INSTEP Magzine


instep experience Tiesto's 'elements of life', live in concert After years of listening to Tiesto, I finally got a chance to watch, see and experience the artist live and in the flesh in Edinburgh (Scotland) at his 'Elements of Life' tour this summer. What followed was an out of body experience…I was finally up close and raving with DJ Tiesto! Could life get any better? By Sehrish Khan Photos by the author

I've been a huge fan of DJ Tiesto for as long as I can remember, and listening to trance and Tiesto's music (especially) has been extremely meaningful in my life. So for years, like any other trance music buff, I wished for an opportunity to listen to this particular DJ spin his tunes live and in the flesh. And this year, it just so happened that I finally got to experience Tiesto right before my eyes. After chalking out a plan to London this summer (with some close friends), I got to learn (through a Tiesto website newsletter) that my favourite DJ was due to perform at the 'Elements of Life World Tour' – Elements of Life being Tiesto's latest album - in London, Edinburgh and Dublin. To state that I was ecstatic would be an understatement! Since college continued on the dates Tiesto was to spin his magic in London (quite a bummer), the rave in Edinburgh somehow remotely looked possible as the dates coincided with my trip. I couldn't believe it was actually falling into place.

And after countless conversations with close friends in London (who were planning to tag along with me), I finally decided to jump into the deep end by purchasing tickets online via Ticket Master. What followed was a flurry of events, and after my first international flight (alone), I stepped off into glorious old London! I had made it! And while in London, all I could think/dream/sleep/eat was ... Tiesto. I was anxious, nervous, excited and anticipative – all at once. My dear friend, Fez, (a huge Tiesto buff like myself) was in Manchester at the time – and had planned to rent a car with his other friends to drive up all the way to Edinburgh, simply for the love of Tiesto. And as the dates of the concert drove near, I found myself becoming an absolute insomniac!

Buying our train tickets from Kings Cross Station to Edinburgh from London, we (my friends and I) gathered that it would take us approximately 5 hours to reach Edinburgh, just in time for the concert. The train journey was a wonderful experience; the scenery of the countryside was gorgeous, but it was nothing compared to the Scottish highlands. And after 5 hours train travel, my friends and I finally got off at Edinburgh's Waverley Station (the central station). And since we were an hour late, we grabbed a taxi and directed the cabbie to the venue (which was next to the airport, at the Royal Highlands Centre'). Funnily, the taxi drivers knew there was a Tiesto event happening in Edinburgh - as people from all over the U.K and Europe had been rushing in for the particular rave.

As if I wasn't excited enough, my heart pounded even more so when I realized that I'd be one of those lucky people who had managed to travel all they way from Pakistan to Scotland – little old me – to see her favourite musician!

Since the timing of the rave was set for 6pm till 4am, we managed to reach the venue by 7:30pm sharp. And what struck us on our arrival was the longest queue we had ever seen, taking us a neat 40 minutes to walk towards the end of the queue line! I thought we were going to be last ones in the hall but the organizers were very efficient and we got in within an hour. It was quite a learning experience to see how people had dressed up for the rave - nobody wore good shoes, and that's a personal lesson I learnt – never wear suede shoes to a rave! It was extremely chilly and drizzling outside and I had decided to wear a cozy jacket - but obviously, the white girls present managed to pull off funkier outfits – for instance, one, I distinctly remember, wore hot pants with 'Tiesto' written on the back-side! Apart from that some guys were spotted wearing 'Scream' masks, while others wore glow-in-the-dark apparel (common get-ups for raves).

Glow paint was being put on people's faces; people around me in the queue were pretty friendly and there was just a general air of energy and excitement all around. Ravers were seen screaming, some wearing highly objectionable clothes, while others were normally dressed in everyday jeans and t-shirts. It was a learning experience for me to see people so relaxed and at ease with what they were dressed in, because in Lahore especially, people wouldn't be caught dead dressed so casually at local parties or GT's. And then after an hour-long wait, we were finally inside – after a few security checks – in the huge warehouse where we bumped into my friend Fez and his friends… our excitement was soaring by the minute! The entire event was being done by 'Colours' and inside, I noticed three warehouses - two small ones which had local DJ's playing music and then the main warehouse, where Tiesto would play later on in the evening. There was an amusement park too, set up next to the main hall where I noticed roller coasters and a horde of other adrenaline-rushing rides, food stalls and licensed bars.

The spectacular show started with guest performances by Jes Brieden who is the voice behind beautiful tracks like 'As the Rush Comes', 'Like a Waterfall' and 'Everything' in the main hall. And Jes's performance was followed by a special warm-up set by a virtual Tiesto on a massive backdrop! By that time all of us friends were rushing towards the front of the stage through a sea of bodies. After we finally got near to the front, the virtual Tiesto in the back drop aided in getting the crowd thoroughly pumped up and excited. At this point, I cannot explain what was happening to me, but yes, when I did finally lay eyes on Tiesto, the man himself - just several feet away - the whole warehouse erupted with screaming fans! It was just wonderfully crazy! And crazier still, I was one of them! Tiesto, I must state, looked absolutely gorgeous and totally in the mood to get his crowd dancing and grooving. It was surreal. Tiesto played for five hours non-stop and 11pm onwards, 15,000 people experienced amazing high-definition visuals combined with fireworks, a massive lightshow which made the 'Elements of Life' event an unbelievable experience!

And Tiesto took truly led all of us on a magical journey through the Elements of Life which were; Earth, Water, Wind and Fire. All the 'Elements' had their own special introduction and visuals – all of that combined with Tiesto spinning away, making the whole night an amazing out of body experience! Also during the show there were special guest-performances by Julie Thompson who joined Tiesto on stage to perform the 'Elements of Life' album track 'Do You Feel Me' and Christian Burns who sang 'In the Dark'. And somewhere during the middle, I and my friend Shabana, both became pretty emotional in the middle and towards the end, we cried tears of utter happiness since we were so overwhelmed with a show of this magnitude. Making us dance the night away, Tiesto played all the golden tracks; 'Beautiful Things', 'As the Rush Comes', 'Traffic', 'Adagio for Strings', 'Lethal Industry', 'Silence' and tracks from'In Search Of Sunrise 5. Scottish people and their anthems are infectious at a rave, when they really get in the mood they go full throttle – "Here we, here we, here we f**kin go!" was what was being sung by the crowd like a chant throughout the rave, at one point even Tiesto started chanting it with the crowd. The Scots were jumping and chanting at the same time. But what really blew me away was this girl from Lahore at the rave who I was well-acquainted with. She too had driven with a friend all the way from London and when we saw each other there we both ran to give each other a big hug. We've become close friends ever since, and it was just so ironic to meet someone from Lahore in a crowd of 15,000 people at a Tiesto event in none other than Scotland! The event ended around 4 am, and that was when Tiesto spoke on the mike for the first time as he said (in a slight accent) that he loved Edinburgh and its people. Throughout the concert, most of the time my eyes were glued on Tiesto (as was every other girl's) and the energy that he masterminded in that one sole warehouse was explosive, and something that will stay with me forever. A few points on how raves of this magnitude can transpire in Pakistan Pakistani's start thinking out of the box and the ravers of Pakistan join hands in building a raver's community! This will show the true strength and desire of Pakistani ravers to have events like Tiesto's happen in Pakistan. If the demand is there, then it's a cash cow – and industry that has the ability to flourish. The DJ community has to keep developing! It's still mushrooming but before we even think about bringing about an event like this, DJ's on radio stations who spin music, plus other self-proclaimed DJ's should all sit together and start interacting and discussing how to bring about the rave culture alive – perhaps event management companies should approach these individuals to DJ their events, so that the concept of a 'DJ' playing an event develops further in the country. Perhaps the slow process of holding events or festivals with a resident DJ will work, and people can familiarize themselves with that concept. Money is always of import, to bring about an event of this magnitude of which I went to, I can only suggest an international event management company such as 'Colours' outsourcing to one of our local companies like J&S, so that equipment can be brought to Pakistan - such as the 20 by 10 meter back-drop of visuals, lasers, fire and pyrotechnical equipment - that's just not available in our country. People need to get over their social issues and dive into this concept, keep experimenting with it and holding events! Start calling in DJ's to play at parties and let the events take their own course! Security needs to be tight, any hooliganism at a major event and people will get thrown out even if they've paid a lot of money – that's how it was at Tiesto, and there were plenty of security officials making sure no one did anything stupid. Again, a lot of cash needs to be spent on the pyrotechnics, visuals and laser equipment and for that to happen, outsourcing the job will be an ideal solution. It's essential for DJs to identify with their crowd, play according to the mood or theme. If they're great DJ's, they create that environment for their listeners and suck them right into their world. Resident DJs of Pakistan: WAKE UP and start spinning!