Day 1 ended in the best way possible – a trip out to Westerpark for the amazing In Trance We Trust showcase. We spent an incredible night in WesterUnie the year before for the same show, and caught Menno De Jong, Jordan Suckley, and Indecent Noise. This year, it was triple the size, with 3 full connected halls, and ran even longer in its hours.
We started out with John Askew in the main stage area, who was really pumping the already packed crowd. Before settling back in the main room for a while, we went to check out the Grotesque stage, as well as the Mental Asylum showcase in the other halls, which were all equally packed. This was a trance lover’s paradise, 3 rooms of lights, color, and the sweat to heavy sounds of pure trance, cocooning us in a true multimedia bliss. This crowd, in a true European trance fam fashion, was a huge mix of everyone imaginable – shapes , sizes, ages.. everyone was level on the dance floor. We were able to stay for most of the party, before some of our crew drifted off to Gashouder, so we had to do a little recon.
Our highlights of the night:
The imaginative decorations in the main room (glowing orbs that changed colors and shifted vertically in time to the music. This just got more elaborate and intense as the evening went on.
Music wise, Indecent Noise (thanks for the Public Domain drop!) and John O’Callaghan’s sets were both prime. It was hard to explore when they were on stage, so we simply didn’t, except to go to the other’s set! Honorable mention went to Andy Moore and Lange, who were the surprise staff favorite of the event. Their treading of the line of the definition of trance, their balancing off of each other, as well as their programming balancing off of the rest of the rooms, really hit it home for us this night. All in all, a great party!
Pros:
Environment, lighting, friendly staff and partygoers. Of course, the wide variety of trance in all shapes and forms.
Cons:
Too much smoke in the Grotesque room. Half of our crew simply couldn’t stand the smell by the end of the night, so they had to leave. Not to mention, it was impossible to take any photos.
Overall: A
Bonus: We got to spend an hour in Gashouder for the first night of Awakenings. The lights weren’t at full blast, but our crew definitely got a taste of the incredible spectacle that was in store for them.
Journalist/blogger since 2009 and music lover since 1980. Bex now travels the world and writes and takes photos of dance events, creates art in various media, sings quietly to her cat in the shower, and occasionally builds something that tends to involve a blowtorch. She can usually be seen hiding behind some sort of camera rig.
