03.06
Gareth Emery’s twitter said:
Man…. what a thursday here in the OC. Did not expect that at all. Thank you all, epic!
I could not agree more. What a night in Huntington… good times, good crowd, and of course great music from the DJ Mag ranked #9 DJ in the world.
Gareth Emery at Avec
The Venue
The venue was, extremely surprisingly, very nice. The club was decked out with chandeliers, nice seats, and best of all a glowing crystal tree above the ample-spaced circular bar. The capacity was around 500 and I would say the place was 90% full – plenty of room to dance and yet plenty of crowd energy to keep the night going.
Avec Nightclub in Huntington Beach
The bathrooms were ridiculous, with huge private stalls (even for the urinals in the guys bathroom); a confirmed report via my girlfriend said that the doors in the girls’ bathroom are see-through until they are locked at which point they become opaque. 100% unnecessary but 100% cool; that’s what nightlife should be all about.
This venue, of course, pales in comparison to the behemoth nightclubs such as Avalon and Vanguard in Hollywood. However this has some positives – less pushing, less ridiculousness in the bathrooms, and more space to dance. The clubgoers were decked out nicely – a good mix of mostly young trance fans combined with poshed out Orange County elite.
One funny thing about the place is that it’s literally in the middle of a suburban area (as all of OC is) in a strip mall. You would not guess that there is a nightclub there by any means. Within a few blocks are such greats as Pavilion’s, Burger King and Chipotle. I guess if you’re hungry afterward it’s pretty convenient though.
The DJ
Gareth Emery and Misha & Chandley from LABeatCo
I won’t lie, I got to the place right before Gareth Emery did so I didn’t hear the opening DJ play. In fact he walked in and I shook his hand as I was waiting to get entrance into the club. Malia, the Club Circus promoter was nice enough to hook me up with entrance to the club (interview with her will be posted next week) and I was lucky enough to spot Gareth before his set. I spoke to him briefly before his set and he seemed to be in a good mood; genuinely happy to talk trance with a fan. He told me about some upcoming releases on his new label and of course the pleasures of flying in with no sleep and a huge timezone change. Hopefully by Saturday he will be a little more accustomed and will drop a humongous 4 hour set onto the ears of happy clubgoers at Club Circus in Hollywood. For last-minute tickets click here or pay at the door.
The Music
Gareth Emery’s set was just as he said – down the middle. Not too crazy but definitely not too mellow. He dropped some of his own tracks, which are always awesome to hear, including Exposure, On a Good Metropolis Day (mashup by Myon & Shane 54), possibly a new track of his, and the Stoneface & Terminal remix of More than Anything. A full tracklist is posted below for anyone interested.
Gareth’s sound morphed from a melodic start to some techy sounds including a couple of tracks by Sander van Doorn to some intense trance including a Guiseppe Ottaviani remix of Paul van Dyk; he ended with a bang with some Emery favorites including my request for On a Good Metropolis Day (but we could’ve seen that coming anyway, right?).
Gareth Emery at Avec
Conclusion
Overall – Gareth Emery was surprised and so were we. A fantastic night with positive energy and vibes in the middle of a strip mall in Orange County.
I think no one was surprised by his set but on the other hand it’s just what we wanted to hear – huge trance tracks mixed with the Gareth Emery sound and the sound of Garuda. I was happy to hear a lot of tracks that I’ve been playing at home and have wanted to hear through a huge sound system for quite some time. The people were great – no fights, no anger (besides a few people who had a few too many), and not very many people on drugs at all (especially compared to Zabiela at Avalon the next night).
Good times and here’s to more good times coming from the folks at Love Music Dance and Club Circus!
Full tracklist as compiled by myself and other members on tranceaddict.com
Ashley Wallbridge – Chimera
Urban Astronauts feat. Kate Louise Smith – See The Sun (Aurosonic Remix)
Southside Spinners – Luvstruck 2010 (Filthy Rich Mix)
OceanLab – Lonely Girl (Gareth Emery Remix)
Sander van Doorn – Daisy
Wippenberg – Pong
Dash Berlin feat. Emma Hewitt – Waiting (First State Remix)
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Andy Moor – She Moves (Ashley Wallbridge Remix)
Tiesto vs. Lange, Andy Moor & Komytea – Lethal Stadium Four (Gareth Emery Re-Edit / Mashup)
Rank 1 vs. Jochen Miller – The Great Escape
BT feat. Jes – Every Other Way (Armin van Buuren Remix)
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Gareth Emery – Exposure
Delerium vs. Gareth Emery – This Is That Silence (Myon Collision Black Army Mash Up)
Sander van Doorn – Renegade
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Paul van Dyk feat. Johnny McDaid – We Are One (Giuseppe Ottaviani Remix)
Gareth Emery – More Than Anything (Stoneface & Terminal Remix)
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OceanLab vs. Gareth Emery – On A Good Metropolis Day (Myon & Shane 54 Mashup)
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