- I was excited to see Paul van Dyk in New York because it had been over a year since I'd had the chance to see him take the decks in the city. He has a long history of DJing in the city as over the years he has had a residency at Twilo and played the Roxy, Spirit, Ikon, and his landmark sets in Central Park on the Summer Stage.
Continuing on from this tradition, PvD was playing his first extended set at Crobar. I arrived a little after midnight as I expected the lines to get in were very long. Tonight it didn't matter if you had a ticket; you were going to wait. Luckily I made it in without incident, thanks to some help from a friend.
I have only been to a few Crobar events but it has quickly become my favorite venue to see a DJ. Once inside the main room, I was quite overwhelmed by the crowd. I expected a huge crowd but this was easily the most packed PvD event I have ever attended (which is a feat!) The booth was situated on the floor, but you couldn’t even see Paul as there was too much fog and bad lighting around the booth.
When I walked in Edgar V’s set was in full swing. I just saw him a month ago at Space in Miami and his set was drastically different. He was playing a fairly light and trancey set.
Paul van Dyk took the decks at 2 am, but it was impossible to make it out onto the dance floor. Looking down on the floor I had only one impulse- crowd surfing! Unfortunately, I did not think most in attendance would understand- maybe next time.
PvD’s first few hours were very choppy and completely lacked flow. I wasn't quite sure where he was trying to go. I know that not being able to dance contributed to me not enjoying the first half of his set, but I just couldn't get into it.
It wasn't till around 5 am that PvD found his flow. His bass lines got harder and the energy from the crowd seemed to increase. Additionally, space finally started to open up on the floor, finally allowing me to boogey down on the floor. The Duke also really got into the music; waving his hands in the air, playing the air piano, and bobbing his head along with his tracks. He sprinkled his set with a lot of PvD favorites - For an Angel, Nothing But You, Crush, The Other Side, Avenue, Vega, Animacion, and Vega. Finally closing at 8:20 am with Way Out West - Mindcircus.
Overall the night was fun, but I'm not sure I would be able to go return to a night that was so rammed. I know the kids love trance, but I just don't think that I'm that kind of kid anymore.