Love in Traffic ft. Paul Van Dyk @ Traffic, Adelaide (27/03/2003)
After witnessing his set at Traffic it is easy to see why German trance DJ Paul Van Dyk has earned the reputation as one of the best in the business – the quality of his set was flawless.
For three wonderful hours he took the audience on an amazing journey through the many shades of trance, sometimes progressive, sometimes driving but always uplifting. It was impossible to leave the dance floor. As soon as Traffic opened there was a real party atmosphere; the excitement and anticipation combined with the best lighting and FX set-up I have seen there had all the ingredients to make this a memorable evening.
Adelaide dance fans are very fortunate to have nights like ‘Love In Traffic’ because anywhere else in the world superstar DJ’s of Van Dyk’s calibre only play in huge venues to thousands of people, the sell-out crowd of 400 got to see him ‘up close and personal’ in the intimate surrounds of one of the best clubs in town.
It was not all plain sailing for Paul Van Dyk though, shortly after taking to the decks there was a problem with one of the turntables just as he was about to mix his second or third track – he didn’t make a big deal out of it – just made some running repairs and worked the other turntable. A true professional! Wearing a ‘Stop the War’ t-shirt, Paul was obviously enjoying himself as much as the ‘up for it’ crowd. He was looking up and smiling for photos, dancing to the tunes he was spinning and really seemed to be having a good time.
From the moment he took over from Brendon, until his final tune, ‘For an Angel’ he had Traffic rocking. His set was of the highest quality from start to finish; there was no let up, not even for a moment. When trance is played like this it is quite magical!
The evening’s entertainment got underway with DJ Aaron giving us one of his usual uplifting trance workouts – a perfect way to welcome the arriving audience. Next up was Mal Chia who delivered a sublime set of progressive house that got people grooving to the beats and mesmerising rhythms.
Progressive gave way to hard trance as Brendon took control of the turntables; as the tempo and energy levels moved up a gear, so did the action on the floor which was now pumped and moving. Dropping tracks like the Sasha/Junkie XL collaboration ‘Beauty Never Fades’ set the scene perfectly for the arrival of Paul Van Dyk.
Local trance DJ, Damage brought proceedings to a close as he took the exhausted and elated crowd on one final dance floor excursion.
What a night! We witnessed one of the best DJ’s in the world live up to his reputation! It was an experience I will never forget.
