Together at Amnesia was always going to be a match made in heaven. When you couple the hottest artists performing in what is undeniably one of the best clubs in the world, you need to mentally prepare yourself for something really magical. This is what a clubber's dreams are made of...
I arrived at Amnesia just before 1am and stayed in the main room to catch a glimpse of English drum and bass producer, Sub Focus. The opening intro was a perfectly timed piece choreographed to an array of lighting, pyrotechnics and strobes that further elevated the intensity and excitement. The set was expansive, fiercely creative and when bombs like ‘Rock it’ and Wilkinson’s ‘Tonight’ were dropped, they were executed with the scientific precision of a military warhead. Chase and Status later played an equally infectious set in the main room with die hard fans burning up the dance floor in what appeared to be an off beat dance step they all knew so well...
My main destination for the night although was the Terrace. There is something rather enchanting about the new layout and the facelift the terrace has received over the last few years. The subtleties in the décor and forest-like ambience somehow reminded me of tranquil scenes in Avatar, with not one odd looking blue person in sight.
The terrace was a sensory overload of production value that ignited your senses to a level of art. The lighting was almost trance like; pulsating waves in perfect sync with lasers, strobes, moving parts and of course Amnesia’s infamous dancers. And when the time was right, the deafening roar of the ice cannons engulfed the entire dance floor and dropped the temperature to sub zero in a matter of seconds. This is Amnesia baby!
The undisputed first lady of dance, Annie Mac took control of the terrace. A sea of mobile phones were raised in the air creating a pixel-like canvas on the dance floor as Annie smashed out hands in the air tunes fused with elements of tribal, tech, mainstream and a pinch of Rhianna’s ‘We found love’ feat Calvin Harris for good measure. Annie also pulled out a cranker of a tune called Big Bad wolf that almost had me howling and frothing at the mouth.
The big draw card to this event was almost certainly Eric Prydz.
Eric Prydz had been on my to do list for some time and the anticipation of seeing him peform had me filled with one part anxiety and two parts excitement as he drew closer to the stage.
Simply put; the Prydz sound is like nectar from the gods.
He is synonymous with creating a sound that upholds the finest virtues of house. He is a journey DJ in every sense of the word. The crowd roared as Prydz took to the decks and teased us with epic samples of classics like ‘Call on me’ and ‘Pjanoo’. But the real magic happened when he dropped ‘2night’ and ‘Allein’ that were featured on his newly released Pryda album. It was one of those rare ‘goosies’ moments when you feel united on the dance floor with like-minded clubbers from all over the world.
Prydz went on to play a broad spectrum that showcased his signature sound and melodic build-ups that are produced under his alter ego’s aka Pryda and Cirez D (spelt Eric backwards).
At one point I glanced across the stage on the terrace and also saw an uber relaxed Tiesto and DJ Chuckie who came along to enjoy the show and support their fellow artists. If that isn’t what Together is all about then I don’t know what is.
Together grand opening was “A stellar anthem of wellness.” I will be back for more.
