Paul van Dyk in Lebanon (2006)

[DJ_TRACID]

what can i say i just woke up and i thought i was dreaming NO I WASN'T!!! Both of them delivered Pure Energy, Askew was the man of the night with his dirty techy beats, it was the 1st time i see ppl so interacted and full of energy @ a warm up set usually they just move around, as for PVD no comment the man does it i haven't seen him so happy & expressive before TH rocked rocked also i had so much fun with u guyz & it was nice meeting: T.R.A.X., rob, System S., Candy... c ya'll @ the next event

[DJ_TRACID]

[Gladius]

GUYS I have to confest that Yest. 'gig was the best in my life untill now !! PVD sriously killed us !! Every single thing was amazing in the gig ! The set-up , tunes (Control Freak !!!!! aaaaggghhh!!!!!!!!!!) , the crowd !!! , the location ! My feet were hurting me alot !! ( i just couldnt stop moving my body !! )...Fortunetly i got back home safely !:P

[pTq]

[DIONYSOS]

[habib]

[Path;)s !]

[CensorD]

so energetic set the last time my feet hurt this much was ar carl cox...
one hell of a night from an incredible dj and great setup

[BaBeMaGnEt]

Amazing Night !
Incerdible Performance! PVD was about to leave twice but then we kept screaming for more ... and thus he stayed untill 6:30 ...
Everything was just perfect ! PURE Perfection ! except for the BAR where it was closed and we couldn't have anymore drinks ... that's the only part that sucked ...
Thank You MIXFM ( The number one radio station in lebanon and the middle east )
Thank you Bacardi B Live
And Thank You PVD For this unforgetable night.

This is the time
Of our lives...

[System.S]

Sorry if I did not reply to the official review of TH but this is a 180 degree different opinion about the event.

My overall brief review would be: Organizers brought PVD to Lebanon, threw him into a big venue with loud sound and lots of people.

My feeling: Disappointed / Not Satisfied
Disappointed about PVD's set and playlist. Disappointed about the organization, and the venue – MOSTLY SOUND and CROWD.

I'm sorry guys but, this event was just "nice" to me. I have been to other PVD gigs before in Europe and this one was a catastrophe, AY SHAY!
PVD was not the PVD I've knows for the past 4 or 5 years.
He was not playing PVD, he was playing tracks to keep the crowd blown up and bouncy, he was playing mostly energetic and a bit hardcore and a tiny little bit of melodic tunes; I say tiny because every time he played a melodic tune, the crowd calmed down all of a sudden which made him go back to Hard trance in order to wake them up.

Here is my review piece by piece.

The DJ
PVD was doing breakdowns in EVERY SINGLE TRACK! Every track that he played he had to do a breakdown with tons of effects in it. Breakdowns are nice but not in every track or two. I mean it keeps you going up and down and up and down but too quickly which does not give you time to actually enjoy the full track on a straight enough long period.
Why did he do that? Again, to keep the crowd alive and awake.

The Crowd
Now, I kind of understand PVD for doing such massive changes in his music and for his non organized types of Trance. It was because of the crowd. I mean, you guys call those Ravers, I call them "People". I believe that they wasn't more then 10% of true ravers and true music listeners out there.
And yo, WHAT'S UP WITH THE SUNGLASSES?? At some point me and my GF thought we had to also wear some to enjoy some 3d laser show effects or to protect our eyes from the lasers or something!! Why would anyone on earth wear sunglasses at an indoor gig ?? FASHION?? Or to be COOL?? What does fashion have to do with this?
And here is where I say that the majority of the people where there because it was something big and because they wanna go party and bounce and sweat.

The Venue
Big, filthy dirty and HOT (as in a sauna).
It was the most ing venue I ever saw in my life, the floor was FILLED with plastic bottles and cups and papers and tissues and crap, why?? Why weren't there any trash cans? I did not see a single trash can inside or outside! Is that something 3adeh for people here to throw trash on the floor, right where they are standing and dancing?

The Sound
Very bad and too loud.
The speakers set up was very bad and not set well in accordance to the space of the hall and its dimensions and height, and badly distributed. The sound was just loud and noisy, You could not enjoy the track that was playing in all its elements and senses, all you could hear is fat basslines and crispy treble.

The Lights
They were okey, although I am used to lights hitting me, not only projected lights over the roof and walls and only from one direction, which was from the DJ booth only.

I'm sorry guys but, this was a bad gig for me.
I cannot rank it in any way, Lebanese organizers still need to work A LOT in such gigs.
All they do is just get a big DJ, put him in a big hall, loud sound and light shows and that's it. Unfortunately, this is not how its supposed to be, otherwise, anyone would be capable of throwing such a gig so what do those local organizers get credits for?
They made big money but offered me no satisfaction.

I am not being sarcastic or grumpy about this, I am just being honest. You guys had a good time but, true gigs with such big DJs are so different out there in the world. But right here in Lebanon, unfortunately it's not up to the standards.
IT CAN BE SO MUCH BETTER, with only a little bit more effort.

It was nice to see some of my fellow TH members. I saw ROLAND (thanks for everything mate, my GF says you're a cutie), JADE, TRANCEMATIC and... I forget who else I tried to look for others but could not recognize any of you guys, sorry about that.
Oh and DIVINE! Heh saw you 2

My girlfriend would want also to write and share with you her review which is as below:

Hi all. Just a couple of things I wanted to add. This was my first time to go to a "rave" in Lebanon, and I have to say I too was disappointed. I put the word rave in quotes because I really would not classify last night's event as a full-on proper rave. I'd heard so much about such events in Lebanon before, such as the previous PVD party, and based on what I'd heard I was really looking forward to last night. I started raving in the mid- to late-nineties in the States (my local rave in DC was Buzz – which was known as the best rave party in the U.S. for years). I've seen/heard PVD spin at least about 5 or 6 times in the past, and I have to say last night's event was a far cry from what I've experienced. I won't repeat everything system.s said above about the sound, venue, lights, etc. Here I'll just concentrate on my overall experience. First, last night's set was very different from what I'm used to from PVD. Of course, the crowd had a lot to do with that, as system.s said. It's obvious there was a minimal number of people there last night who knew much about electronic music, and definitely very little about trance, which could very well be the reason why he didn't play the kind of deep trance I'm used to from him. While there were some amazing moments, overall the set didn't flow with me in the way I was expecting it to. Also, I didn't feel like the crowd was really there to hear the magic of his music and to dance to the magic of his music. Rather, they were there for the party, the drugs, and to live up to the stereotype of what they thought a rave should be. I don't mean this to sound harsh, but someone mentioned the "10,000 ravers" who were there last night…I can honestly say that I saw a total of about two ravers there last night. I felt like a lot of the people there were trying to emulate what they thought ravers should look like, but in reality, imitation means nothing without proper inspiration, and I just didn't see or feel any inspiration last night. Evidence that the majority of the crowd didn't have a clue is that towards the end of PVD's set, half the venue was totally empty, and the entire crowd was congregated in a sweaty mob up at the front, just jumping up and down with their fists in the air and bumping into each other. If that was anywhere else in the world, that crowd would be taking advantage of the space and would be totally spread out across the dance floor, creating their own dance space and treating the floor like their own blank canvas to explore and experiment with their bodies to the sound. I myself tried to take advantage of the open space in the middle of the dance floor towards the end of the night, but unfortunately I found it hard to really dance properly without nearly slipping and falling with every move due to all the water bottles on the floor. Also, one little point about the venue – I have never felt that hot before in my life – there was very little ventilation in there, and that could have proven dangerous for people who were rolling on E and not keeping themselves properly hydrated.

Having said all that, I must say that I am happy to see Lebanon taking the lead in the Middle East with such events. Perhaps I am being overly critical because I am comparing last night's event to raves that have been around for years. When I think of it from a regional perspective, I find myself being more impressed with the event. Also, perhaps system.s and I felt disappointed because we both saw a lot of potential there last night – potential for such an event to reach the highest international standards of what we've both seen and experienced in Europe and the States. All it would take is just a little bit more effort on the part of the organizers – simple things like trash cans, easier access to the bars, proper ventilation, better sound set up, and less of a concern with filling up the place and more of a concern with making the experience perfect for every single person in there. As for the crowd, that will start to change with time. As more and more people start to be exposed to the music, hopefully one day more and more of the crowd will be there for the music and the real rave experience, rather than just for the party and the drugs and the cult of celebrity. Lebanon is not alone in this regard – ever since raves started to go mainstream around the world over the past few years, you find an increasing number of non-ravers in raves everywhere, people who are trying to look and be cool without really caring about the music or what it all means to those of us who really love this world. But I must say, the sunglasses thing is something I haven't seen anywhere…

[Tala]

[align=justify]What an exeptional night! Paul Van Dyk promissed his crowd to deliver 100% full energy set and i'm afraid he blew our mind much more as we were expecting..

I'm not gonna make my "review" long since the "official" one was already posted by DIONYSOS, but i just need to let out the undeniable feelings i had yesterday night and to comment on few things.
I think we all agree the night was "full of energy" starting from the respectfull Dj John Askew to reach the MAN of the night Paul Van Dyk (I'm sorry AMADEUS i left at almost 5:30 am with Dio).

John Askew was great, the music he played was great and his interaction was GREAT. i liked his performance but i think it was "too energetic" for a warmup set.

Paul Van Dyk made me reach my ultimate sensations of happiness. His entrance, music, interaction and technical skills are unbeatable.. He made me dance like i've never danced before, he made me smile even though i wasn't feeling well towards the end (had a prob), he made me enjoy the music to the maximum and he made me believe i'm alive! what a sensation..

The place was nice. The decoration was amazing. Just one problem: the ventilation problem!! We were suffocating, we couldn't breath for seconds!! Other then that everything was perfect and i really thank MixFm and Bacardi BLive for the perfect organization..
I can't wait to read/hear Paul Van Dyk's feedback about last night.

I was really happy partying with you THerz.. Love you all and nice to meet you Icepick[/align]

[Nesta]

you guys have a point of vue but you must remember that we are in Lebanon we still have a lot of work to reach the international scene because ravers and raves in lebanon were born 3 or 4years ago..
Keep up the positive vibes
Peace

[e-sam]

[samer]

[Trancelvania]