EDC Update: It's getting official now...

 Have you paid a visit to http://www.electricdaisycarnival.com lately?  If not, take a look.  EDC is starting to take full form and really becoming official.  So official in fact, that the lineup of the Colorado show has been announced.  Among the names:

Ferry Corsten
Axwell
Kaskade
Sander van Doorn
Bart B More
LA Riots
Feed Me
...and others (click here to see the full lineup)

The Colorado is always a good indication of the names that are due on the far West Coast event (usually including most or all of the lineup).  So far so good.  However, I'd be lying if I said I'd be completely content with the headliners of this show being the biggest names that the Las Vegas show had to offer.  Nothing against the mentioned DJ's are they are the best in the world and deserve every bit of praise, however certain things need to be taken into account:

1. The Venue: with how much capacity the LV Motor Speedway can hold, there is much more possibility and buying power to bring headliners that can truly have a crowd of that magnitude up in arms.
2. The change: with the west coast EDC show being in Las Vegas, this put many traditional goers at a huge disadvantage as far as transportation goes.  I think I speak for everyone when I say I hope Insomniac has some sort of surprise planned.
3. The schedule: if you've missed it, EDC is now THREE FREAKIN DAYS!!!  I definitely feel that this is unusual and unnecessary, as two days was more than enough for the pandemonium that ensued last year in Los Angeles.  Do I think that Insomniac is biting off more than they can chew with this one?  Absolutely.  This means they will have much more pressure to sell out all of those days to be able to afford enough talent to fill 3 entire days worth of performances.  Sidenote: I also feel that the 3 day schedule is inconvenient and unfortunate to those such as myself who work on fulltime schedules.  Hard enough to get Friday off, but even harder to get Thursday AND Friday off.  Traveling to Vegas isn't your regular drive to LA.  3 days most likely won't happen for the majority of visitors, and will mean that one big headliner will be missed.

There is still much to be announced and much work to be done on Insomniac's part, but it looms ever so close to have the lineup announced for our Las Vegas Electric Daisy Carnival 2011.  Let's get ready!

~Mark

Trance on Guitar: Blurring the lines of musical genius

Soo...ever wonder how you can make a trance song out of guitar?  Well, most haven't wondered that. But this guy has...and successfully turned it into something I can only call genius!  Take a look for yourselves!



The hat..not so genius.  But then again he looks like Raiden from Mortal Kombat. Take that back...genius definitely.  How many more times can I say genius?  Lots...

Just goes to show; don't let your tools (or lack thereof) keep you back from creating something awesome.

~Mark

Happy Birthday To Me! BIG SHOW ANNOUNCEMENTS!

So on my birthday, I found out some HUGE news that has me all smiles from ear to ear.  Let's not spoil it with words, lets let the images do the talking:

'Nuff said. Let's get WEIRD!

~Mark

Sander van Doorn & Armin van Buuren bromance (ASOT 500)

Dutch brothers

Still listening to these sets from the ASOT 500 party in Miami at Ultra...and what can I say, I still get goosebumps.  I can just imagine what it must have felt like to be there with all the madness going down.  If you haven't downloaded the sets from http://www.weloveatrance.com you are sorely missing out.  Anyways...while I listened live to Sander's set and while i replay it, one thing seems pretty noteworthy...Armin constantly giving props to Sander van Doorn.  To have the announcement come on saying that they saved "THE BEST FOR LAST" and Armin constantly calling him a "legend"...that is HUGE props to come from the four time #1 DJ in the world!  I was actually really shocked to hear that.  I know they're friends, but I guess the bromance runs deep between these two.  Maybe not as close as Armin and Markus or Armin and Ferry, but pretty damn close.  Definitely the musical respect is there.  So in that spirit and in the spirit of Throwback Thursday...here is Sander van Doorn's remix of Armin van Buuren's "Control Freak".  Enjoy!

~Mark

ASOT 500 In Review: Day 2 Miami (Tracklist)

Millions around the world, thousands in attendance, and dozens of fellow DJ's and producers who are most definitely in awe of the epicness that was the 2nd day celebration of A State of Trance 500 in Miami, FL at Ultra Music Festival.  This one was definitely important for me to speak on considering it's the only celebration that takes place in my home country of the USA.  That coupled with the fact that more than half of my top 10 was on stage for this one...I had to tune in.  Let me just say...words cannot do this show justice.  Even while I was not in attendance, the pictures that are being tweeted, the songs that are being played, and the worldwide communication that is happening all because of this historic occasion is certainly making not only trance history, not only electronic music history, but music history as a whole.  Could anybody else other than Armin van Buuren bring the entire world to tune in for such a momentous occasion?  I really don't think so.  It really boggles my mind how much the internet was ABLAZE during the entire show and all sets involved.  The music was incredible and so was the fan reaction.  This is definitely one for the books and will be interesting to see if the ASOT 500 show in Den Bosch can top this one.  Argentina will definitely be a great one to tune in to for my boys HeatBeat, Markus Schulz, Jochen Miller, John O'Callaghan, and Dash Berlin.  Oh yeah... also another cool thing to take note.  Why did Twitter ban #ASOT500 from being a worldwide trending topic like it was during the Johannesburg show?  I really don't see Twitter's logic behind this as this is a worldwide event that cannot be denied, but oh well.  I don't make the twitter rules and apparently neither can the #TranceFamily.  Day 1 also had Leon Bolier become a trending topic which was completely awesome as well.  Haven't had much of a chance to check out his set but it's definitely on my list to do, on top of all these tracks played today that I have to track down.  Between downloading and discovering new music, when will one ever have time to do anything else?  No wonder DJ's get so busy.  But before I get ahead of myself...here are the tracklists of today's sets in Miami for ASOT 500.  Enjoy!

Marcus Schössow

01. Schossow & Sagstad - Dome
02. Marcus Schössow - Swedish Nights
03. Marcus Schössow - Alright
04. BT - The Emergency (Marcus Schössow Remix)
05. Above & Beyond – Sun & Moon (Marcus Schössow Remix)
06. Leon Bolier vs. Marcus Schossow - 2099
07. Yep & Lang - Nevertheless (Nifra Remix)
08. Conjure One feat Jaren - Like Ice (Marcus Schössow Remix)
09. Judge Jules - The Greater Good (Marcus Schossow Remix)
10. Leon Bolier & Marcus Schossow - Ost Kaas (Mozarella Mix)
11. Gareth Emery vs. Alex Speaker - Exposure (Ben Nicky Mashup)

Alex M.O.R.P.H.

01. Star Wars - Imperial March (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Intro Edit)
02. Sylvia Tosun & Bellatrax - Worlds Keep Turning (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Club Mix)
03. ID
04. Jose Amnesia feat. Jennifer Rene - Louder (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix)
05. Deep Voices Ft. Alexander Klaus - Autumn Leaves (Beltek Remix)
06. ID
07. ID
08. Dada Life – White Noise/Red Meat (ID Remix)
09. Protonica - Northern Storm (Original Mix)
10. Skytech - Rocket Science
11. Alex M.O.R.P.H. feat. Ana Criado – Sunset Boulevard
12. ID
13. Winter Stayed - Triple A (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix)
14. Veracocha - Carte Blanche (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix)
15. Glenn Morrison feat. Christian Burns - Tokyo Cries (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix)

Cosmic Gate

01. Cosmic Gate - Back To Earth (Arty Remix)
02. Cressida feat Roxanne Barton - Heart On My Sleeve (Kyau & Albert Remix)
03. Mat Zo - Synapse Dynamics (Arty Remix)
04. Moguai - We Want Your Soul (Thomas Gold Remix)
05. Dune - Heiress Of Valentina (Alesso Remix)
06. Cosmic Gate - Barra
07. Ferry Corsten - Punk (Cosmic Gate Essential Rework)
08. Nadia Ali - Rapture (Tristan Garner Elevation Remix)
09. Randy Katana - In Silence (Setrise Remix)
10. Cosmic Gate - Raging (Alexander Popov Dub Mix)
11. Cosmic Gate - Fire Wire (Cosmic Gate's Back 2 The Future Remix)
12. Store N'Forward vs. Gabriel & Dresden feat. Molly Bancroft - Donut Tracking Treasure Down (Store N'Forward Mashup)
13. Cosmic Gate - Exploration Of Space (Cosmic Gate's Back 2 The Future Remix)
14. Vincent De Moor - Fly Away (Cosmic Gate Remix)
15. John O'Callaghan feat. Sarah Howells – Find Yourself (Cosmic Gate Remix)

Gareth Emery

01. Gareth Emery feat. Brute Force - Arrival (Ashley Wallbridge Intro Mix)
02. Yves-Y vs. Fred Baker - Start Again (Original Mix)
03. Gareth Emery feat. Mark Frisch - Into The Light (ID Remix)
04. Steve Angello & Faithless - Knas Insomnia (East & Young Mashup)
05. Pendulum vs. Rank 1 vs. Nic Chagall vs. Wippenberg - The 100 Islands (Triarchy Edit)
06. Above & Beyond feat. Richard Bedford - Sun and Moon (Original Mix)
07. Gareth Emery & Jerome Isma-Ae - Stars (Hardwell Remix)
08. Gareth Emery feat. Roxanne Emery - Too Dark Tonight (John O'Callaghan Remix)
09. Zombie Nation - Kernkraft 400 (Chris Kaeser Bootleg)
10. Gareth Emery feat. Emma Hewitt - I Will Be The Same (Dennis Sheperd Remix)
11. MEM - Forza (Original Mix) w/ ID
12. Gareth Emery - Global (Jordan Suckley Remix)
13. Lange & Andy Moor vs Tiësto - Lethal Stadium Four (Gareth Emery Mashup)
14. Gareth Emery vs Markus Schulz - Not The Same Citadel (Armin van Buuren Mashup)
15. Gareth Emery feat. Lucy Saunders - Sanctuary (Original Mix)
16. Gareth Emery vs. Motorcycle - As The Exposure Comes (Gareth Emery Mashup)
17. Gareth Emery feat. Lucy Saunders - Fight The Sunrise (Daniel Kandi Remix)
18. Marc simz - Forbidden City (Heatbeat Rapture Mashup)
19. Delerium - Silence 2009 (Gareth Emery vs Black Army Mashup)
20. OceanLab vs. Gareth Emery - On A Metropolis Day (Myon & Shane 54 Mashup)

Ferry Corsten

01. Kyau & Albert - On The Way
02.Cliff Coenraad - Oh!Mega (Bootyshakin Mix)
03. Steve Hill & Gaz West - Can U Feel It
04. Tellur - What You Think
05. Klauss Goulart - Maximum
06. ID
07. Ferry Corsten feat. Betsie Larkin - Made Of Love
08. Ferry Corsten - Beautiful
09. Dogzilla - Without You (Rafaël Frost Remix)
10. Coldplay - The Scientist (Maarten De Jong Bootleg)
11. Jacob van Hage - Spotfire (Original Mix)
12. Ferry Corsten - ID
13. Ferry Corsten - Brain Box (Original Mix)
14. Ferry Corsten - Punk (MarLo Remix)
15. System F Feat. Armin van Buuren - Exhale

Armin van Buuren

01. Armin van Buuren feat. Ferry Corsten - Minack
02. Marcel Woods - BPM (Kristof Van Den Berghe Remix)
03. Ørjan Nilsen - Between The Rays (Original Mix)
04. Ørjan Nilsen - Go Fast!
05. Armin van Buuren feat. BT - These Silent Hearts (Ralphie B Remix)
06. Bjorn Akesson – Painting Pyramids
07. Shogun - Skyfire
08. Arty & Mat Zo - Rebound (Original Mix)
09. Above & Beyond feat. Richard Bedford - Sun & Moon (Club Mix)
10. Klaus Goulart - Turbulence - Gufman Celebration
11. Gareth Emery vs. Alex Speaker - Exposure (Ben Nicky Mashup)
12. Tom Colontonio - Reflections (Heatbeat Mix)
13. Markus Schulz pres. Dakota - Sinners
14. Leon Bolier - Capetown
15. Armin van Buuren pres. Gaia - Status Excessu D (ASOT 500 Anthem) 
16. Armin van Buuren feat. Winter Kills - Take A Moment (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Remix)
17. Aly & Fila feat. Jwaydan - We Control The Sunlight (Original Mix)
18. Signum - Beyond This Earth
19. Push - Universal Nation (Dash Berlin Bootleg)
20. Jorn van Deynhoven & Manuel le Saux - Nardo (Jorn van Deynhoven Mix)
21. Paul Van Dyk - For An Angel (ID Remix)
22. Armin van Buuren - Communication 3

ATB

01. ATB - Ecstasy (Special US Intro Mix)
02.  First State feat. Sarah Howells - Reverie (First State's Pounding Club Mix)
03. Estiva - Festival (Original Mix)
04. Jaco - Excuses (Original Mix)
05. ID
06. Rammstein - Du Hast (Gerayd Remix)
07. Ultra Dj's - Me & You (Ernesto vs. Bastian Mix)
08. ATB feat. Melissa Loretta - ID
09. MuseArtic - Last Saturday (Original Mix)
10. ID
11. Anton Firtich pres. AF Project - Something Wrong (Original Mix)
12. ID
13. ATB - LA Nights (Original Mix)
14. ATB - What About Us (Original Mix)

Sander van Doorn

01.Intro ID
02.Taylor & Close - Come With Us (Original Mix)
03.Sander van Doorn feat. Carol Lee - Love Is Darkness (Original Version vs. Ummet Ozcan Remix)
04.Sander van Doorn - Koko (Original Mix)
05.Green Velvet - Flash (Nicky Romero Remix)
06.Erick Strong - The Monster (Original Mix)
07.Radion 6 - Streets Of NY (Original Mix)
08.ID
09.Jacob van Hage - Spotfire (Original Mix)
10.Tiesto vs. Marcel Woods - Don't Ditch (Original Mix)
11.Sander van Doorn - ID
12.Sander van Doorn - Renegade w/ Setrise - Kernkraft 400
13.Ummet Ozcan - Transcend (Original Mix)
14.Ummet Ozcan - ID
15.The Killers - When You Were Young (Jonas Stenberg Remix)
16.Ali Wilson & Matt Smallwood - Morph (Mark Sherry's Outburst Remix)
17.Sander van Doorn pres. Purple Haze - Hymn 2.0 (Original Mix)
18.Sander van Doorn - Daisy (Original Mix)
19.ID
20.ID
21.Sander van Doorn - Daddyrock (Original Mix)
22.Paul Ercossa - Ercogen (Original Mix)
23.W&W - Alpha (Original Mix)
24.Evol Waves - Everything In Its Right Place (Original Mix)
25.S.O. Project - Direct Dizko (Sander van Doorn Remix)


Tuned in too late to miss Marcus Schossow, Alex M.O.R.P.H., and Cosmic Gate (that one I'm especially disappointed in missing because I heard it was out of this world).  However, I did get to catch all sets at Ferry Corsten and afterward.  Amazing things by all parties involved, especially Sander van Doorn for the closing.  He tried out a lot of different style tracks than what was played all day (dubstep breakdowns at a trance show?), and definitely got the crowd to explode for the closing hour of the party.  Trance-step, dub-trance?  He might be onto something here.  As one of the most prolific producers of our time for electronic music, Armin knew what he was doing by letting Sander close.  That was definitely a MONSTER set.  Big ups also to Gareth Emery for delivering a completely amazing set.  Always a pleasure to hear a set by Ferry Corsten as well.  and Armin?  Well you can already imagine how that one went.  Big tunes and BIG crowd reaction.  He is the king.  Plain and simple.  Will most definitely be tuning in next week for the Argentina show.  Will you be?

-Mark


P.S. I wanted to add some of my favorite TwitPics of the night that DJ's were putting to this blog...but guess what...twitter BLOCKED me for tweeting too much about #ASOT500.  Go figure..  I'll add them later!

Today's LOL: Twitter joking about the Simpsons with Max Graham

As you all know, its winter music conference week in Miami for all the big DJ's...and make no mistake...Max Graham is a big DJ. But like many dj's that come in contact, a good sense of humor is what really gets a good plug in my book. Max Graham is the next one to be added to the wall of LoL. He knew exactly what I was talking about. If you're a child of the 90's or if you love Latin Jazz, you should know what this is all about.

-Mark

Save The Rave: I think we got our point across ;)

 

 For anyone that was in attendance Tuesday night to the memorable gathering of edm lovers and freedom of speech supporters alike, I just want to say thank you!  Thank you for coming out and letting the city of San Francisco's lawmakers know exactly how you feel about what they are trying to strip from us.  I was in attendance with my friends Sony and Kendra [founders of TranceFamilySF.com and fellow #TranceMafia members ;) ], and can truly say I made the best decision in recent memory to attend this historic occasion.  Now that the dust has settled and the emotions have calmed down a bit, it's a little easier to put some thoughts together and really evaluate what went down on that great night.  Now in case you missed it, here is footage from the hearing courtesy of TranceFamilySF.com:

http://trancefamilysf.com/2011/03/23/save-the-rave-speeches-at-the-city-hall-03-22-2011-complete-video/

There was definitely a special feeling in the building that night.  There was a refreshing sensation of being in control of one's own destiny.  Indeed this was our generation's movement to protect the music, the lifestyle, and the freedoms that we hold so dear to ourselves.  We do have a right to express ourselves and the speeches given by our local public illustrated that greatly.  Here are a few tweets from twitter that night which give a general consensus of what was felt that night:

Indeed a truly inspiring and emotional night as those who love electronic music wore their emotions on their sleeves and shared their stories to the public.  One person in particular, @glasser, was giving a play by play of the night. 
What really struck a chord with me was the fact that one single demographic did not represent the voice of edm lovers in the Bay Area.  All ages and all classes came together for their common passion of dance music and to protect their rights and freedoms as human beings.  DJ's, producers, record label owners, promoters, music fans, activists, community organizers, committee heads, youth groups, and all other forms of general public used their opportunity to speak.  Hearing all the stories of how edm has changed lives (and saved lives) forever and how our music really means the world to our people will stay with me forever.  The different ages and voices brought diversity and validity to our claim and proved on an intellectual and spiritual level that dance music events are beneficial to our cultural identity and ultimately, our youth development.  I think what transpired the night of Tuesday March 22, 2011 was truly something special that will be remembered in the history of the great city of San Francisco.  I can only hope Fiona Ma bore witness to the voices she is hoping to silence.  As I mentioned in one of my tweets: "Passion, expression, and discovery are all aspects of human nature that cannot be stopped or denied."  Only together can we accomplish our goals.

~Mark