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He's a showman

05/08/2009

On Friday 31 July I was lucky enough to be in Victoria Park in London to see Hadouken!, Sneaky Sound System, Calvin Harris, and – of course – DJ Tiesto.

I have waited this long to tell you about it because I wanted to read what other people had written and get some perspective on the event.

The weather during the week had been dull and wet but the day dawned brightly with a few clouds and by the afternoon the sun was out and people had their tops off.

I got into the park easily and made my way to the main stage where the warm-up acts were playing to a rapidly growing crowd.

If you haven’t been to an event such as this, it is difficult to imagine the growing sense of excitement and huge anticipation generated by thousands of people congregating to enjoy a sunny afternoon of music.

The first few acts encourage people, drink in hand, to chat and maybe sway in time with the beat. It is not until a bit later things get serious.

It was cool new musician Calvin Harris who delivered an impeccable warm up act and got people dancing. His call to action to accompany his track Ready For The Weekend was “this one’s perfect for jumping up and down to.” We duly did.

With a subtle change in main stage lighting it was time for Tiesto. Understated as ever, he walked on quite calmly to create his 3 hour set.

The first dj to sell out a solo stadium event for 25,000 people 2 nights in a row, this is a man who knows how to work the crowd laying the musical foundations before delivering the full on stuff.

Early in the set there were tracks by Rank 1, Richard Durand, Benny Benassi, and a remix of Kanye West.

He then unleashed the anthems – Lethal Industry, Flight 643, Suburban Train, Love Comes Again, Traffic, and Adagio For Strings among others - for which he is known and loved around the world. As the light was fading, the crowd went wild.

There were lights, fireworks and streamers which might upset some boring purists but the crowd had come to watch a show – an entertainer as well as a musician – and Tiesto delivered a stunning EVENT.

And then, after creating a finely crafted set and working an adoring audience into a frenzy, the lights went down and he disappeared leaving the crowd in the best tradition begging for more.

Tiesto recently announced an 18 month world tour called Kaleidoscope which starts in north America and his latest single I Will Be Here (with Sneaky Sound System) is out now.

If you can get a bit of Tiesto in your life…..do it!

Dan Slipper

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