EVENT REVIEW: Markus Schulz’s open to close set at The Guvernment 20-09-14

My feet hurt and I’m exhausted. But man, what a night that was. For the last time, Markus Schulz took The Guvernment by storm throwing down an epic open to close marathon set on September 20, 2014.

I arrived at The Guvernment around 10:15 p.m., thinking that it opened it at 10. The line didn’t take long, thankfully, and I was in and getting ready to go at around 10:35 p.m. After grabbing a couple of drinks and making my way through the balcony, I arrived on the dance floor and made my way to the infamous front left. Although I wasn’t there for the drop of the first note, Markus had apparently started at 10:30 p.m., so I was glad to know I hadn’t missed much.

Markus started with energetic tracks like Nothing Without Me, Violetta and even some mainstream Progressive House tracks If I Lose Myself Tonight. All throughout the night the visuals danced on the back LED screen. You could tell they were set to the music as they often showed the lyrics of the song that was playing at the time. When there weren’t lyrics on the screen, lasers dominated the performance, as well as abstract shapes and effects in a multitude of colours illuminating Markus in the DJ booth. Dancers appeared and disappeared on the various stages throughout the night in elaborate costumes involving body paint, fishnet stocking and short shorts, contributing to the sensory overload that night.

Slowly, the club started fill up reaching its peak around midnight. I was getting slightly worried that we were in for yet another sardine fest, but, this time, I wasn’t fighting for space. Then again, I had a group of friends and we all danced in a circle, which helped. It was tight, but there was plenty of room to easily get to and from the bar and the bathroom.

Another pleasure that sometimes people may take for granted is on big nights the like these, everyone and their mother seems to come out. There’s nothing better than running into and bumping shoulders with people you haven’t seen in a while, or people that you’ve just met. Such interactions are usually followed with warm embrace, smiles, laughs, and a slightly more energetic form of dancing.

The testament of a true DJ is how easily he controls the crowd and how effortlessly he switches between tracks. After a couple of hours, I had come to the pleasant realization that despite the array of songs Markus was dropping that night, the overall performance had a darker feel to it, something that Markus is well known for. This starkly contrasts the uplifting melodies that were sure to course through the Guvernment the following weekend when Aly & Fila were scheduled to play an extended set.

I’m a huge fan of the darker side of Trance, but was pleasantly surprised when, out of nowhere, Markus would intersperse an epic Trance classic with a mainstream Progressive House track. According to the unspoken laws of dance music, you’re supposed to dislike the mainstream stuff—I don’t, not all of it — but Markus just made it work. I’m not sure how, but I loved it. After playing a quick teaser of a mainstream song, he would carry on as he dove deeper into Trance. At one point, to everyone’s elation, there seemed to be a Tiësto chapter punctuated by Silence and Flight 643, among others. Next time I looked at my watch it was 4 a.m. and the crowd was starting to thin out, separating the boys from the men and the girls from the women.

Things were starting to settle in; the energy had been built, the melodies had been played, the classics have had their time to shine once again, and the stage was set for the next chapter. At around 5 a.m., Markus declared Alice in Wonderland open for business as he started taking us down the rabbit hole. The rabbit hole is a unique experience, it is a combination of Trance, Techno and an eerie vibe. It’s not recognizable in anyone else’s sets, which is why it something everyone is excited for. Only Markus does this, and Markus only does this to crowds he likes.

Big room reconstruction after big room reconstruction; trippy offset bass line after trippy offset bass line, all married together by recognizable tracks with a twisted edge to them. And so we continued dancing, and dancing, and dancing. It was 6:30 a.m. now, and I had been dancing for nearly 8 hours—that’s a full workday with no lunch breaks for those who are counting. The music was on point and my friends and I did our best to enjoy it as much as possible. But, after 7 a.m. we were overcome with exhaustion to the point where some of us were almost falling asleep standing up. We stuck around for a little while longer and left around 8 a.m. We found out afterwards that Markus had continued his unicorn slaying until 9:30 a.m.—that’s 11 hours people. It was fantastic and something I know I won’t have the pleasure of experiencing again. Rumour has it that Markus is editing and working on uploading the entire set, so maybe, we will have a chance to relive that night, at least just a little bit.

UPDATE:
The 11 hour set has been released, and you can stream it below via Markus’ SoundCloud or download the content via his website.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Watch the EDM TOR Interview with Markus Schulz:

LINKS:

Markus Schulz
Website
Forums 
Twitter
YouTube
Myspace
SoundCloud
iTunes 
Global DJ Broadcast 

Jeet Ghoshal – EDM TOR