The OneEDM team takes on a night of dance in Manhattan with Ferry Corsten and John Askew. A night of fresh show experiences that’ll have you thankful and grateful for the opportunity. Beginning the night at Cielo, before heading over to Webster Hall; we reach the neighborhood of the “The meat packing district”. A fashionable hip area west of Chelsea. The smell of hot garbage sticks out as a metaphor to me as in “things are about to get funky” and that’s exactly what you want when you’re going out to dance in a trance.
As we walk into Cielo I see the dim lighting, I feel the vibe and hear the edgy tempo. John Askew has blessed the west side with an open to close set that Friday night. The bodies occupying the small night club came with an affinity for the artist. As he spins his hefty house beats I look around and notice how the “Trance Family” mentality and behavior of the artists have spilled into the fans.
Everywhere I look you see party goers greeting each other with hugs and excitement. I was even invited to the dance floor by a young woman whom I never met. That welcoming feeling is more of what should be a normal part of every party. The red lit floor the thunderous bass of Cielo and the steady groove of John Askew. If this is what an Esscala party is like then you can expect me to attend much more. About an hour into his set John began to really sizzle and get into his zone. The crowd filled the dance floor and danced their cares away. It was my third time partying at Cielo and each time reminds me why I like to go back.
It was difficult to leave Cielo and John’s sick house beats but we kept the night moving and proceeded into Ferry’s awaiting dreamworld.
We made our way to Webster Hall to now catch Ferry Corsten and his Blueprint Tour. It has been three Fridays in a row that I have reported at Webster Hall and each time it feels completely different than the last. Opening the show was the always reliable and fun Alex English along with DALI and Hiyawatha. Some of my favorites were being spun like Prodigy and Mylo, unfortunately, the people around me had no rhythm to give the music the justification it deserved. Along with tracks from Way Out West, the electronic jungle leanings permeated the air hacking the night in a 90s Cali party design (I loved it). The warm up fo Ferry was amazing, I found a spot with enough space to dance and I stayed put.
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It’s 1:30 Am and Ferry appears, slicing open the party can with Daft Jack’s “Never Over” and the grand ballroom juices up. Blueprint pulses across the screen catching your eye like a moth to a flame. Step into Ferry Corsten’s matrix as the title track Blueprint does it ding dong and ring arrangement. “Blueprint” is ferry’s fifth studio album and most highly artistic piece yet. A sci-fi concept album with a narrative voiced by Campbell Scott and co-written by David H. Miller. Together Ferry and David conceptualize and storyboard this project diving into an inter-dimensional fantasy.
Dropping May 26, 2017, Blueprint goes out to all the sci-fi fans and trance lovers. Taking you on a blueprint boom “Edge of the Sky” electrifies. He has this accelerating video game way of displaying his mix which I like to call “Galactic Spinning” and when he plays tracks like “Anahera” by his moniker Gouryella the ride through his trance tundra spurs.
“Nature is designed according to a sequence”, and that blueprint is what Ferry is providing his audience with. The laser light show expelled by Ferry was phenomenal, you could reach out and touch them and feel as if you’re on another planet or in another galaxy. I guess that’s exactly what he wants you to feel with a concept album and tour. The definition of trance you can say is at this Blueprint tour, an unconscious, cataleptic, hypnotic condition. “Best trance set I’ve seen all year” were the words coming from a friends mouth as we gazed in awe at the colorful beacons dazzle. A friend once told me trance is a musical journey and this show felt exactly like that. Moments where you had to dance and points where all you needed was to stand and witness and take in the spectacle laid before you. It’s nothing like EDM and its the type of show that requires you to focus in and out because that journey is real. Couples holding each other as the trance terrain alters back and forth from high-powered to serene.
It takes the addition of another trance artist to elevate and take your fans to the next level sometimes. The long distance climb of Ferry Corsten and Armin Van Buuren’s “Brute” hovers over the crowd and beams its vigor. The idea of Blueprint being a sci-fi concept album makes perfect sense when all I thought was how fantastical the music and ambiance were. I couldn’t find the words to say or describe the laser lights, it took it to another experience and I almost still can’t find the words. BLUEPRINT – BLUEPRINT – BLUEPRINT continuously shined across the screen reminding us why we were there.
Kicking off the tour May 18 in Washington DC, Ferry plans to run a worldwide nine date tour across North America, South America, and Europe. May 26 isn’t far away but feels like it when the anticipation and appetizers for the Blueprint album play in your music platform. Releasing the title track for free back in March Ferry bubbles up the pot in our sci-fi and trance ever loving hearts.
Could the “Blueprint” be a blueprint on how concept albums and tours should be developed? The bass from the floor below, the lasers from above, the vast gorgeous visuals of outer space and the melodies of trance all come together to take you someplace you’ve never discovered; all by the hand of a leader in trance, Ferry Corsten. “Here We Are” dominates and teleports you to an extraordinary show.
One thing I do want to definitely talk about is this effect he uses in his mixes. I’m not a DJ or producer so forgive me on what the exact term is or name is but he has this descending bass tone that sounds like a “weeerrrrrrruuummm” and instantly followed by the drop, anyway its soo tight! His laser lights don’t play any games and neither does his sets. With a touch of a little confetti, he keeps at it and plays one of my all time favs “Loops and Tings” with none other than Markus Schulz. A lethal and kingly combo that put a grin on my face. More tracks like “Wherever you are” and “Venera” struck gold bionically. The crowd chanting one more song with ten minutes left till the venue closes repeats over and over and of course, he complies and blesses the crowd one more time.
“The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”, only in the world of Gouryella may you learn this. So step into the great unknown and get your tickets to the Blueprint tour now!
I would like to thank Esscala and John Askew for holding it down at Cielo and proving why small places can pack a big punch. I would also like to thank Ferry Corsten, he took a concept and created an artistic treasure, making his imagination and mine a reality.
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