For fans of trance and progressive, last Saturday night’s party was most probably one of the most anticipated events in Sydney this year. Staged by Future Entertainment and aptly titled the White Party, mirroring the concept from the likes the Sensation White shows in Europe, the event featured the world’s #2 DJ Armin van Buuren playing a mammoth six hour set with support from Mark James and Jumping Jack to close. Armin van Buuren has enjoyed an outstanding career in dance music, having recently reached the impressive milestone of broadcasting the 300th episode of his radio show A State of Trance. He’s also a dance music powerhouse in a number of other respects, releasing a constant string of quality compilations, original productions and a stack of remixes through his Armada record label. His mixing is always spot on with the emphasis placed on flow, vibe and atmosphere and as expected, fans experienced nothing less this time around during his marathon set at Olympic Park in Homebush.

After a gloomy day of rain, wind and general destruction throughout Sydney and NSW, it was a blessing to see the weather clearing a little as we made our way to Homebush. Outside the Dome a sea of excited people were waiting in line with many others strolling in from every direction. As we moved inside the venue the view was breathtaking, with a sea of punters dressed in white already enjoying the sounds of Mark James on the dancefloor. He punched out a solid opening set and looked like he was having a great time behind the decks as he worked his way through quite a diverse range of tunes. He played a number of solid tracks with highlights including Rank 1 vs Alex Morph Life Less Ordinary and a remix of the classic Silence from Delerium.

Now where should I begin in describing the awesome 6-hour journey that Armin took the crowd on throughout the night and early morning? He didn’t waste any time teasing the punters during his first hour and continued perfectly from where Mark James had left off, kicking off the set with a funky electro vibe with Steve Angello & Sebastian Ingrosso’s Umbrella. After beginning on a driving house vibe, Armin slowly built up the energy with a heap of electro and progressive. As the set kicked on he kept building and pushing the sound in a more melodic direction. Before long the crowd was treated to almost an hour of huge vocal and uplifting trance tunes that had an amazing impact on those present, as the vocals and synth melodies resonated throughout the massive arena. Moving towards the middle of the set, Armin pushed the sound back into a driving vibe before slowly working back up to some pumping euphoric classics and some fresher tracks. He continued to change the sound to suit the energy of the crowd for the remainder of the set before going huge and epic during the last hour and a half.

Some of the highlight tracks that got an amazing reaction from the crowd included: The Killers Read My Mind (Gabriel & Dresden’s Unplugged Mix), Armin’s own Communication Part 3 (Coldware Cold Remix), GTR Mistral, Binary Finary’s epic classic 1998, Lange vs Gareth Emery Another You Another Me and Wamdue Project King of My Castle (Sander van Doorn Remix). There are simply too many tracks to mention, so you’ll see a list of memorable tunes played during his set at the tail end of this review. The set culminated in a couple of classics and finished with Armin’s own take on Solarstone’s Seven Cities. It seemed like everyone left in the room knew this tune and it was a magical vibe to finish off the set while Jumping Jack was taking control of the decks. At this stage many people in the crowd seemed content to make a move and head home as he began pumping out some heavier tech and hard trance beats.

All in all, it can definitely be said that this set was a journey through the best trance and progressive music available at the moment, with a stack of unexpected classics thrown in for good measure. Armin built the set up considerably in several stages, with each one crafting a platform for the next hour. During a 6-hour set you’d expect there would be parts were it would grow boring, but he kept the crowd mesmerised throughout the entire set, changing the sound continuously yet still keeping it flowing flawlessly. All the epic moments will no doubt give anyone who was there chills down their spine as they reminisce over the various special points throughout the night.

Armin’s mixing was super tight and basically flawless as he worked through a number of amazing buildups and drops using some tidy CDJ effects. There was just a single point during the set when the CDJs began skipping, and Armin had to kill the track and quickly throw on a new one. But as with every other time I’ve seen Armin play, he was giving out great energy from behind the decks with a smile pasted on his face for the entire 6 hours, constantly jumping around and firing up the crowd throughout his set.

Props must go to the dancers on stage, along with the girls in mirror suits, who really added something special to the performance. The LCD visual screens and white DJ booth were highlights, and there was an abundance of lighting and lasers belting over the crowd during the show. The sound system was clear and crisp and fortunately, we were all left without our ears ringing which is always a bonus. The Sublime VIP ‘members-only’ mezzanine level was hyped up plenty prior to the event but in the end didn’t have much more than a small room where the local residents were playing harder tunes throughout the night. The best part of the area was the balcony level that looked out over the arena, providing an amazing view of the sea of white punters being lit up by the lighting and lasers shooting around the room. But a major negative that must be mentioned was the torturous lines for the bathrooms, bars and the cloakroom. It really should not take more than half an hour to get a drink, and in the end we just gave up.

Overall, the event truly was a memorable night! Everyone was treated to an amazing six hours of bliss from one of the world’s best DJs, and the attendance across the country really is a testament to Armin’s popularity throughout Australia. The whole venue looked quite surreal, with the lighting and lasers reflecting off the crowd’s white outfits. A lot of creative and interesting costumes were on display with some people really getting into the theme, my favourite being the ladies in nurse outfits – very cute indeed! Thinking back to various points in the night I keep remembering more and more moments that put a big smile on my face, and I’m sure anyone else who was there will be experiencing the same. Fingers crossed that Sensation White does indeed come to Sydney, so we can experience something of this size and atmosphere again. See you at the next one!

Highlight tracks played by Armin van Buuren:
GTR – Mistral
Binary Finary – 1998
Push – Strange World
Solarstone – 7 Cities (Armin Rising Star Remix)
William Orbit – Adagio for Strings (Ferry Corsten Remix)
Wamdue Project – King of My Castle (Sander van Doorn Remix)
Lange vs Gareth Emery – Another You Another Me
Breakfast – The Sunlight
First State – Evergreen
Abel Ramos – Electro Fun
Thomas Brownzwaer – Close Horizon (Guiseppe Ottaviani Remix)
Kirsty Hawkshaw & Tenishia – Outsiders
Above & Beyond – Good for Me
Jose Amnesia – Louder
Vincent De Moor – Fly Away (Cosmic Gate Remix)
Aly and Fila – Why (Aly & Fila Remix)
Marcel Woods – Advanced
The Prodigy – Smack My Bitch Up
The Killers – Read My Mind (Gabriel & Dresdens Unplugged Mix)
Filo & Peri feat. Eric Lumiere – The Anthem (Paul van Dyk Edit)
4 Strings – Take me Away (Mac Zimms Remix)
Above & Beyond pres. Tranquility Base – Oceanic
Ronski Speed – The Space We Are
Armin van Buuren – Rush Hour
Armin van Buuren – Communication Part 3 (Coldware Remix)
Armin van Buuren – Love you more
Armin van Buuren – Sail
Armin van Buuren – Shivers (Alex Morph Remix)
Armin van Buuren & Rank 1 – This World is Watching Me
Armin van Buuren feat Gabriel & Dresden – Zocalo
Armin van Buuren – Shivers