It was clear that Sydney did not want to miss a minute. As soon as news was released that the world’s#1 DJ Armin van Buuren was bringing his full-scale ‘Armin Only’ show to Australia, the rumours and speculation about what it would look like started flying around thick and fast. With the hallowed evening finally arriving, by 9pm when doors were scheduled to open there was already a lengthy queue snaking its way outside the front of the Hordern Pavilion. Rumours that Armin may in fact just be ‘pre-selecting’ the music for the first few hours, rather than actually DJing, hadn’t seemed to turn anyone off. The show had already earned legendary status from its parties in Holland, and now it was Sydney’s turn to see what the smiling Dutchman had in store.

Shuffling in with the masses, we were eager get a sample of that famous Armin magic as soon as possible. And the Hordern looked awesome. Flanked by two enormous visual screens, the DJ box was shrouded in a white curtain, itself functioning as a screen to greet the gathering crowd. Lighting rigs criss-crossed the roof and the ‘Armin Only’ logo gently rotated on the screens, while some of the glorious ‘warmup’ music was already belting out of the speakers. Even within the first hour, the dancefloor was nicely filled with people limbering up and practicing their various arms-in-the-air techniques. In some ways it was odd not having a DJ to dance to, but this became irrelevant as the stage became progressively busier as the night progressed.

It wasn’t very long before the DJ curtain became backlit to reveal the silhouette of one very familiar figure. The glimpse was fleeting, but nonetheless elicited a roar from the crowd. Armin’s sillouette was to become a feature of the first few hours as he generally acted in a Christ-like fashion, amping up the crowd in the process. And it worked, as with every passing illumination the gathering hordes became just that little bit more pumped for the main event. With the curtain still up, the first live performer sauntered onto the stage and it was none other than Jennifer Rene to sing Invincible. In a tantalising little blue dress, not only could she sing but she was damn cute as well.

Then something odd happened. Some dude appeared with a microphone to further rev up the crowd: “Are you ready for Armin? Armin. Armin. Armin. Armin. Yeah. Armin. Yeah. Common. Armin. Who’s ready for Armin. Come on. Armin.” If you hadn’t already gathered, yes he was a moron. Even the guy in the lighting booth clearly thought he was an idiot as it wasn’t long before the spotlight was swiftly taken off him. But this MC wannabe didn’t take the hint and kept yabbering away. Dude… I don’t know who you were or what role you thought were supposed to be playing, but please do everyone a favour and stay away from the microphone in the future. And get a sense of rhythm – you can’t even chant in time.

Brief annoying distractions aside, the first few hours basically possessed the same entertainment value of an actual concert. Armin’s musical selections chosen to open the night were quite simply a masterclass in warmup DJing. While a performer of Armin’s calibre doesn’t really have that many opportunities to play a warmup set, on Friday night he demonstrated why he’s considered one of the best in the world. The supreme melodic-tech stylings of Mark Knight’s remix of Underworld’s Beautiful Burnout; a cheeky remix of Greece 2000; the distinctive sounds of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ By The Way that were joined by the soaring licks of a live guitar solo. It was diverse, and flawlessly programmed. Clearly utilising DVDJs, the visuals became more interesting as the music started to gather pace. As the evening moved towards 11pm, the luscious sounds of the Inpetto dub of Fragma’s Toca Me got many a hand skyward, and after two and a half hours the tension had reached – and it’s no understatement to whip out this old cliché – fever pitch. And the exhilaration of the 6,000+ people gathered was brought home as the rammed Hordern Pavilion literally heaved with anticipation.

And finally, the first act came to an end with a glorious spinback, taken straight out of the DJ manual circa 1994. The lights dim – and a sea of stars emerge, with our view from the grandstands revealing thousands of phones being thrust into the air to capture the magic; and a resonant male voice calls out across the crowd. “Imagine…” Full-throated screams reply. “Tonight we will travel through your imagination.” overdone it may sound, but never has a cheesier acclamation been more accurate. And with this, ‘Act 2’ begins literally with a bang as the white curtain is finally ripped away to reveal the man himself, decked out in his trademark white shirt and cheeky smile. Fireworks explode and streams of coloured light blast from the stage. Pure exhilarating entertainment. Musically it was pure uplifting trance to begin with, seeing Armin throw down magic tracks like Take Me Away alongside the delicate vocals of Adrina Thorpe in DJ Shah’s Who Will Find Me. There was no mucking around as Armin fans were taken exactly where they wanted to go.

When I review a gig, I like to make a few notes so that you, my dear reader, can get a full illustration of the event. But I’ve never written as many notes at a gig before in my life – there were so many amazing tracks, so many unexpected performances, so many remarkable moments that I literally gave up trying to capture all the details. The simple fact is that no post-event reconstruction will be able to do justice to the perfect night of music and entertainment that over 6,000 people were lucky enough to enjoy. There was a shopping list of memories: Adagio for Strings played live on the keyboard by fellow Dutch trance icon Rank 1, who later jumped on the ‘keytar’; Armin’s brother returning to play normal guitar on several occassions; Big Sky performed live with live vocals from Audrey Gallagher; dancers who seemed to change costume every few minutes, giant angel wings; pyrotechnic explosions as Armin’s classic tracks Shivers blasted from the speakers; I could go on forever. Add to this a list of trance classics being played (including the likes of Madagascar and many more), and you can only begin to get a sense of what we experienced. One of the most epic musical moments came when The Space We Are melted into the painfully beautiful lyrics of Beauty Hides In the Deep from the Doppler Effect. It was like an interstellar musical fondue; what I would imagine dipping a supernova into a warm bowl of stardust would feel like on your tastebuds.

Now don’t get me wrong – I’m the first to crow on about the amazing experiences that a DJ set is able to deliver; at the end of the day though, it’s still just mixing records. But if you ever wanted evidence to the contrary, just take a look at Armin van Buuren. Quite simply, the man is a machine. DJing for 9 hours is a feat of physical and mental strength. Despite my best efforts at keeping an eye on the stage, I didn’t see Armin ever leave the decks, which leaves the obvious question hanging – does Armin have a bladder? Is he indeed human? Well all evidence suggests that he’s not, as surely no one is capable of pulling off the feat of musical muscle witnessed in Sydney. And while at last year’s White Party Armin played a great set, he tended to play in blocks – an hour of uplifting tunes, an hour of prog-washed melodic trance, an hour of driving tech trance and so on. But what was remarkable about Friday night was that while he did play all those things, they were weaved seamlessly together throughout the night – as far as pacing and programming go, it really was a performance that was second to none. The incorporation of singers, guitarists, keyboard players and dancers was as equally seamless, and truly added an extra dimension to the evening. With many rock bands these days using DJs in order to value add their music, there was something refreshing about live instrumentation instead adding to the DJ’s performance. Perhaps even more surprising is that it doesn’t happen more often.

But as Armin moved towards the business end of his epic nine-hour set, we did in fact experience one of those afore-mentioned ‘blocks’ – post 5am, we were treated to a solid dose of belting tech trance that was just ideal for that late hour, offering some respite from the bubbling breakdowns and build-ups we’d been hearing across the evening and moving things into a vibe that was hypnotic and pulsing, truly driving things home in the best fashion possible. And then all of a sudden it was nearly 6am, and Armin transitioned into his own epic collaboration with Ferry Corsten Exhale – a fitting note of euphoria to conclude the night on. With the ‘spinback’ returning one last time and the narrator presenting his outro, we were blessed with just one more; Cassandra Fox’s Touch Me (Mike Koglin & Jono Grant remix). As those divine progressive synths washed through the Hordern, those diehard fans still on the floor were able to leave such an amazing evening on a satisfying note.

This really was the ultimate night of clubbing, and clearly I was not the only one to think so as the venue remained very near to full until the end. And Armin’s never-ending enthusiasm behind the decks was matched by the massive crowd’s enthusiasm for every twist and turn he offered. While I have said much, I doubt that it comes close to capturing the experience that for many, will last a lifetime. Was ‘Armin Only’ one of the best parties I’ve ever been to? Yep, it might have been exactly that.