By Shy--Ism » Mon Jul 20, 2009 12:09 pm

Ever since their first performance in Lebanon Above & Beyond has been marking a valuable presence in our hearts and minds. And keeping up to their initial promise, Jono, Anthony and Paavo delivered one gorgeously special night on Saturday.

Arriving to Marina JK Dbayeh at around 11:30, Ronin & Nesta were on their way to leave place for Jaytech over the deck. Jaytech was so far sure of his performance, always with a blissful smile on his face. The warm up was a solid mixing of melodies and straight on progressive sounds most of the time while dropping some tech-y beats since now and then. The crowd enjoyed it and got pleasure of it as it surely built the mood up to the main set’s standards as usual. Again Jaytech’s mixing was really good reflecting a great talent.

It was so easy for people to realize the trio stepping on stage as they kicked off with a mesmerizing intro driving the crowd goes crazy. What a lovely DJ set coming from Above & Beyond. Fresh sounds and dreamy background supporting the concept of diversity those three artists have always been offering. The way music was delivered was astonishingly superb, and the flow of the tracks being mixed simultaneously gave a typical originality for Above & Beyond’s work. Dropping classics and its remixes within the set turned the music into a magical journey for all trance music lovers, like Three Drives - Greece 2000 and Robert Miles – Children (Inpetto Remix) which actually added a serious charm to the dance-floor. At 3:00 AM, the live act had to take place eventually. A break of few minutes was useless for the crowd, as the majority started shouting and requesting more from the trio. As people kept on reading loudly the quotes displayed on the huge centered screen, Anthony wore his white electric guitar belt and Jonathan & Paavo took care of the piano and FX keyboards while having the talented drummer set in the background. The live set intro was intensively gorgeous, Above & Beyond – Air For Life featuring Zoe Johnstone delivered an awesome ambience for sure. Following it a series of original productions for this great band, to name like “No One On Earth”, “For All I C are”, “Good For Me”, “Alone Tonight” featuring Richard Bedford … etc, and of course the infamous track “Can’t Sleep” that made the crowd goes signing along with Zoe.

Concerning the closing set, I left right before it started but I think Jaytech was also in charge. He did well that night!

I disliked the fact that tracks were literally separated during the live act, because personally it could have been even more magical if everything was blended and mixed in order to offer us a piece of mixed live set. Woah that could have been something!

The quality of the crowd was fairly good, decent music interaction.
The setup was huge and well placed (although I would have preferred having it a bit slightly rotated towards the V/VIP as we couldn’t always get a clear view of the stage during the live performance). But nevertheless, I understand installment was well prepared despite obstacles face in an outdoor area.

Lightings and visuals were truly excellent. The moment when Above & Beyond took over the stage everything got turned on and transformed the whole atmosphere into shear musical paradise. Perhaps the usage of lasers could have been a bit greater and longer enough, however I think I liked the fact that it was properly used instead of randomly throwing lights here and there. It was cozy after all.

Dancers from Ibiza did some great dancing, whether on their small stages or in their sirens outfits suspended in the air. Fantastic!

VIP and VVIP were also comfy just like in Shiny Disco Ball, well seated and good service for all Poliakov’s drinkers and boozers. Sound system was almost as good and clear as in the regular section. And overall the sound system was really great compatible for beats and vocals.

The party was successful in my opinion. The event organization was superb despite some difficulties, needless to mention that the concept was well transmitted in general. Thank you for such a beautiful night and well done!!