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It’s not too often you find yourself completely lost for
words. But, after Sensation White in Amsterdam
I have been really struggling to express how immense an experience was. Having
heard so much about the event for years now, it was great to see it go off with
such a bang in the city where it all began.
Things kicked off slowly with Dutch local Chuckie. Although
not a recognised name to me, I’m told he’s fast rising star in Holland and as the first act of the night he
understandably kept things low key. This, when combined with the initial chaos
of first arriving (getting yourself orientated in a venue the size of Amsterdam
Arena took some time!) I thought that perhaps it was a bit too much to take in.
It wasn’t until Felix Da Housecat took the reigns that things really started
moving, and so by the time local legend Fedde La Grand stepped up the party was
in full swing. Each DJ carried with them their own theme, with costumed dancers
and unique elements of the light and production show taking place. While the
long spoken intros often seemed dramatic – often bordering on cheesy – they really
set the scene for what was to come and had people cheering. Epic is a term that
continually sprang to mind.
The DJ booth was situated in the centre of the stadium floor
and it rotated slowly so everyone got a chance to see who was playing no matter
where you were in the arena. There were two long catwalks running out from the
DJ booth area and down the length of the floor, meaning the full stage ran the
whole length of the stadium. There were water jets situated along on these
longer arms of the stage, and they’d spray out long columns or curtains of
water with lasers projecting pictures onto them. The Mega Mix (the night’s
crescendo) was a visual orgy. Lights, lasers, pyro and performers, all of it
timed to perfection with the musical soundtrack. It’s often said that Cirque Du
Soleil and Sensation bear similarities because of their complex and theatrical
stage approach. Seeing the full Sensation White experience with my own eyes, I can
understand how the parallels are drawn.
After the Mega Mix it was Laidback Luke’s time to shine,
before Tocadisco took control and moved things into harder territory. Marco V
ended the night, giving perhaps the closest glimpse of Sensation White’s
trancier past (although with a definite tech influence). A few years ago when
Sensation White shifted its musical policy towards house and electro there were
grumbles from trance fans that it wasn’t a style of music conducive to a
stadium show. After seeing 40,000+ people all have the time of their lives to
‘mainrom house’ – it doesn’t get much more mainroom than a stadium, right? –
I’d have to disagree. While initially the dress code had me feeling a little
awkward, the sentiment had dissipated entirely by the time we reached the venue.
It had you feeling part of something much, much bigger than yourself.
As we left the party, the sun beginning to rise, we were
handed lanyards promoting Sensation’s forthcoming entry to the Australian
market; Melbourne
on NYE. The first details are coming later this month, so be sure to stay tuned
to ITM as we’ll be reporting on it closely. Now that I’m back in Oz I’ll be
able to upload some pics and YouTube videos in the next few days, and be sure
to also stay tuned for our next episode of inthemix.tv (online Friday July 18th)
as it’s a special episode on ITM’s journey to Amsterdam. We were given behind
the scene’s access and also admitted onto the stage during the party, so
there’s some pretty goddamn amazing footage to see!
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