In Gareth we trust.
Friday night Gareth Emery took control of Pacha‘s dance floor, and I must say he played one of the most intelligent and riveting sets that I have ever heard. I left Pacha late that night (or rather early morning) extremely impressed. Seeing him perform live doubled my respect for him as a producer, and a DJ.
Gareth Emery works hard at the excellent set played at Pacha NYC this Friday, May 13th.
When I speak of intelligent sets, I refer to Gareth’s progression, styling, track choice, and of course, timing. He started playing at 1am and continued for three hours until 4am. He warmed up the crowd with more house flavored tracks, then moved into club mixes of uplifting trance tracks weaved with progressive ones. For trance enthusiasts, he played old favorites. My heart nearly melted when he played my all-time favorites by Andain and Motorcyle. When we were satisfied he made sure the rest of the crowd unfamiliar with trance was brought back to life with newer tracks such as crowd pleaser “Coming Home (Dirty South Remix)” and dance floor classics “Kernkraft 400 – Zombie Nation (Chris Schweizer Remix)” (thank you Jordan for the ID on the remix). He dropped Ferry Corsten‘s new track “Feel it” which can get anyone moving! Through his house tracks, one could pick up “Green Velvet- Flash (Nicky Romero Remix)” being weaved in between songs, but never dropped. Later into his set, he dropped some very heavy bass and hard beats which pleasantly took me aback for a second but made me rage even harder nonetheless.
Being a vocal trance enthusiast, these three hours were a huge slice of heaven. A lot of trance djs tend to steer away from vocals when playing at a club and tend to head towards more progressive beats to please everyone. Gareth Emery skillfully handled both, his set overflowing with delicious vocals to float away and beats to move the crowd.
Crowds raise their hands in search of attention, which Gareth responds with enthusiasm of his own.
I swear this man was so difficult to photograph. It was so hard to get clear shots of him on my camera. He never stops moving. When he’s not moving around cdjing, he’s jumping up and down feeding the crowd with excitement. You can tell when a DJ loves his craft by how involved he gets with his music and his audience. It is something I always look for and an expectation I maintain for all shows I go see. I find it a considerable element that enhances the music played and goes along with the ambience and experience. In that, Emery did not disappoint. The energy he was filled with spread to everyone. At one point, the entire pit was chanting “GARETH! GARETH!” so loudly that it rivaled the volume of the music being played.
What impressed me very much from the crowd’s side was that they knew the songs. Trance is still on the rise in America and although it is gaining ground faster than before, it still doesn’t quite have the hold that it does in Europe. To me, it was comforting to be able to hear the crowd sing these trance classics like “Motorcycle feat Andain – As the Rush Comes” and know the lyrics to Gareth’s vocal tracks as well.
Lights dim and the set up glows as Gareth sets the mood with his tracks.
His classic closing track, Delirium’s “Silence” made me realize it was close to 4am. Gareth closed with one of his most popular songs “Sanctuary” and yelled out to his audience of how great of a time he had playing for them, which later he repeated the same to me. This producer loves what he does and it is evident in his vibe. He shows that he is one with the crowd as he dances and moves around his setup. With such talent and energy, keep your eyes peeled on him. Although he is lucky number seven on DJMAG’s top 100 DJs list, I foresee higher.
His album “Northern Lights, Re-lit” is a compilation of his tracks remixed. In the next few days it will be released under his own label Garuda. Be sure to check it out, as the remixes are note worthy and carefully selected by Gareth himself (many of them were played throughout the night as well).
In Trance we Trust
- the crazy girl who never stopped dancing.
Listed below are Gareth Emery’s links to find out more about him and his upcoming release -
GarethEmery.com
Gareth Emery’s Twitter
Facebook Fan page
Gareth’s YouTube Page
Gareth Emery’s Podcast
Set list ( will be updated as more tracks are IDed)
John O’Callaghan Feat. Betsie Larkin – Save this Moment
Gareth Emery- Arrival
Gareth Emery- Fight the Sunrise (Daniel Kandi remix
Andain – Beautiful things
Delirium – Silence
Green Velvet – Flash (Nicky Romero Remix)
Gareth Emery – Into the light
Gareth Emery – Sanctuary
Diddy Dirty Money – Coming Home feat. Skylar Grey (Dirty South Remix)
Kernkraft – Zombie Nation (Chris Schweizer Remix)
Ferry Corsten – Feel It (Original Extended Mix)
Above & Beyond feat. Richard Bedford – Sun & Moon (Kim Fai Club Mix)
Gareth Emery, OceanLab, Above & Beyond – On A Good Day (Metropolis) [Extended Mix]
Look at Gareth jump!
Bright colors highlight Gareth constantly moving, intensely focused on his crowds.
Recent Comments