Digital Society 8th Anniversary. The most successful Trance night in the North of England, the legendary Digital Society, celebrated gracefully and with the volume and size that deserves it's 8th Anniversary. The event was organised in the most beautiful venue in Leeds, the world famous O2 Academy, which hosts the most amazing live performances and club nights through out the year. The line-up was announced many months before, and the anticipation rose to the highest highs imaginable. The finest DJ's and producers came together for an unforgettable night without any major issues with 2,500 Trancers from across UK and even from other countries.
The line-up was so strong that was not a surprise for me that Digital Societ SOLD OUT. In which other party in the UK at the moment you can have on the same schedule in the main room Paul van Dyk, Ferry Corsten, Aly & Fila, Andy Moor vs. Lange, Sean Tyas, Ben Gold, Menno de Jong and Will Holland, and in the underground room the hottest UK trance stars Craig Connelly, Adam Ellis, Angry Man, Standerwick, Darren Porter, Dan Stone, Pearson & Hirst and David Rust. Usually this type of line up is what you get on a Trance stage at the huge capacity summer festivals, not on trance events like this. So the crowd was definitely up for it, and they were queueing for many hours in order to get into the digital wonderful and adventurous world of Digital Society.
Personally I was very excited too attending this event as was one of my wishes some true. Through Flux BPM Online while I was residing in Greece I featured and published all the news about Digital Society parties because they were looking simply brilliant! So now that I'm living in Leeds, it was unquestionable not to attend this event. But as always, something gets in your way to put a small obstacle in your dreams, and my health let me down with an infection in my throat. I woke up early Friday to book an appointment with a doctor at Leeds Student Medical Practice, and I'm glad that the right antibiotic did its job quickly, and I managed to recover ready for the club night that I was waiting for months to attend.
I must confess I'm a slow burner, and because I had to reserve my strength, I didn't manage to get there until around 11.00pm, and I missed the DJ sets from the beloved local star and Enhanced Recordings man, Will Holland, the Manchester Trance turbo boy Ben Gold and in the UK room the residents Pearson & Hirst and the UK trance supremo Dan Stone. First contact with the digital reality on offer was the UK room that Standerwick was playing his magnificent set of Uplifting Trance, Psy Trance, Tech Trance and Acid Trance in equal measures. A really varied DJ set that could keep happy the whole spectrum of the uplifting Trance community. The Trancers totaly lost it enjoying themeselves, and most importantly knowledgeable of the tracks that were playing. If I can pick one track from his set that should be Standerwick, Philippe El Sisi with Ana Criado - Magic Light on How Trance Works.
Next I had to run to the main room to check out two artists that seem to get many bookings as back 2 back artists. DJ's Andy Moor and Lange once again, as at many other events such as Tomorrowland, were doing their explosive tricks and twists bombarding the dancefloor with Tech Trance and mainstage style Trance smashers. The bigger the better, the rougher the tougher for sure. The tracks played were well-known and always kept the crowd jumping and cheering making the DJs extremely happy and excited to see the people reacting so positively. Both of them are against categorisations and through their labels AVA Recordings and Lange Recordings, deliver tracks that transgress the codes and conventions and find new Trance language. Their set was reflecting those edgy anti-establishment trance flavours that they are well known for.
At 00.05 the legend and Dutch Trance pioneer Ferry Corsten was on stage, and he was ready to carry the digital society residents on his own trance journey. Of course, the Ferry sound has evolved a lot from his Electro-Trance years, and nowadays he flirts a lot with progressive and mainstage house sound.
His set at Digital Society was a Trance set with some Prog House elements that I felt was needed to satisfy the crowd that maybe they wanted to feel that festival mainstage type of atmosphere. His set included tracks from his latest Hallo EP and his magnificent Festival Crash that stayed at the Beatport Trance chart for many weeks.
The exceptional lazers that create a sci-fi digital environment, the magnificent visuals with the best video graphics and some explosions created that pure hedonistic atmosphere you wish to have at any strong trance event. Ferry cares and plays for his crowd and he knows how to adjust to keep them informed with his latest tunes and his eternal classics.
I was on a mission again to dig into the deep underground and check what is going in the UK trance scene. Now on the deck was Craig Connelly. The well known dj & producer with numerous releases on the finest trance record labels delivered a fantastic full on uplifting trance set that included superb instrumentals and vocal trance anthems. I was so surprised to see how much Craig was enjoying himself. He was very excited to play and he loved every second of his set.
As you can imagine his best track of the night was his trance classic Black Hole featuring the vocals by Christina Novelli. The absolute trance diva that her performance give you instant goosebumps and we hope soon that they meet again with Craig to tell us how the story of Black Hole evolved even further. UK vocal trance at its best for digital society citizens that can appreciate deeply good solid structures, strong melodies and harmonies and awesome vocals and meaningful lyrics. I have to mention the uplifting trance version of the Above & Beyond classic Thing Called Love that the crowd were singing along with hands in the air.
Next in the UK trance room was a guy that travelled a million miles to be here. Not really he just drove from Sheffield but he managed to leave us with the best memories from his Trance set. Adam Ellis was in the house and you could tell that he was very chuffed and happy to get behind the decks and take us on a Trance journey.
Agressive brooding basslines, thumping bouncy grooves, metallic drums and great mixture of Uplifting, Tech and Psy Trance in the most appropriate and right for Trance crowd style. Adam never disappoints and this one was one of his coolest performances for sure. The UK Trance room was the smallest one and was boiling with excitement. Of course, what I really like was that there was enough ventilation to feel that you could breath normally, and you are feeling in a state of UK Trance territory.
The time was approaching for Paul van Dyk. The last time I checked him live was at Tomorrowland second weekend in 2014, and at his Nature One set. I decided to spend the next 90 minutes with him to find out if his DJ sets have evolved and moved in a different direction. I enjoyed his full set from the VIP balcony of O2 Academy which has comfortable seats, for anyone who wants to relax and just enjoy the set, and enough space to jump and dance around like me. The verdict is simple; that his performance at Digital Society was phenomenal.
He started by playing great Tech Tribal Trance grooves mixed up with classic Paul van Dyk Euphoric synths, and he dropped his latest collaborations with Roger Shah for Louder, and Aly & Fila with Guardian featuring the UK singer Sue McLaren, who deserves her own personal album. Fantastic Trance journey from well known to less known tracks and great retrospective of Paul van Dyk's extensive catalogue.
Of course I'm sure that many friends would love to listen new remixes of classics like Visons of Shiva - How Much Can You Take, his Love Stimulation remix or For An Angel.
In my view these tracks should always be there in his set with a brand new set of remixes or updated versions from the man himself. But betternot to look at the past and move to the future, and Paul van Dyk looks like he is moving in that direction and was extremely lively behind the decks; shouting and jumping around feeling every single track he played. Great performance from well respected pioneer who is still a magnet for any Trance event around the globe, and that says a lot for me.
Paul van Dyk demands everything to sound perfect and during his whole DJ set you could see that he was in contact with his stage manager and was telling him if he was feeling that something was going wrong. Then it happened, 15 minutes before the end of his set when he stopped for a few seconds and he had to start again and finish with his beloved anthem Home. "My home is where you are, In every beat, in every beat we're closer. My home is where you are, In every beat, in every beat we're closer."
The good captain is the one that finds solutions during bad weather conditions and is able to keep the crowd with him. Paul van Dyk did it once again proving that he is a legend who deserves our respect.
Next on the main stage was Aly & Fila. The unstoppable Egyptian master delivered a full-on Euphoric Trance set with colourful feel-good anthems, beautiful vocals that uplift your soul, inspiring melodies that transfer your soul to a higher level and dynamic beats and basslines to keep your body jumping and moving around.
Emotional Uplifting Trance set with some Tech and Acid Trance touches as well to keep the followers positive and extremely connected to each other and digital society as a whole. The DJ set had flow and coherence with a sense that you are being guided on 'The Other Shore' that you may have never experienced and now was your chance to do it with the guidance of Aly & Fila .
I left the UK Trance underground room for quite a while without placing an ear on it, so I missed Darren Porter who was really good according to the comments from the digital society members on the official Facebook page, and I was in front of one of the biggest mysteries in the global trance at the moment.
Who is the guy behind the mask of Angry Man? First it was Zoro and now it's Angry Man who rocked the crowd with his fat thunder crushing sounds. His set was more targeted towards the rough Hard Trance meets Psy Tech Trance sound that makes it darker, moody, dirtier and more edgy for an average Uplifting Trance fan. The people were under his orders and he dominated them with his solid and tight DJ set.
Final appearance in the UK Trance room was by David Rust from Glasgow, Scotland. He is well known for dark and dirty underground UK Trance with releases on top labels like Discover Dark. His set was packed with uncompromising smashers not for the weak hearted.
No fluffy or sugary Trance doses on his great set of fat burning razor sharp party hard Trance meets Psy Tech Trance crashers. He has published on his facebook the tracklist of his set, you can read it here . I really enjoyed the way he twisted and turned around Cosmic Gate's classic 'Fire Wire' and his whole set was an adrenaline charge experience for the lost souls of Digital Society's Underground room.
From 4.00-5.00 Sean Tyas was in the house and this top DJ delivered the goods. His set was targeting the dark Tech Trance style with strong uplifting shining sparkling moments too. When music sounds great its because the DJ who performs knows it very well and he enjoys playing it. I could can tell that Sean Tyas was very up for it and incredibly excited to be at this party providing uncompromising anti-establishment Trance messages to his audience minds, and Trance massaging melodies to their soul to ease their pain and help them to elevate their existence away from society norms. It was Sean Tyas at its very best. Final set in the main room and the whole night as the Underground room closed at 5.00 was by the hands of Menno de Jong. The Dutch Trance star is doing an impressive come back after his great Intuition years. Back then with more progressive Trance sound, nowadays he moves towards the uplifting Trance path with many vocal Trance tracks. His set was well balanced and keept anyone with a smile in their face to ease the fatigue and boredom that comes unfortunately at the final set. Refreshing sounds, blissful ambiance, magical melodies, heavenly vocals and spiritual lyrics. Best moment must be when he played his vocal trance hit featuring Noire Lee with the significant title that resonates to the minds of the clubbers and makes eveyone feel strange, 'Creatures Of The Night'. His set made this night memorable for sure.
To conclude, Digital Society 8th Anniversary was a huge success that managed to bring together all the sizes, shades and colours of the Trance scene. From big room and mainstage to more euphoric and dark, there were DJs who could service the sound that you like the most. The majority of the artists delivered sets that exceed our expectations and others that experimented around and made their own sound. The organisation was at high level with mindblowing visuals and the best video graphics that I have seen for a long time, all working well with the gigantic video walls behind and in front of the decks. The main room had the atmosphere you get at big festivals, while the underground room was more intimate and warm, encouraging you to shake hands with the DJ and give them a hand shake as a thank you. The good atmosphere can be summed up with the phrase of a security guard who was guiding us to the morning light outside the club: Thanks guys, you were wonderful tonight. So I must equally say 'Thanks Digital Society you were looking great at your 8th Anniversary'. Looking forward for the next event with announcements coming soon.
This review reflects my view and understanding of the event by having music journalism experience at events like Tomorrowland, Nature One, ASOT, Trance Energy, Sensation, Dance Valley and Trance Gathering.
Thanks to Olivia Jade Riches and Harry from Digital Society for having me at Digital Society. I felt at home with the big #Trancefamily that united at Digital Society.
Additional info:
www.digitalsociety.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/digitalsocietyleeds
https://twitter.com/DigitalSociety_
https://www.facebook.com/o2academyleeds