Armin Van Buuren & Markus Schulz @ Vision

October 22, 2004 7:53 PM
by

Review by Burton162, member of CoolJunkie Chicago:

Granted I have only been in Chicago since June, this show was BY FAR the best time I have had at a club. I showed up at around 11 pm because I didn't want to miss Miami super-star Markus Schulz. I think when most people think of Miami, they think of funky house with some latin flare, but Markus spins the best progressive house around. He has been around for many years (I remember hearing two of his tracks on Deep Dish's "Renaissance Ibiza" years ago) and now hosts the weekly DJ Global Broadcast on Party 93.1 in Miami. He also had a weekly residency at Amnesia in Ibiza together with Armin van Buuren called "Universal Religion 2004, live from Armada @ Ibiza". Anyway, the place was pretty dead at 11pm, go figure, but Markus didn't come on until about 11:30pm. There were huge screens with the Godskitchen logo and the Markus Schulz logo (which kicks so much a**). The place started packing it in about midnight and by around 12:30 the floor was pretty slammed, as well as the terraces.

Here's my attempt at trying to remember the tracks he was spinning (mostly correct, but it's hard to believe how much I have forgotten since then:(, so don't completely quote me on this): Some of the tracks he played were ovbiously from his "Coldharbour Sessions" including Oceanlab's (aka-Above & Beyond) "Satellite", Mark Otten's "Tranquility", Airwave's "Lady Blue", Elevation's "Somewhere", Austin Leed's "Fusing Love". The highlight of his set was when he was spinning Peter Martin's "Perfect Wave"--that track is amazing! He also spun a James Holden track, which I think was Nathan Fake's "Outhouse" and then threw in Starkid's "Crayons" (Leama & Moor Mix). Obviously, I am forgetting some, but it was an amazing set, and the crowd was going nuts by the end of it.

Armin van Buuren came on just after 1:30 am. By the time he came on, the place was absolutely PACKED (almost too packed). The crowd was awesome and definitely totally riding the build-ups, break-downs and melodies that Armin so masterfully spins. So let's see if I can remember some of the tracks:

Gabriel & Dresden's - Arcadia
Little Wonder - Eclipse
Ben Lost - Jump the Next Train (Probspot Mix)
Tilt - The World Doesn't Know (I LOVE this track!)
Delerium - Silence (Above & Beyond Mix)
Sarah McLachlan - World on Fire (Junkie XL Club Mix)
Adam White - The White Room
Scott Bond vs. Solarstone - Red Line Highway (I think)
Markus Schulz --> Subsky - Strawberry Fields
Armin van Buuren--> FC Kahuna - Haying [Kosmas Epsilon Mix]

The ultimate crowd pleaser was either Above & Beyond's "No One on Earth" or, and I don't know the name of the track but have heard it before (Armin van Buuren @ Creamfields 2003), but the words say "let's get up and let's get ill, your dreams have now been fulfilled"--it has a wicked baseline and breakdown--the place went CRAZY!

The highlight of my night by far though was when he spun Above & Beyond's "No One on Earth" followed directly by Tranquility Base's "Surrender". Unbelievable.

After dancing close to 4 hours, my legs would no longer carry me, so I bailed about 3:15 am. Overall, an amazing night. The girl in the really short skirt, swinging a cotton-stuffed Dildo above her head made it even that much more memorable:). The crowd was amazing, the energy was through the roof, and the volume levels/distribution finally sounded right at Vision. Only two negatives: $10 drinks (I dropped a wad o' cash) and walking downstairs into Excalibur to hear some cheesy remix of Will Smith--oh, and I saw a mullet down there too:).

Well, if you missed Markus Schulz and Armin van Buuren during this go-around, you won't want to miss them again. Possibly the best duo for progressive house, trance/progressive trance out there, besides the fact that they are very cool, nice guys and can carry crowds as good as Paul van Dyk and Tiesto.

If the names are new to you, check out their most recent CDs:
Markus Schulz - Coldharbour Sessions 2004
Armin van Buuren - A State of Trance 2004

See ya at Junkie XL,

James