The biggest question mark going into the night’s event was how the Toronto Convention Centre would serve as a concert venue. As most of us who have witnessed vocal additions to Trance sets know, most of the time the singing is serviceable but nothing special, however the acts brought in for Armin Only, including an amazing solo drum session, and for me personally the singing of “Alone” were highlights in what was overall an extremely strong cast of artists. A few timeless Trance vocalists as well as a couple new faces such as Richard Bedford, Laura Jansen, Lauren Evans, and guitar duties by Eller Van Buuren, joined Armin along in his triumph. As the song edged towards the epic Acid-Trance apex, and as the timer finally hit 1, the seated crowd took a gigantic leap in unison while the track unleashed a powerful whip of adrenaline with the bombardment of hundreds of yellow smiley balloons that rained down from the rafters.Īnother aspect of the night that was actually better than expected was the live vocal performances. A 10 second countdown appeared on the screen and within moments we were directed to jump up. Without any hint of hesitation, all 8500 of us bewildered spectators sat down as we were commanded. At one point during the song text appeared on the colossal backdrop that read “Sit down”. This includes Armin playing a game of old school ping pong with his arms on the massive screen behind him. What was the highlight for most people and has become the most iconic section of the Armin Only performance has to be the Ping Pong section.
#ARMIN VAN BUUREN INTENSE CAST SERIES#
The music was only complimented and enhanced by a series of top notch visuals, most specifically designed for certain songs or sections, including a continuous change of the seasons in the backdrop, visual fire for each beat of certain high energy songs, and A LOT of confetti. This built into the final section which focused more on a faster pace – locking in on the now famous “Who’s Afraid of 138” style. The next section was all the major hits and high energy singles that people had come to expect from a Trance show and was where the bulk of the highly orchestrated segments were located. The first hour consisted of slower more melodic songs, which helped warm the crowd up and get them ready for the main event. To begin the song selection was for the most part absolutely fantastic, fan favorites from the new album like “Intense”, “Ping Pong”, and “Forever is Ours”, were only outdone by the euphoric excitement of hearing such classics like the near legendary mash up of “Stress Test Rapture”. Years of hearing about past Armin Only concerts and the general upswing in production value for an EDM event left many expecting something akin to Sensation White in scale, and for the roughly 8500 attendees, the experience was everything they could ask for.
To say the least the rabid trance community had extremely high expectations for how they hoped the entire event would transpire. These musical jewels would then be enchanted with live performers, pyrotechnics, and a cornucopia of visual splendor. A visual and musical tour de force that would marry an extended Armin set filled with the best tracks off his latest album, in addition to his own classics, and handpicked titles from the genre. The greatest example of this was the unsuccessful campaign to bring the legendary A State of Tranceworld tour to our fair city, a loss which was only made bearable by the fact that Toronto was named as a stop on the Armin Only tour on April 19. Since May of last year the Toronto Trance community has waited with baited breath for the return of Armin Van Buuren, the king of Trance.