This was exactly what I had hoped for - another PvD "comeback". He had started to disappoint me in the past and always came back with a vengeance. Though this time the disappontment had been more intense, and much longer, over half a year. So I went to this Vandit night with very mixed feelings. The last one in April had sucked (in relative Vandit Night terms). On top of that, I wasn't feeling much like partying, being pretty tired on this Friday for no real reason, other than the default culprit, the weather.

Anyway, having been forced to book an unusually late flight I got to Casino at about 11:30 pm to some pounding beats. Good start, I thought. After greeting Metro and our buddy Jamil and some others I got on with the business of dancing. the first 2 hours or so were a superb progressive set, very hard beats, very danceable, very un-PvD if you will. Excellent. The last half hour to an hour before Sasha was a bit slower, not as compelling. That was OK though.

At 2 am Sasha came on, opening with the same track as in Amsterdam 2 weeks before. He continued with a rather boring intro of about an hour, of course including breaks. But then he got it going and continuously increased the intensity of his set, now very danceable. The crowd liked it and he actually overplayed by half an hour, which rarely ever happens at a Vandit Night. By the end of his set, he kicked ass.

4:30 back to PvD. The first hour was kinda nondescript. But again after an hour, he got it moving for real. No cheeze, no fluff, just hard, dry beats, which we decided was tech-trance. Awesome! Again, pretty un-PvD compared to past sets, but nevertheless just awesome! He did play a few classics, or should I say Casino classics, including Maurice - Feline (one of my all time faves), Alanis Morissette - the Couch (PvD remix) as well as PvD - Forbidden Fruit 2003. The classics were few, though, increasing their effect. Otherwise, all unknown (at least to me) tech-trance tracks with this deep, hard beat. He kept that pace throughout until the end just after 9:30, leaving me fully satisfied.

I was glad he finished as I had to leave anyway to catch my return flight to Frankfurt. It seems PvD has come to grips with his "new style", finally making a fantastic set of it. Other points to note in this context: no repetitions, no Nothing But You, no Time of Our Lives. Only Crush, just once. I guess everybody is in for a treat at Summerstage and Spirit.

Set Times:

11-2 PvD
2-4:30 Sasha
4:30-9:30 PvD

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