The first Sunday of the summer at Ocean Club was a chilly
one. Girls and guys alike traded out their tank tops for sweatshirts and huddled in
the tents as they waited for the legend Armin van Buuren to take the newly
redesigned DJ booth. His starting time of 11 pm came and went, delayed by some difficulties at the airport earlier in the evening. After being
warmed up by Jochen Miller, old-school house DJ, and rising star Kaeno, the
crowd was anxious. Armin’s set on his Intense tour was marking the end of an epic 4-day marathon at
OC, starting with Knife Party, R3hab and Quintino, and Steve Aoki. Some storm troopers had been there all three days through the cold and rainy Memorial Day
weekend. They were tired and wet, but unstoppable. As 11:15 hit, Armin came
on stage and raised his hands in the air and the entire club erupted in cheers. An intro mix of “Intense” came on the venue's upgraded
speakers.
With the brand new LED wall behind the DJ booth, Armin’s visuals were
perfectly coordinated with his tracks for the night. Lyrics to songs off of Intense rose behind him as he dropped
monster remixes and tons of trance tracks. Dancers swirled on the screen as “Waiting For The Night” played and the crowd jumped and sung in unison. As soon as the first chords played of Armin's single, "This Is What It Feels Like", vocalist Trevor Guthrie appeared on stage to sing along. Lyrics flashed on the screen, we sang along with Trevor, and the W&W remix of the track hit the club hard and fast. Cue the madness.
Armin was slaying
Ocean Club as his BPM continued to rise with Orjan Nilsen’s “Violetta”, a track that could turn anybody into a 138 fan when combined with purple lasers and confetti cannons. As the night
continued to get older and colder, Armin thanked the mob of dancing bodies for coming out
regardless of the unpredictable weather Boston is known to bring and was
reciprocated with a cheer. He dropped “Humming the Lights”, a track he produced under
his alias Gaia that made the Trance Top 1000 list only a few days
ago. Finally, he closed with my personal favorite mash up of Photographer and Armin's accapella, "Airport Shivers" and the original mix of "This Is What It Feels Like". To say we liked the set would be an understatement, because Armin's recognition as #1 DJ in the world is truly accurate. We loved it.
Other than the slower tracks from Intense, Armin brought a nearly all-trance set to unexpecting ears
at OC. I had the pleasure of chatting with him before the show, where he told
me he spins “whatever he feels like playing… [he had] no idea what he was going
to play tonight.” Patrons of Ocean Club who heard electro-house the entire
weekend were graced by an excellent, traditional, Armin van Buuren trance set in
the midst of cold temperatures and drizzly air combined with some champagne
showers. Boston always welcomes Armin with open arms, and we look forward to having him back again soon. Until then, you should pick up Intense and learn all of the words, because I promise you'll be hearing those tracks in the festival circuit this summer.
-Lauren P
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