Last night, the man behind A State Of Trance proved why he is considered a legend amongst trance fans. For the first time ever, Armin Van Buuren played an extended set for fans at the ASOT stage at Ultra Music Festival in Miami. The reasoning behind the extended (3.5 hour) set left fans extremely distraught because it was due to the fact that Eric Prydz had to cancel his performance. Prydz cancelled because of an acute medical condition. Although guests were upset about this occurrence, we all wish him a swift recovery and hope to see him back on stage again soon. However, Armin certainly made up for it by playing an incredible set.
Armin Van Buuren started his set as usual with a cinematic intro that makes the whole crowd smile from ear to ear when he finally takes the stage. From that moment on, we knew that we were in for a ride. About 20 minutes into his set, there was a technical malfunction and the sound went out We were left standing there a bit confused for 5 minutes, but then everything went dark and he dropped ‘Stay With Me’ by Eric Prydz. I’m convinced that the malfunction was staged, but that’s just my own opinion.
A State of Trance and Techno
Once Armin Van Buuren got started back up again, he took a turn towards the dark side and the crowd went wild. There was about an hour of the set where I felt like I was at A State Of Techno and it was mind blowing! He played his heart out and dropped ID after ID for a good portion of his set. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but I loved it and so did the rest of the crowd. About an hour and a half into the set, Armin played ‘Lifting You Higher’, the anthem for ASOT 900. That’s when it was time to get uplifted!
For the remainder of his performance, Armin Van Buuren played everything a trance lover would love; from pure uplifting tracks to dark and dirty tech trance records. The Armada label head took us to trance heaven, last night and left us on cloud nine. You could even tell Armin himself was having a blast on stage as well just from the look on his face. It’s great to see an artist that truly loves what he does and to know that the set was just as much of a journey for him as it was for us.
Thank you, Armin Van Buuren. You lifted us higher and we’re never going to come down.
*Featured image via the ASOT Facebook Page*
