Above & Beyond @ Roseland Ballroom (02.16.13) [Review]

Above & Beyond made a wise decision when they chose the Roseland Ballroom in New York City to host their official Anjunabeats Vol. 10 Launch Party. The line extended for three blocks around our favorite NYC dance venue as Group Therapy die hards anxiously waited their turn to be admitted into a night they would never forget. Nights with performances from the kings of trance have never failed to be filled with unlimited dancing, emotion, and love; And on February 16th 2013, in the world greatest city, the Anjuna crew simply put on a show that those in attendance will never forget.

We walked into a great opening performance by Andrew Bayer a little past 11 PM. Its tough for me to ID tracks at trance concerts but I gave it my best as have been more than familiar with Andrew for a while now. Tracks like “Monolith,” “Nexus 6,” and his remix to “Damabiah” exemplify his talent and there was no telling why he had the honor of opening for Above & Beyond. Next thing we knew, Bayer gave the us fans even more loads of energy with some PRYDA when he spun into “Miami to Atlanta.”  Andrew went on to drop hits like ”In and Out Phase,” and his remix to Matt Lange’s “Rift” to get the crowd even more hyped for the main performance.

“Hello New York City, we are Above & Beyond,” was the introduction as Tony and Jono took the stage to “These Small Moments” which gave us all some chills down the spine as the excitement for A & B’s set continued to grow. They continued with their set and of course made sure to include their big hits to date with “Sun & Moon,” and “On My Way to Heaven.” A & B also gave us the pleasure of some newer tracks such as their latest release “Black Room Boy” , Sunny Lax’s “Isla Margarita”, and Jaytech’s “Stranger.” For my favorite part of the set, A & B cued the lights, and suddenly appearing on the screen was a red heart making sure we wouldn’t forget about a “Thing Called Love.” The crowd sang in unison and if you were in attendance you could vouch that the love was in fact right there at the Roseland Ballroom. Finally, as their masterful set was coming to an end, they closed with their own remix to Motorcycle’s “As the Rush Comes” and brought the crowd together with emotion once more before wishing us some more love and introduction Norin & Rad.

Last but not least, Norin & Rad the Anjuna duo hailing from California simply put on a show. Most of us that were still in attendance were expecting more trance but that was the last thing  Norin & Rads set. To most of our delight, they delivered a high energy, rage like performance with tons of heavy hitting electro. They opened up with their own “Pistol Whip” and continued to deliver high quality tunes like “Icona Pop”, “Overdrive” and a remix to Mat Zo and Porter Robinson’s “Easy” that I wasn’t able to ID. In conclusion, the Anjuna crew took things to another level with this launch party at Roseland. Above & Beyond and co delivered a performances for the ages and if you won’t take my word for it, ask anyone in attendance and you will know that Feb 16th 2013 was one of those unforgettable nights.

-Jonka