Club Reviews - Trance Energy 2006 - Holland

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Last Updated 21.02.06

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Trance Energy 2006 - Holland

Date: Saturday 11th February 2006
Address: Jaarbeurs, Utrecht, Holland
Occurrence: Yearly
Hours: 10.00pm / 7.00am
Ticket Price: €37.50
Genre: Trance
Dress Code: Anything goes
Capacity: 30,000

Line-Up: Click Here

The start of February has traditionally indicated the beginning of Autumn, but for the last six years it has meant only one thing to Trance loving clubber's around the world, and that's that the mammoth party of Trance Energy is upon is. 2006 is no different, with Jaarbeurs sold out, 30,000 clubber's of varying ages, nationalities and backgrounds descended on the city of Utrecht for a night they will never forget. Arriving at about 11:30pm, the anticipation built up as we made our way through the doors and into the foray, which resembled a shopping mall in some ways, even down to the fountain water feature in the middle. Our first port of call was the huge main room, which had a capacity of 20,000. Mark Norman and Cor Finjeman were on back to back, but we were only really getting settled during the end of their set and the first main act we seen were Above & Beyond. Messer's Grant, McGuinness and Silamaki were clearly as up for it as the crowd as they danced away behind the decks between taking turns mixing. They played alot harder tunes than they are renowned for, but the crowd were absolutely loving it. They still managed to fit in a couple of their usual classics, with Air For Life and Ocean Lab - Satellite two of the highlights. The action switched to the other end of the main room then, where the stage was set up for the first live act of the night - Ernesto & Bastino. They started of with their big hit from last year Dark Side Of The Moon, but the sound seemed to have alot of echo and the drums seemed out of synch to the singing. It was only a twenty minute live performance, so we took this time to have some refreshments at the easily accessible bar, before Armin Van Buuren took to the decks at the end of the room Above And Beyond had been on. Armin started off with Arctic Quest - Renaissance and as the first tune rang around the main room, the atmosphere totally lifted and we knew we were in for something special from the Dutch maestro. Armin was soon into the swing of things, with the Sander Van Doorn mix of his own Control Freak thumping around the main room. Armin was clearly the main attraction of the night, as the Main Room was flooded with people during his first few tunes. But everyone their was loving the quality tunage Armin was pulling out, including Thomas Bronzwaer's excellent Shadow World. At this stage, the spectacular production Trance Energy is renowned for was going in unison with Armin's pounding beats, creating some heavenly bliss for all in attendance. Massive laser's of different colours dominated the main room, amongst them, light blue and pink ones, which merged over the crowd. Armin's set flew by and before we knew it, we were hearing the subtle piano of his own Communication, this was followed by an absolute classic, that I'm sure nobody was expecting to hear. Veracocha - Carte Blanche, a collaboration between trance legends Ferry Corsten and Vincent De Moor from 1999, was met with the loudest reaction from the crowd of any tune of the night. He finished of with John O'Callaghan's latest offering Vendetta, though we could see he would have played for hours more if possible. We made our way to the Armada arena after that, where Markus Schulz had already began. The centre of the Armada arena was round, with screens all around, showing a close up of the dj, so you could see exactly what he was doing on the decks. Markus mixed away with a smile on his face and as he played Hammer & Bennet - Language, gold confetti came raining down on to the crowd. I was really enjoying his set, but my friends wanted to go and see Randy Katana next door in the Mad House arena, so I grudgingly went with them. We made our way to the front to find the stage with hundreds of large individual lights behind it, reminiscent of the car park in Ibiza for their opening and closing parties. There was also a huge laser going through the crowd, and a strobe which was being slightly overused. There was a big entourage dancing on the stage as Randy went through alot of his own productions, including Aquarius, F16 and Tribal Shock. But alot of his tunes sounded the same and I think I would have rathered stayed at Markus Schulz. We made our way back to the main room next, just in time to hear PUSH finishing of his live set with Universal Nation, before Marcel Woods stepped up to the decks at the opposite end of the room. He was one of the dj's I was most looking forward to seeing, as I had never seen him before. He started of with his own Cherry Blossom, which immediately got the crowd on his side. We were expecting a set with alot of energy and drive from Marcel. But like Randy Katana, alot of his tunes sounded the same, until Advanced, which was the theme tune for Trance Energy this year, picked things up again. He then played his own mix of U2's Vertigo followed by Marco V's excellent False Light. He finished up soon after and Scott Project was due on to finish of the Main Room, but we made our way to the Armada Arena to catch the end of MIKE's dj set there. The Armada arena was only about half full now, but those that were there were clearly enjoying MIKE's set, as was he, judging by his face on the screen behind him. He played a different set than I was expecting, but it was perfect for the last set of the night, much to our delight. It was different trance to what we had been hearing all night, with tunes including Pontape v Just Won't Do (Carl Cox mix) keeping the crowd on their toes for the last hour. The Armada Arena finished about 15 minutes before the Main Room and we made our way out in to the cold Utrecht morning, full of Trance Energy to get us home.
Venue: 9 Music: 9 Crowd: 9 Sound System: 9 Total: 36 / 40 Rating: Gold Award
Review written by: Wayne Spelman	wayne@uk-cl.co.uk

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