I should have known. All the signs were there. The clue was in the name of the night and after many cryptic Facebook posts hinting at two special guests, I should have seen what was staring at me in the face. But more on that in a little bit….
As with every fiery Sunday take-over, Amnesia is transformed almost unrecognisably with chaotic colour, comic book heroes and co2 cannons (what else do you expect?!) The two back-to-back parties every week are at completely different ends of the spectrum, giving clubbers two tasty flavours.
With The Main Room generally always the tougher sounding venue of the two, American trance tyrant Markus Schulz and his strong line-up of Paul Oakenfold and Venom One served up spicy slices of hard hitting trance under the promo Scream 2. The crowd enjoyed potent and powerful plunges as well as soaring, shooting highs under the expert skills of both guest DJs but, in my opinion, it was the resident who really packed the heat. Party-goes clambered on to the raised platforms to catch a glimpse of US Schulz who set the booth alight around 3am. Known for spearheading the revolution in the trance scene to our American counter-parts, Schulz is a b-i-g deal. This was evident in his carefully crafted set which was welded together with a blazing pick and mix of progressive, house & trance to construct his own signature hybrid sound.
Next door in the Terrace, Belgium's hottest two, Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike also packed a punch as they hosted a sour helping of dirty electro in between two clenching fists that were owned by a grinning, green ogre that towers over the DJ booth. From unrivalled energy to the most elaborate stage production I had ever seen (thanks to the Hulk-like giant), the dynamic duo had it all. So imagine the surprise of the clubbers when not one, not two but three special guests arrived to ignite the party in to a blazing EDM inferno... Oh Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike, you do spoil us!
Like I said, the clues were all there; when Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike threaten to throw a House of Madness it really does smash the insanity scale. The two electro royalty were joined by their third instalment Steve Aoki to complete their new collaborative side-project 3 Are Legend, cue the Funhouse heavyweight and cake-loving king to grace the stage to a bewildered but ecstatic jam-packed Terrace. The atmosphere was electric, one of the best I have experienced not only in Amnesia but on the island. The air was alive with excitement and enthusiasm with a soundtrack of classic electro tracks reworked and remixed with extra spice. Swedish House Mafia's Greyhound, with its hefty build and spunky bassline ran around the venue, sending revellers in to frenzy.
With more energy than a Duracell bunny and more jump than a pogo stick, the three had more surprises up their sleeve. Step forward electro twins Nervo and dance music's answer to Justin Beiber, Martin Garrix. This was EDM all inclusive at its finest.
As the booth became a who's who of the electronic world, Garrix gave his smash hit Animals a power-driven make-over, with an excitable Aoki hopping all over the booth and yapping in to the mic. Filthy beats and gritty grooves continued thanks to Australians Nervo who burnt down the house with an array of flaming tracks, most notably Left Behind by Paris Blohm and Taylr Renee.
The chaos continued to climax before mystified clubbers eyes with the signature stage dive rounding off the night. The electro dynasty catapulted themselves in to the ecstatic crowd after a countdown. A young Garrix was thrown back up on stage, bouncing around in enjoyment and one half of Nervo, in her leather pants, was nearly shipped out to sea by the waves of holiday-makers.
House of Madness well and truly smashed the Terrace to pieces. With still a few more parties to go until the end of summer I'm just hoping that Amnesia will last until the closing event, the first week of September. But bringing out a show like this already, who knows that Dimitri Vegas and Like Mike have in store for us in the final few weeks to come…
WORDS | Francesca Evans PHOTOGRAPHY | Amnesia
