EDMLife review of Ultra Carry On feat: Armin van Buuren, Gabriel Dresden, WW, Jochen Miller

AdminGreg;1760 wrote: Mansion 3/25/2012
Ultra Carry On feat: Armin van Buuren, Gabriel & Dresden, W&W, Jochen Miller

Jochen Miller banged out a fierce set, smoothly delivering every inch of preparation the crowd needs after venue hopping; keeping the energy up to the levels that were set at earlier parties. As Gabriel & Dresden enters the booth, Gabriel plugs in and slips in a track where you could scarcely feel the difference of the DJ’s changing. Not until they want you to, and then the room fell to a hush. The tempo brought down low, the crowd hanging with anticipation as they drop both classics and new; their signature driven progressive beats thrummed through the speakers. Not even midnight yet and the club was filling up fast, the vibe from the crowd: pure energy. Dancers knowing the tracks enough to switch-rock to the beats in their creatively designed costumes.

Gabriel and Dresden close out with ‘as the rush comes’ as an ever smiling Armin steps into the booth. Armin lights up the crowd, there is no other way to explain it. He opens slightly sidestepped from his usual uplifting high energy trance flavor to a set of driven beats that rattle the metal railings as well as my bones. Tracks from differing genres are played, perhaps a message highlighting the differences in the crowd that night. One thing is for sure, it was not the same as the sets played at ASOT or Ultra. Mansion was a great venue, where you had a choice to watch from the main floor or the mezzanine balconies.

The VIP area was in the back, and had their own makeshift drummer, working with two water bottles and an ice bucket. While normally crowds complain, the accompaniment was actually complimentary to Armin’s set. W&W settled up the night with heavy bass lines layered with fast paced rhythms. They played a set of bangers layered with uplifting vocals and electro snippets.