Armin Only Mirage Tour in Beirut 2011: A Dream Come True

Taken by Gino Raidy

75000 divine beats, 20000 adoring fans, 540 minutes of dancing, 49 world-class artists, 5 massive mobile and rotating LED screens and 1 man who has woven the soundtrack of my life, and the life of so many other people around the world.

Taken by Gino Raidy

In 2007, when I opened a separate secondary bank account for the sole purpose of accumulating enough savings to go abroad and watch the next, and probably last, Armin Only Tour, I never ever expected it to come to Beirut. The Imagine Armin Only Tour was history, and I was planning to be part of the next chapter. The minute I heard the news, I went down and bought the Diamond Ticket with the number 0011 and I was ready for January 22.

The weeks flew by and MixFM did a good job explaining that Armin Only wasn’t just another event, but that it was a major concept by Armin himself, done in only a few select cities around the world.

I was supposed to meet my favorite artist for lunch at Roadster’s DownTown, which I have Hady and Randa to thank for. But Armin’s perfectionist attitude towards his work kept him at the venue with no time to spare. I was lucky enough to meet and get to know Eller van Buuren, Michiel Elbricht and the Bagga Bownz and Armin crew, which was awesome!

The venue was superb. The entrance took a bit too long; the drinks-voucher-ticket exchange thing is something the guys can’t seem to replace with a more efficient policy. But that didn’t really matter, everyone was just eager to get inside. On that note, allow me to mention that people were incredibly punctual. I got there at 7, parked my car and took a little nap before doors opened at 9. At 9:10, there were already hundreds lined up in the cue and growing steadily.

The stage was enormous and stretched between the two east entrances of BIEL. To the left and right of the stage were the platinum seated areas, and above those the gold ticket seated sections. Directly in front of the stage was the diamond section, where I stood for the many hours last night. Behind the 8-meter wide diamond section was the silver section, which included the rest of hall A and the entire hall B of BIEL.

The DJ booth was triangular, with a suspended 5x5m LED screen behind it, and two other identical LED screens that covered up the DJ section, but could roll and rotate on the specially built rigs. To top it all off, two other huge LED screens flanked the other 3 massive screens.

The booth itself was lined with LED lights that changed with the general VJ theme. The visuals were spectacular and dynamic, never getting boring and not diverting attention from the music and shows, but instead successfully complementing the mood and feeling with color and animation.

At 10, the heavy music started, and the opening was with Markus Schulz’ Perception, the original mix. Followed by Cosmic Gate’s legendary Exploration of Space. Then, the real treat was Eller, seated because of his broken foot, playing La Chicana on his electric guitar, putting everyone in the mood. In between those, rigs were set up on the sides of the DJ booth with ski boots, and dancers in a very weird costume were swaying with the music with superhuman rigidity and balance.

Take a Moment was next, with the very emotional Virtual Friend a few minutes later. I Don’t Own You heralded visuals of a huge cathedral, with “Armin Only Mirage” on the door. Now, the show became serious. The album’s cover track, Mirage, began, with the dancers, the band and the artists slowly being revealed as the two massive rotating LED screens pulled back, revealing the stage’s many levels, as Mirage’s instrumental segment sent everyone into a frenzy of jumping, waves and cheering. Then, the man of the night, the person everyone had come to witness, appeared, elevated slowly on a platform…

Armin then took to the decks, and at 1:00AM, Vanessa Mae’s White Bird was Armin’s way of starting his set. After that classic Trance favorite, a giant lens shutter on the screens shifted and shaped as Armin tweaked everything to Full Focus.

After a host of the new tracks on Armin’s new Mirage, an A State of Trance 2009 track, Tuvan by Gaia, brought back fond memories of Armin’s two 2009 appearances. It was almost 2:00AM now, and the giant LED screens moved and rotated, altering the stage in preparation for Christian Burns’ performance of This Light Between Us.

At this point, the first peak of the night (for me at least) was Armin playing This World is Watching Me. This song is one of my absolute favorites and when it was played, the period from 2004 to 2011 suddenly came into focus, and I remembered how long I’ve been in love with this music, with the Trance Family.

A few tracks later, Armin grabbed a camera from behind the decks and started filming us, with a live feed of the crowd being blended into the visuals on the giant LED screens.

Next, it was Not Giving Up On Love, with live vocals by the gorgeous Sophie Ellis Bextor on stage as the lyrics unfolded on the mobile screens and each and every single fan was singing along to. It’s actually very hard to pinpoint exactly when the peaks were, for the night was magnificent all round, with everyone staying there well after the show was over, all the while dancing, taking photos and singing as the dancers, band, singers and Armin dazzled with show after show of ingenious artistry and performance skills with original and never-before-seen concepts in Lebanon.

Then the gorgeous Nadia Ali came on stage to lend her sublime vocal talent to Feels So Good. The costumes, choreography and stage presence was a far cry from what we usually expect from dance events, with an all-out concert routine performed as Armin worked his magic on the decks.

It was around 5:00AM now, and Armin played a remix of Use Somebody, to the delight of everyone present. At 5:30, an energetic and violent drums solo by Koen Herfst added the beauty of raw music into the magic of synthetic sound, creating the harmony Armin has so successfully incorporated into Mirage with the help of Bagga Bownz.

Next, keyboards and synths were set up next to the DJ booth, and a live music set with Paul van Dyk’s For An Angel had everyone humming along with the Trance classic. Just then, the LED screens started folding back, revealing Michiel Eilbracht with his guitar, sampling Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes with Armin’s bass, kicks and snares in a superb guitar solo.

At 6:00, the intense night of perfect performances and even better music went retro, with some of Armin’s earliest masterpieces… Shivers, sung live as a Lebanese flag adorned with the Armin Only Mirage logo and the Trance Family signature fluttered on stage with the backdrop of red lasers and visuals.

Then, another timeless classic, Sail, followed by an intimate, acoustic remake of Burned With Desire, sung by all three singers separately, and played by Bagga Bownz as Armin sat and watched, with Eller van Buuren’s amazing classic guitar rendition of the track that made us fall in love with Armin van Buuren all those years ago.

It’s also important to mention that Armin took the time to Remember Love, and the victims of the tragedy at last year’s Love Parade, kneeling before the LED screen showing a message in support of the victims’ families and those injured as Remember Love played, with signs and tshirts by the Lebanese Trance Family showing they’ll always “Remember Love”

All in all, Armin Only was everything I had expected it to be. And I had expected a whole lot. It is by far the best event I have ever been to, and probably the best I’ll ever go to. It was an honor to have participated in an Armin Only Tour, especially one on my home soil. With turmoil and trouble only meters away outside the doors, everyone was able to ecape their normal lives and worries for 9 beautiful hours, leaving them chanting “we want more!” to an exhausted Armin Only crew, well after the sun had risen over a tumultuous Beirut, rigged with uncertainty and instability, whose people yearn for nothing but happiness, love and Trance music.

We Love You Armin, thank you =) and thank you MixFM and everyone who helped bring this tour to Lebanon and make so many dreams come true!

Here are the best pictures I took on the night =D feel free to share, but link back if you can =)