2011 was a great year for dance music in all genres and it seemed appropriate to end the year with a bang! I decided to go see Tiesto after almost 2 years since I last saw him live at the PNE Coliseum. Having Gareth Emery close for him also greatly influenced my decision to spend over $100 on the show. How the show stacked up, really comes down to whether you are a fan of Tiesto’s new electro style or not.
I personally grew up listening to Tiesto when he was the world’s leading trance artist, so this show didn’t really sit well with me. I am obviously a very biased person when it comes to critiquing the show seeing as I belong to the old Tiesto fan club. The highlight of Tiesto’s set was when he dropped Feel It In My Bones that features Tegan and Sara, that was probably the only song with a shred of the Dutch man’s old legacy. The rest of his set was entirely hard electro with the occasional house anthem in the mix.
I have spent countless hours listening to house and electro artists who seem to have a knack for the genre, and their sets definitely have a more natural feel to them than Tiesto’s. Several people that I talked to after the show who were old fans of Tiesto shared the same opinion as me regarding the show. Tiesto has definitely traded one fan base for another and only time will tell whether it will have been worth it or not.
Regardless, I respect Tiesto for pioneering dance music during his long career and am curious to see what his next album sounds like.
The best part of the night was when Gareth Emery closed the show with a set that was a little bit over an hour. Anybody who has frequented this site will know that we are all very big fans of the Manchester native, and his sets throughout the years have always been dynamite. This one was also very good with songs such as Tokyo, Sanctuary (Giuseppe Ottiavani remix) and a mash up of Exposure destroying the dance floor.
Gareth’s set was more geared towards Tiesto’s house and electro fans and he finished his set with Levels by Avicii. Gareth’s set was quality as usual, but definitely had a different feel to it.
All in all, I had a great time at the show but I don’t feel ill be paying that kind of money to go see Tiesto in the foreseeable future.
Via @Jonsevy at Cascadia Records | Tiesto & Gareth Emery NYE 20120 Show Review
Image: Tomasz Wagner
Follow Channels and Categories