Review: BE Opening Party at Space 2011

Armin van Buuren makes a massive leap from his residency at Amnesia to bring an epic lineup of trance superstars to BE at Space.

Trance takes over BE at Space this year as none other than the biggest superstar of trance himself, Armin van Buuren makes a huge leap from Amnesia to an exclusive residency at Space for the whole summer.  Armin will play in the main room for all his exclusive dates at Space for the series of nights, presented by ALDA Events and Space themselves.

When I arrived at 1 am Jerome Isma Ae was warming up an already packed crowd to some dark and heavy sounds of trance.  I noticed numerous people were wearing all white.  This wasn’t officially one of the white parties that Armin’s well known for, but it seemed some people took to the trend of Armin always wearing all white.  At 2 am the man himself took over the decks to an anxiously awaiting crowd, and the energy level in the room reached an all time high.  Armin didn’t stop moving, jumping around, and getting the crowd involved throughout his entire set.  Tonight also featured Alex Morph in the main room playing the closing set, and the sounds of house music on the terraza from Dutchman Fedde Le Grande, Ryan Marciano, Sunnery James, and Spanish house hero Wally Lopez.  The huge confines of Space allowed the décor and production to be taken up to new levels of wonder with a full technicolor production of lights, lasers, and special effects.  The move from Amnesia to Space this year seemed to be a success if based on the crowd’s reaction’s tonight. 

How does Armin feel about the move to Space after numerous and wildly successful years at Amnesia? “It was a time to move on, and I see it as a step forward, definitely.  Space is almost as globally established as the Eiffel tower or the London Eye.  EVERYBODY knows Space!”

Other residents throughout the summer include Markus Schulz, known for playing a darker and edgier side of trance, with a notable five hour set on June 20th, and Gareth Emery who will play at BE six times including a full on concert on July 27th with live performances interwoven into his DJ set.  Both are top 10 DJs themselves and will accompany Armin on September 16th for the massive closing party.  For all the die-hard Armin fans out there, the highlight of the BE parties may just be Armin’s solo marathon seven hour set on August 10th.