles cemented across their faces. The well measured set by Super 8 & Tab opened up the dancefloor for Ørjan Nilsen, who simply took the energy at the venue to unexpected levels.
Super 8 & Tab – Live At A State of Trance Festival (ASOT 700, Mumbai) – 06-Jun-2015 by Goodmusicclub on Mixcloud
Orjan Nilsen arrived onto the decks at NSCI and simply took off on a high-octane ride taking along with him a closely following army of some 8,000 tireless fans, as they took on tune after tune from Nilsen and rode the energy curve with consummate ease. He played some massive Festival anthems from his own studio such as ‘Fair Game’, ‘The Edge’, ‘Mafioso (Mark Sixma Remix)’, ‘Xiing’, ‘Now We’re Talking’ and ‘Violetta’, besides playing anthems such as Hardwell feat. Amba Shepherd’s ‘United We Are’, Above & Beyond feat. Alex Vargas’ ‘Sticky Fingers’ and the massive classic Tiësto feat. Kirsty Hawkshaw’s ‘Just Be (Ørjan Nilsen Remix)’. His set consisted of plenty of jumps, finger air-plays as well as massive drops & buildups with Orjan himself taking to the mic and cheering the crowd along numerous times. He concluded his energetic set with his own ‘The Late Anthem (Way Too Late Mix)’.
Orjan Nilsen – Live At A State of Trance Festival (ASOT 700, Mumbai) – 6-Jun-2015 by Festivals 2015 on Mixcloud
Enter Cosmic Gate. The legendary duo arrived in style amidst some slight confusion as their opening track Eric Prydz’s ‘Generate’ had some trouble with the decibel levels initially, but It was quickly fixed as they moved on to a calculated set that touched many of their own musical styles. Oscillating freely between their Progressive styles with tracks such as ‘Happyness’ and Brian & Tabasco Bob ‘Time & Time’ and more familiar club tunes such as Gareth Emery’s ‘Long Way Home (Cosmic Gate Remix), their recent collaboration with Eric Lumiere called ‘Falling Back ‘ and a stunning remix of Coldplay’s ‘Yellow (Steve Brian & Oudai Abdulhadi Bootleg)’. Their set touched on various Trance classics as well as they played out tunes like Darude’s ‘Sandstorm (Mark Sixma Remix)’ before ending with their own ‘Exploration Of Space (Cosmic Gate Back 2 The Future Remix)’.
The clock struck Armin Time. The man, the legend, the radio show host, the Trance mogul was finally to arrive on the Mumbai stage. This crowd loved every minute of Trance bestowed upon them in the course of the night, but it was now all about the Dutch maestro. The crowd welcomed Armin with deafening cheers, but as the buildup of his collaboration with Mark Sixma titled ‘Panta Rhei (Intro Mix)’ rang in the background, Armin slowly emerged from backstage with the humble greeting “..Good Evening Mumbai..Are you ready to go into A State Of Trance with me?!” The remarkable buildup on the track mirrored the excitement on the crowd’s faces as the massive new tune got everyone back onto their feet with all the energy they had reserved! Armin delivered one of his most versatile sets, as he covered every generation of Trance music that the radio show had touched upon. He began his journey with some Contemporary masterpieces including his own collaboration with Mr. Probz ‘Another You (Headhunterz Remix)’, Andrew Rayel’s ‘Rise Of The Era (Digital X Remix)’ and his responsible tune ‘Save My Night’. Armin’s set wasn’t short of a few surprises even though as he played Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike & Ummet Ozcan vs. Alexander Popov vs. Gareth Emery feat. Bo Bruce ‘The Hum vs. Olympus vs. U (Armin van Buuren Mashup)’ , Andrew Rayel vs. CUB!C & Heatbeat ‘Dark Warrior vs. Endless Horizon (Armin van Buuren Mashup)’ and his working collaboration with Hardwell, Armin even touched some brilliant vocal trance through Talemono vs. Above & Beyond feat. Zoë Johnston ‘Overload vs. We’re All We Need (Armin van Buuren Mashup)’.
He then began to illustrate the ideal way to listen to trance, as he uniquely began to orchestrate the spotlights with his own hand gestures, an action that got everyone in the crowd to stay still and observe in amazement. One of the most iconic tunes of his career the Grammy nominated ‘This is what it feels like’ was also unveiled to the hapless crowd who were further invited by Armin to jump in unison at the drop. The venue and the entire arena shook and trembled as the thousands jumped synchronously atop the towering concrete structure. The audience then finally got a taste of the official anthem as out came ‘Together’ with an innovative remake of the yesteryear classic Armin van Buuren & W&W ‘Your House Is Mine’.
The mashups and remixes kept flowing, as Armin kept the crowd guessing as to which direction he’d be taking them next. A massive Eximinds & Vigel vs. Omnia & IRA ‘Handprint vs. The Fusion (Armin van Buuren Mash Up)’ and Willem De Roo vs. Bogdan Vix & Renee Stahl vs. Armin van Buuren feat. Laura Jansen ‘Inception vs. Forever vs. Sound Of The Drums (Armin van Buuren Mashup)’ showed that Armin was unafraid to experiment and try anything out with this crowd! His set took a welcome turn towards remake-mode as we heard Jean-Michel Jarre & Tangerine Dream ‘Zero Gravity (Above & Beyond Remix)’, Daniel Kandi pres. Timmus ‘Symphonica (Andrew Rayel Rebuild)’, Armin Van Buuren & Tomas Heredia vs. Alex M.O.R.P.H. & Sylvia Tosun ‘Communication Love (Chris Schweizer Mashup)’ and the iconic Ferry Corsten pres. Gouryella ’Anahera’ all one after another! The purists amidst the crowd must have been surely taken into Trance heaven with the illustrious list of classics unleashed!
The iconic NSCI venue was once host to the incredible Armin Only stage, where Armin debuted his playful ‘Ping Pong’. It seemed we were entering familiar ground, as Armin stood up on top of the stage and began the familiar dance. Instead, the crowd were gifted the Armin van Buuren vs. Fisherman & Hawkins ‘Ping Pong vs. Apache (W&W Edit)’. Moments later, Mumbai bore witness to one of the first times ever that the official Ramin Djawadi ‘Game Of Thrones (Armin van Buuren Remix)’ was premiered, and wasn’t it well received by this crowd! Armin then moved onto a slightly harder style of trance with just half an hour to go, rewarding his fans with some massive tunes.
The night ended on a supremely emotional tone as he first played John Lennon’s historic ‘Imagine (Scott Bond Rebooted Bootleg)’before he stepped away from the stage in an emotional speech. He thanked the crowd and the audience around the globe for their constant support over last 14 years and promised many more such ASOT stages to come. He then humbly warned the crowd over presenting the next track, which would be slightly crazy, as he played the classic ‘Shivers’ albeit in a re-imagined hardstyle remix, by none other than Frontliner. That drew the curtains to one of the most incredible nights of a Trance music fan, when Mumbai was united with the world and became the center of a gigantic galactic dancefloor.
The 6th of June was just another milestone and evidence of Mumbai and India’s readiness in becoming a Global Dance Music superpower. With impending announcmenrts of big artists and stages coming to India, the ASOT stage remains one of the most captivating and emotive experiences for a Dance Music fan. Hopefully, India can continue to sustain its position on the ASOT itenary for the coming years! Many thanks to the Sunburn Team, who put together this incredible event!
Review by: Hamed Khalidi
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