ClubTheWorld @ Dance Valley, Amsterdam - Saturday 7th August 2004 Posted by Maria on Aug 13, 2004 - 8:01:00 AM

I remember, two years ago, I was nagging some friends to go to the White Sensation event, but it never happened. I was also trying to get some friends together to go to Dance Valley, but it never happened. My friends seemed more interested in the UK scene at the time, as they were only just getting into clubbing, so I had to stick with it, as I wasn’t going to go on my own !

Well, this year, things were a little different. From early on in April, as a gift for my birthday from James, it was in talks that we would go to Dance Valley. Get it posted up on ClubTheWorld and get the ball rolling ! This is when other people started taking an interest and then finally Members started booking their tickets / flights and accommodation ! I think the cost for the event was £50 and our flights with easy jet for the both of us worked out at around £80 return flight, which wasn’t bad at all !

I was so excited to be going to this event but at the same time I felt lucky enough to be going to somewhere completely different to any other UK festival / event I have attended in the past. Dance Valley was going to be THE event for me and I couldn’t wait ! I managed to persuade Ginge and his mate Craig to come along even though Ginge had other family commitments to attend, but NOONE could miss this event so the mission was to get as many people as possible to come along with us and experience something new.

It was actually a LONG wait for the day to come where we would leave UK to go to Amsterdam, due to the excitement building up, the days / weeks were just DRAGGING, but the day finally arrived soon enough ! Our flight left Luton at 6.30am on the Saturday, to which, we didn’t think we were going to get there due to not finding any taxis that were in their office at 4.30am so I was bricking it, thinking we were never going to make it ! Alas, we did, as our taxi driver must have had a sideliner hobby of being a rally driver haha.

We got to the Plane station and we were taking off just after 6.30 and on our way to Amsterdam. I was so excited by this time, praying for the weather to be really nice so the whole event wouldn’t have been attended in a day full of rain ! But my wish was fulfilled ! We arrived at Amsterdam and it was warm and muggy in the air. First thing was to grab our luggage and check in at our hotel, only to our surprise we couldn’t check in until 15:00pm ! So we changed clothes and left our luggage there until we got back from the event. So we headed off to the station where the free coaches would pick us up and take us straight to the event. When we arrived at the pick up point, there were LOADS of people queuing up. The coaches were very prompt and they must have had about 30 or so busses in operation. When one went, another was at your feet. I was very impressed with the organisation of transporting the clubbers to and from the event !

Main Stage

It took us roughly 30minutes to get the event by coach, with a further walk for roughly another 30minutes around a big sectioned off lake, but whilst getting closer to the event, I could hear the Techno House Arena fully going off ! To my surprise, all I could hear was big thumping beats, as we were getting closer, and it was my favourite Techno tune being played. Raw 009. Now I was really coming up off this music and just couldn’t WAIT to get inside and join those filthy beats a banging !

When we finally got to the entrance, we had to queue for about 25minutes as the clubbers were let through the barriers after being ‘searched’. But at the entrance, there was a DJ stand just above the barriers, playing some AWSOME trance / funky house music whilst we waited to get in. I had never seen anything like it. When I seen this, I thought, they really DO care about their clubbers. It was unbelievable and DEFFINATLY something so much different from the likes of Global Gathering and GCSSS and even Mainframe ‘back in the day’. In fact, this event made ALL UK festivals and events look like amateur events ! Once we got to the front of the barriers, we had a very (well I wouldn’t even say it was a search) quick search and we were finally IN DANCE VALLEY.

Once we were all together, we took a quick whip round the stalls, looked at what tents and arenas that were on site then got some tokens to get something to drink. The event started at 10:00am and finished at 23:00pm, and we got there for around 14:20pm-ish, so it wasn’t even packed as yet, by the time we got there. Most people were still looking around, meeting up with friends and choosing whom to see. We were given a FREE programmed booklet as to what tents and arenas there were and what time the DJs were scheduled to play. Also, when we went to the Heineken ‘bar’ to get some drinks, they were giving free printed Dance Valley Bandannas for every customer, which I thought was excellent. God knows how much it cost them to get these done and give them away to 50k clubbers !!

There were FOUR open-air arenas. Stage 1 being the Trance Arena (main stage), Stage 2 being the HQ Arena, Stage 3 being the Eurogrooves Arena and then Stage 4 being The Magic Circle where they played Psytrance, Drum & Bass, Ambient / Worldmusic and Breakbeats. The first open air arena was next to the entrance where they had the likes of Les Hemstock, Oakenfold, Rank1, Guy Orandel and many more. This open arena took me by surprise, as they had this MASSIVE smiley face held up by scaffolding (and believe me, it was huge) and just below it’s mouth, was the DJ box above the clubbers. It was bloody well organised !

We walked passed the main stage which was the Trance arena on our way to HQ and we decided to stop here for 10 minutes or so, check out the tunes and who was playing, and this arena was barely filled at this point. Hybrid was up on the decks, and we all just stood looking down the stage at how well organised it all was. The music Hybrid was playing was pure bliss. Deep, dark Trance. I so wanted to stay but we wanted to check the HQ arena first and foremost. Just as we were about to head towards that arena, to our right, was a huuuuge hill like chill area, mounted up on a load of rocks, where a load of clubbers were sat, looking over main stage just ‘chilling’. I was gob smacked. The way I took it all in, I was very tranced out by it all. We were deffinatly going to situate ourselves a bit later on, on those rocks and admire the view.

When we headed over to the HQ arena, again, I was shocked at the way it was all set out. To me, it looked like some kind of castle that took up half the ‘field’ with the DJ box right at the front. We weren’t even anywhere close to the main stage. Far from it ! But the sound system was UNBELIVABLE. I mean, the music from the Trance arena was right there as you came out of HQ, so even when you entered the HQ arena right at the BACK, the crystal clear sound of hardhouse just took over and kicked in. As we entered this arena, JP was up on the decks, and what a brilliant tune to enter the arena to start off our clubbing adventure with the hardhouse remix of “Loving You” by Marc Et Claude. It was immense ! As the lyrics were coming through the speaker, the very silent bass could be heard by ALL before it actually kicked in and fully went off and the crowd was literally BOUNCING ! Our faces just dropped to the floor being that we were so far away from the front but how amazing the sound was.

We stuck around in here for a bit as JP was so good and for some strange reason, Ed Real, who was to play after JP, didn’t turn up for his set. Such a shame as he is a great DJ. So JP was asked to play instead of him. I bet he was super chuffed with that ! He dropped some awesome tunes. Including Miss Shiva – Dreams and The Dawn – Tony Di Vit. We met up with Rickd and Debbs (ricks g/f) and hung about on the grass for a bit, catching up and talking about the DV event. All of us getting excited and just loving the whole vibe. BK was up next and it was now 14:30pm so down the front we went to see the wicked DJ play. I had this feeling that BK was going to throw this crowd into oblivion, and he did. His set was amazing. He played some wicked tunes. Three that I remember was a different mix to The Dawn that JP had played (I actually thought that was a bit of a thumbs down, playing the same tune in the space of an hour by 2 different DJs), and he also played a wicked mix of Khemical Imbalance and then possibly one of the best tunes he played which REALLY threw the crowd, was Music Is Moving. I was so loving it and so was that wicked crowd behind me.

BK really played a brilliant set, best I have heard him play, and I think he was one of the DJs that really made DV for me, in the HQ arena. But next up was Steve Hill. I think this guy is great in terms of how he is up behind those decks. The way he interacts with the crowd is just awesome. Although I am not really into the type of tunes he plays although he played a wicked remix of Don’t You Want My Lovin’. I found it very amusing that he had to stand on a crate to reach the decks haha. But fair play, he was wicked up there and got the crowd going !

We decided to leave the HQ arena and go to the Main Stage where Sasha and Digweed were playing B2B. We got ourselves up on the rocks aka ‘Chill On The Hill’ looking down over the main stage. The music Sasha and Digweed were playing was purely beautiful. The sun was out and it was BOILING, all day. I was sat with my eyes closed, feeing the heat and taking in the excellent music and the vibes coming from the rest of the happy people that were situated up on the rocks, with us. A nice smoke wouldn’t have gone a miss I tell thee ! Even though the HQ arena was more or less right next to the Main Stage, you couldn’t really hear the pumping beats coming from the HQ Arena, that’s how fully organised the sound system was. Whilst I was sat up the top of these rocks, I turned around to see what was behind us all, it was obviously some harbour, and coming our from behind some trees, was a huge, stunning CRUISE LINER just strolling passed our eyes ! It kind of really kicked off the mood and I just said to myself “everything is just so right at this moment in time”. Took a few pictures of this Liner, then headed off back to the HQ arena where Lisa Lashes was playing.

We managed to get back down to the front with Rickd and co and caught the last bit of Lisa Lashes set. We managed to meet Rascal which was a very happy moment for me as Rascal (Chloe) is lovely and I couldn’t wait to see her out here ! Plus it was her birthday and I had her birthday card ready in hand ! She was loving Lashes set ! Why do people cuss her and her mixing I will never know ! She played the most amazing set (of what I caught). She was ‘banging’ the beats and tunes out, and she most certainly left a memory with me, as to how great she was at her DJ’in AND her mixing. She came up to the front of the DJ box when she handed the decks over to Paul Glazby and posed for pictures, waving to the crowd, and even got Rickd and Debbs back stage so they could get some excellent crowd pictures ! Well done Lisa !

Sunset

Next up was Paul Glazby. The moment I had been waiting for ! There was no way on this earth was I going to attend Dance Valley and miss his set, because I know for sure, he will really show us ALL what he is made of. But then that goes for every DJ that was playing at this event, they were to play at their BEST, and my god, he did. Being a Paul Glazby fan myself, I have not been up-to-date with any of his new tunes over the past few months, so the tunes he was playing, I didn’t really know what they were called, but they were immense tunes and they were utter FILTHY. It was great being at the front of stage right next to the speakers where I could hear and feel what he was ‘dishing’ out to us. He was on FIRE ! He played my all time favourite, memorable tune as well, his very own Paul Glazby – DREAMS. I don’t think my feet barely touched the floor as he had me up the whole time. At the front of the stage they had these fire shooters that just blew up in the air whilst he played. Words cannot describe how much of a rush I had, from all the effort and organisation that went into this arena. It was FANTASTIC. All I could hear were people screaming the words “Paul Glazby !!!!” It was amazing, and as he was playing, there was a helicopter that was hovering just above the centre of the crowd, throwing a sh*t load of rose petals all over the crowd. How cool is that ?

Just as Paul Glazby finished, a few of us went to sit on the grass as it was hot by this time and some time needed in the shade had to be done. It was a pretty amazing view, being sat on the grass whilst looking all over the place at how many people were in this place with us. I decided to go get some water and then go off to the loos where there was a massive crowd pushing and shoving to get in and out. Possibly the worst toilet situation I have ever been in, but it was to be expected, as this event attracted more people worldwide so we just had to grin and bear it. The queue for drinks and the queue for the toilets were increasing, although I think the downfall of the water-drinking situation was a thumbs down. There should have been some running tap water in certain areas as the queue for water was very ridiculous, and believe me, when I say the weather was hot, I’m talking about almost touching THIRTY degrees (and that was for the whole weekend, in fact), and people NEEDED to drink, but in the end, for the sake of possibly spending 30minutes the queue to get a drink of water, I went without and just bought more beer instead, which was the worst thing to drink being in that heat. I didn’t let it ruin my day though.

When we went back to sit on the grass, Scott Project was now up on the decks. A lot of people I know don’t seem to rate him and they think he is utter rubbish. I never used to rate him, until he played one of the best sets of the entire DAY. He ROCKED the place. Played some wicked tunes and got the crowd going. Loads of people, who were sat down, just jumped to their feet to ‘stomp’ to the tunes he was streaming out through the speakers. I sat for the whole hour nodding my head and tapping my feet ! He deffinalty played one of the best sets for me. He was absolutely amazing and I would deffinatly make the effort to go and see him play again.

When Scott Project finished his set, we decided to take a trip over to the Trance Arena where Ferry Corsten was playing. This arena was PACKED as so was the HQ Arena when we left there. We got down to the front, and just as we found a spot to stand and dance, my favourite tune kicked in. Ferry dropped Rock Your Body Rock, which I think was the last tune he played. The crowd was ecstatic ! I managed to get him on video footage with my camera, and I did it just at the right time when the lyrics came into play. What was so special about that ? I will tell you what. They had chopped part of the tune and added the lyrics “Ten years Dance Valley, let’s rock, I wana rock your body rock” then the bass just kicked in and every clubber was bouncing, and then these huge cannon like funnels were at the side of the stage, started spraying out a load of confetti onto the crowd. The front half of the arena just looked amazing. Looking up and seeing it all fall before your eyes felt so special. Thank god for video footage on digital cameras that is all I can say !

As Ferry finished, Marco V was up next. I didn’t stay long to see his set as I really needed to sit down as I had been standing and bouncing mostly all day long, my legs were about to give way, but what I seen of Marco V’s set, it was truly amazing. His tune selection was great, and the way he was also interacting with the crowd on stage was truly amazing. Early on some guy was pulled up on stage and proposed to his girlfriend. What a way to propose ! I wish I had been there to see it ! I really didn’t want to leave this arena as I was ‘proper’ rushing off the amazing sound system, but alas, I decided to walk around and find a spot to sit. At first, we sat at the top of the arena for a while, and when I stood up, I was just kicked up the back side with a rush of adrenalin, looking over the whole arena, at HOW MANY PEOPLE there was, just in this one arena ALONE. It felt like heaven. All these different colours coating the valley, all these peoples heads bouncing up and down. It was indeed VERY surreal for me ! But it was QUALITY

James and I walked around the whole event, walking passed the Techno House arena, which we decided to pop in and have a look in here. It was wicked ! The lighting was fantastic and they had live acts at the front of the stage. It was VERY packed in here ! Just wish I had come in here earlier through out the day. Next time !

We walked around to find a drinks stall and on our way we bumped into two Dutch guys who spoke very good English, who happened to tell us the history of Dance Valley and how it is now becoming very commercialised and that a new event, like Dance Valley, but apparently even better, is to come to life quite soon. So I can’t wait for this one !

There wasn’t really any other DJ that I was particularly wanting to see after the ones I had already set my goal to go and see, and I needed to sit down and there was around an hour or so left of the event. We had lost Ginge and Craig by the time, and Mark & Helen were still in the Trance Arena, so James and I went for a nice walk and then waited for the rest outside when they were ready to come out.

It wasn’t over for me yet though. I was still buzzing off the whole thing. The amount of stalls that were selling all kinds of merchandise, the food stalls that were selling fruit AND veg, the smiley face with the lazers coming out of its eyes with the integrated DJ box in the Eurogrooves Arena, the people, the security, the surrounding happy vibe, the freebies, the goodie bags, just EVERYTHING made me the happy person I was. As we sat and waited for our gang to come out of the event, a fireworks disply was going on. It was amazing. God knows how much they spent on fireworks as it went on for around half an hour, and as this was going on, I could hear Adagio For Strings being dropped ! I truthfully had a tear in my eye, as what a song to finish the event off whilst a load of amazing fireworks were going off !

I never thought I would ever go to Dance Valley. It’s such a big event, loads going on, in a different country, I actually felt lucky I was one of the attendees that came to this event. Everything was so thoroughly organised, the effort that went into the whole thing makes me respect the event even MORE now that I have been and seen it with my own eyes. They actually set the whole thing up six weeks in advanced before it happens. Even inside the tents had proper wooden flooring, which made any un-even ground, even. When getting your food and drink, there was no ‘faffing’ around digging out your money and hanging around for your change, as there was a row of cubicles, where you pay something like €10 for 10 green tokens, and 2 tokens equals to 2 bottles of beer, and 2 tokens equals to some food and for every bottle of beer, you would get a free Dance Valley Bandanna, and then on the way out of the event, they had proper printed Dance Valley carrier bags with a load of flyers of the next up and coming events in Amsterdam, to give away. It’s nothing like Global Gathering, or any other open-air event. Dance Valley makes all UK events and festivals look like amateurs. Maybe the UK could learn a few things from the Dutch. There was no trouble (apart from one girl at the end at the exit cussing this guy outside before nearly getting her butt kicked), no un-welcomed beer heads, it was all just superb.

Dance Valley is something for everyone. Everyone should experience it if you seriously are into your clubbing. For me, it’s just an amazing memory in my mind. But it most certainly is going to become a regular thing for me every year. It’s an experience that won’t ever be forgotten, as it all STILL seems very surreal for me !

Thanks to Ginge, Craig, Mark & Helen for a fantastic weekend. I am so glad you guys came as you truly made the weekend what it was. Quality people and lots of fun had, before and after the event !

For those who didn’t go, I would SERIOUSLY recommend you go next year, as my mission is to let as many people know as possible, and get a great bunch to go out next year ! Big up and mucho respect goes to Dance Valley.

Maria Lewis