the most beautiful moments of the night where we feel a cool breeze brush our skin as 13,500 concertgoers are belting out the lyrics, lost in the music.
When great minds think alike, great things follow. Ferry Corsten and Markus Schulz recently launched their partnership as the mighty New World Punx, and in a few hours they will play a set under their new alias at MSG. Much like Knife Party and Dog Blood, New World Punx is the latest effort of two incredible DJs coming together for the most organic of reasons, simply because they enjoy playing together. Van Buuren also tells us he is excited and honored to be part of their debut. “Markus and Ferry want to push things to the next level with their careers. They found a professional love for each other, and I think it’s exciting that they want to launch it in New York, at Madison Square Garden. That’s what A State of Trance is for, giving a podium to new talent, to new ideas, to new music. That’s the only thing that keeps ASOT alive.”
We have the pleasure of sitting down with the two trance lords before their performance. Ferry and Markus are chuckling over a server bringing over two more shots of espresso after noticing the empty cups on the table in front of us. The catch is, Schulz doesn’t drink espresso so Corsten drank the first round. Four shots of espresso later, he says he’ll be talking 500 miles an hours in a bit.
You can feel their extraordinary chemistry. Schulz recalls, “I remember the first time we were in the studio, we were like two kids, dancing around, jumping around, thinking ‘oh my god, this sounds incredible’.” Today they are giddy like kids and over-the-moon about playing a set together at MSG, serving as their official world premiere. “The thing is we’ve done, separately, shows that have been bigger,” Schulz says, “shows that have been 50,000, 100,000 people, but just the history of what
In your face it is too, like a sonic sucker punch. The NWP concept adds a bit of versatility to the show as a whole. It's straight up dirty, big room trance, basically a perfect blend of their individual sounds. A sinister female voice sample screeches ““Warriors, warriors, come out to play” from the speakers as if summoning the stadium to a dance battle, followed by dark instrumentals and their new track 'Romper'. Mischievous cartoon versions of both DJs, actually curated by fans, flash up on the giant LED screen in front of us, and for the next 90-minutes the crowd is captivated by the pure high energy from the relentless pace, like a brutal trance tidal wave that keeps coming back for more. Seducing us with strobe lights and immersive visuals, bombs like Jacob van Hage’s 'Crank' and their own 'Mammoth Forever' mash-up can be felt from every angle. There were a few “rainbow and unicorn” moments, like when listeners are summoned into a trance by the angelic whispers of Corsten’s 'Not Coming Down'.
As the closing act to this epic evening, Armin reminds us all why his fan-base is one of the most devout in all of music. From start to finish, van Buuren plays a perfectly executed set; one that is rooted in classic trance with masterful mash-ups, one that the trance family of NYC will say was a long time coming. Layering tracks in a way that strikes exactly the right emotions, he reminds us of how powerful live music can be. Even though 'Clarity' might be a played out tune, when van Buuren drops it, it sounds like angels are being born. He chases it up with the hard pounding trance beats of his own 'Spectrum' remix. He choreographes an amazing amount of content into the set, dropping some classics like 'Adagio for Strings' and a remix of 'Communication”'by Tomas Heredia, an artist who AvB is very excited about. Towards the last quarter of the show, the distinct melody of 'In and Out of Love' fills the air and prompts an auditory orgy when he paired this with 'Raw Deal'. instead of bringing in Dada Life’s
Madison Square Garden represents, not just to New York City, but to the United States, makes it one of the most special gigs ever, in my career especially.”
On the 600th milestone edition of Armin’s ASOT series, Markus has this to say: “I’ve known Armin since ’99 and I was one of the first artists signed to Armada when they launched. Just to see everything grow and be part of it, I’m very proud. I’m very proud of Armin, I’m very proud of Armada, I’m just very proud of the whole scene, because it’s like we’ve all kind of grown up together into this. It’s very exciting just to be part of something, a movement that’s special like this.” Ferry chimes in: “And it’s become a culture rather than a scene.”
Their new moniker derives from Corsten’s tune 'Inner Punk' and the Unicorn Slayer’s hit 'The New World'. Corsten says, “It’s easy to get stuck in your own ways when you are always working alone. When you finally sit down with someone who has the same sort of mindset, all of a sudden you feed off each other and bang, there’s something there, something new and incredible going on.” Maybe there should be a
Match.com for DJs.
Schulz says, “There’s a lot of improvising, which creates a vibe that we don’t even know sometimes what the end result is going to be.”
Asked to define their sound, Schulz responds, “Without a doubt, it’s trance. It’s more espresso and ashtrays. But it has all of the euphoric moments that makes trance so special. Uplifting melodies sometimes just get a little over the top. We just want to see people dancing, having fun, getting lost in these beautiful melodies.” Corsten adds, “with a look of rage in their eyes kind of instead of when you’re about to cry, that’s kind of the difference really. Instead of being fluffy and holy, it’s straight up in your face.”
'Kick Out the Epic Motherf***er' as he has in previous sets. He has us reaching for the lasers during a show stopping transition into 'Brute' vs. 'Concrete Angel'.
To finish off the show, van Buuren brings out Trevor Guthrie for a live rendition of the W&W remix to his new single, 'This Is What It Feels Like', a song about losing a loved one, off his fifth artist album, 'Intense'. Three years in the making, the album flirts with all different kinds of styles but Armin wants to stress that the album is trance. He is particularly proud of a track he did with Emma Hewitt, 'Forever Is Ours', who he’s wanted to work with for ages. He also confesses that he wanted to work with Chris Martin from Coldplay who told him no. (Politely, of course, as van Buuren emphasizes).
Walking out of the Garden, there is an overwhelming feeling of being musically enthralled and emotionally fulfilled. We were definitely in a New York state of trance, huge thanks to Armin, Markus and Ferry for hosting us at this unforgettable event.
Always true to his fans, Armin left us with this thank you note:
“I just want to thank all the readers of DJ Mag for their continued support. Knowing that so many people like what you do is probably the biggest reward. That’s what I like about DJ Mag, it’s not some award that you get from three gray old guys sitting in an office somewhere. It’s really the fans and that’s what I do it for.
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