NOV. 14, 2013
The crowd was on pins and needles as Paul Van Dyk took the stage, it probably helped that everyone was still bouncing off the walls, and I mean that almost literally, from Aly & Fila’s opening set. But just when you were worried that might have taken anything away from Paul Van Dyk’s headlining moment….his opening ID straight into “Symmetries” featuring Austin Leeds, almost made me (and it felt like the rest of the room) absolutely take off into another dimension. The fact that I unashamedly spent an exorbitant amount of time searching online for what his opening ID was only to see it listed everywhere as just “ID” (I MUST find that track), made me realize the master mind behind what Paul Van Dyk does. It’s never just a journey, it’s not just an expedition – it really is a trance Revolution.
His current tour for his aptly named 2013 Album Revolution, features the remixes of his 2012 album Evolution. I saw that tour when he came through the Carolinas in 2012 and while I was not disappointed, I also remember feeling safe and comfortable in the PvD that I knew and loved, that old school trance vibe that left me feeling warm and fuzzy and content. But what Revolution does is put that feeling in a 360 spin and takes you for a full blown roller coaster ride through what trance was, is, and will be in the future.
The venue PvD played in was known to bring in the more “old school” EDM DJ’s, but honestly that night I saw every age range and every “type” of EDM listener there is out there all raging together in absolute bliss. The beats were hard hitting, but it was still unmistakably Paul Van Dyk. From “Rock This” (Exense Remix) and “Open My Eyes” featuring Kyau & Albert, you couldn’t help but jump and throw your fists into the air in exhilaration. His beats were hard hitting enough to reach every dark corner of the club and hyped the crowd relentlessly. But intricate and detailed enough to make the most of what was an intimate venue.
He had shot us all into outer space and it’s almost like he knew he had to bring us back slowly. I, along with the rest of the crowd, were whipped into a delicious trance frenzy. I swear I felt my heart break, but in that beautiful and profound way, when “I Don’t Deserve You” featuring Plumb came. “Sun After Heartbreak” featuring Sue McLaren also helped to persuade me that my feet were indeed still on earth.
It’s a show, a night, I’ll never forget and one that I think will continue to sky rocket Paul Van Dyk’s well-earned title as a trance king among mere mortal men.
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By Lauren Stafford
