Buuren blasts off

Armin van Buuren spins trance at Club Essential Thursday. Photo by Kai Joost.

Armin van Buuren spins trance at Club Essential. Photo by Kai Joost.

RIGA — Armin van Buuren, the world’s top-rated trance DJ came to Riga this week, packing a crowd of hundreds in Club Essence Thursday night.

Armin seems to have settled among his Baltic fans as he performed to the full crowd of people who were already familiar with his mixes and productions. Also Thursday’s audience felt free to live to the music and sing along to his best known singles “In and Out of Love,” sang by the Dutch mezzo-soprano and lead singer Sharon den Adel of Within Temptation, and “Going Wrong,” the single that introduced [private_supervisor]UK singer Chris Jones to the rest of the world. The rest of the set was less known, but the typically stiff Baltic audience got into it anyway.

Just like entertainers need attention to be popular, so does an audience. Armin gives that attention to those who go to see him, and does it with his heart. In my experience I have never seen a musician who feels such pleasure in performing and lives his music. Not a trace of exhaustion was seen in his eyes or gestures as he twiddled with DJ controls and grooved about.

DJs like Van Buuren are needed here in the Baltics. DJs like this are helping unite people often divided by life’s vagaries, something politicians lost the power to do here long ago.

Open any travel guidebook — the reputation of Balts abroad is that they are cold and closed. But during concerts like these strangers grab your hand as soon as the beat goes off, you start to dance together and then you can’t help but notice that we all share something — we love this music, and we forget the fact that the person next to us is a stranger, or even a foreigner. Nobody cares. In fact, the dance hall was filled with people not only from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania but many other countries.

When Armin left the stage after signing autographs and posing to take photos with fans, he leaves some Western Europe’s warmth and enthusiasm on this cold and dejected land. He can also take away plenty of gratitude from those who came to see him from Riga and those who traveled a longer way. [/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]UK singer Chris Jones to the rest of the world. The rest of the set was less known, but the typically stiff Baltic audience got into it anyway.

Just like entertainers need attention to be popular, so does an audience. Armin gives that attention to those who go to see him, and does it with his heart. In my experience I have never seen a musician who feels such pleasure in performing and lives his music. Not a trace of exhaustion was seen in his eyes or gestures as he twiddled with DJ controls and grooved about.

DJs like Van Buuren are needed here in the Baltics. DJs like this are helping unite people often divided by life’s vagaries, something politicians lost the power to do here long ago.

Open any travel guidebook — the reputation of Balts abroad is that they are cold and closed. But during concerts like these strangers grab your hand as soon as the beat goes off, you start to dance together and then you can’t help but notice that we all share something — we love this music, and we forget the fact that the person next to us is a stranger, or even a foreigner. Nobody cares. In fact, the dance hall was filled with people not only from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania but many other countries.

When Armin left the stage after signing autographs and posing to take photos with fans, he leaves some Western Europe’s warmth and enthusiasm on this cold and dejected land. He can also take away plenty of gratitude from those who came to see him from Riga and those who traveled a longer way.
[/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months]UK singer Chris Jones to the rest of the world. The rest of the set was less known, but the typically stiff Baltic audience got into it anyway.

Just like entertainers need attention to be popular, so does an audience. Armin gives that attention to those who go to see him, and does it with his heart. In my experience I have never seen a musician who feels such pleasure in performing and lives his music. Not a trace of exhaustion was seen in his eyes or gestures as he twiddled with DJ controls and grooved about.

DJs like Van Buuren are needed here in the Baltics. DJs like this are helping unite people often divided by life’s vagaries, something politicians lost the power to do here long ago.

Open any travel guidebook — the reputation of Balts abroad is that they are cold and closed. But during concerts like these strangers grab your hand as soon as the beat goes off, you start to dance together and then you can’t help but notice that we all share something — we love this music, and we forget the fact that the person next to us is a stranger, or even a foreigner. Nobody cares. In fact, the dance hall was filled with people not only from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania but many other countries.

When Armin left the stage after signing autographs and posing to take photos with fans, he leaves some Western Europe’s warmth and enthusiasm on this cold and dejected land. He can also take away plenty of gratitude from those who came to see him from Riga and those who traveled a longer way. [/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]UK singer Chris Jones to the rest of the world. The rest of the set was less known, but the typically stiff Baltic audience got into it anyway.

Just like entertainers need attention to be popular, so does an audience. Armin gives that attention to those who go to see him, and does it with his heart. In my experience I have never seen a musician who feels such pleasure in performing and lives his music. Not a trace of exhaustion was seen in his eyes or gestures as he twiddled with DJ controls and grooved about.

DJs like Van Buuren are needed here in the Baltics. DJs like this are helping unite people often divided by life’s vagaries, something politicians lost the power to do here long ago.

Open any travel guidebook — the reputation of Balts abroad is that they are cold and closed. But during concerts like these strangers grab your hand as soon as the beat goes off, you start to dance together and then you can’t help but notice that we all share something — we love this music, and we forget the fact that the person next to us is a stranger, or even a foreigner. Nobody cares. In fact, the dance hall was filled with people not only from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania but many other countries.

When Armin left the stage after signing autographs and posing to take photos with fans, he leaves some Western Europe’s warmth and enthusiasm on this cold and dejected land. He can also take away plenty of gratitude from those who came to see him from Riga and those who traveled a longer way. [/private_subscription 1 year]

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