Best way to celebrate DJ’s birthday: Rielism 2nd anniversary
Written by Katrina Merca on May 19, 2017
Last weekend in Amsterdam was frantic. Not only thanks to Armin Van Buuren having his special show (about which you can read on my previous article), but also because real Trance lovers knew – there was another event worth visiting: the Rielism event in one of the sacred places for the Trance Family – Panama.
It wasn’t so full because a large part of the people went for Armin Only show on Friday, but the ones who came to Panama realized – it will be special, because it’s not just some random event, but it was Rielism’s 2nd anniversary and Sied van Riel‘s birthday party!
It was all about celebrating, not about the business
I would say that Sied was somewhat lucky to have the first AO show announced for the day after his event as this meant that a lot of Trance music lovers would be already in Amsterdam, and – why not to combine two good events into one great weekend? When I saw it announced, it became a “must attend” kind of event for me, even when I didn’t know the line-up, and I am glad that I had AO ticket for Saturday, because I would have regretted missing Sied’s birthday.
I had met him for the first time at the beginning of April, when he came to support his friend ReOrder during his ReadyForDisorder event. It’s was a friendly exchange: each of them was playing at another’s event. I asked him about his future event, and I loved to hear some of the things he said.
First of all, it was another friendly event. Not always producers are supporting each other in the music industry, but here no one was thinking about that. Even Grotesque supported this event a lot, with a good promotion on Facebook and presenting it as Armin Only After-Party. Wasn’t it nice from RAM to help so much?
Second, the price. In my opinion, the cost of the ticket was affordable for the attendants. Even special – cheaper – tickets were available for those arriving after the AO show, making it the best option for everyone. It was a smart move – and it worked! There were lots of people coming in only after 1:30 a.m., giving a second breath to the party.
Third, the intimate atmosphere is always the best: when it’s not too crowded you can see the DJs walking around and enjoying the party in the same way you and your friends do. And naturally, you can talk to them, make pictures and enjoy a good music. All at the same time!
Last but not least, a unique line-up. From all the artists announced for that night I had only heard ReOrder and Sied van Riel. I knew the names of James Kiedis, Misja Helsloot and Arnej, but I didn’t know what I will hear from them. It was a great opportunity to learn something more about other producers and some different music. To be honest – it was one of the rare events where I couldn’t recognize most of the tracks, which in fact was good because I enjoyed them even if I haven’t heard them before.
Best birthday party for a DJ
Friday came, and the event started quite early – at 9 p.m. Because of the late arrival of my friends to the Netherlands, checking in and driving from Utrecht to Amsterdam, I arrived later than expected, having missed the warm-up set by BLR and assuming that I had also totally missed Arnej‘s set, but seems like destiny was merciful with me. When I arrived, Arnej was still playing (because Sied gave him extra 15 min from his own set). It was obvious that I was not the only one coming later, but dance floor already looked good, which was the first sign of a good night to follow.
Arnej is an exceptional artist, who doesn’t perform very often and has a distinct and personal style. I’ve heard a lot about him from my friends, so I was curious to hear his set. He was more into playing and concentrating on the music than trying to interact with the crowd, but for the beginning, it was a good option. The set reminded me more of a classic Trance sound, but, in my opinion, this is what others expected to hear from him. As I found out later, he played a lot of his new and unreleased productions – let’s wait for them!
Up next was Sied’s turn, so before he went on the decks, I used the opportunity to greet him personally and wish him “Happy Birthday” – he was the birthday boy, after all! It was HIS party, and I think he enjoyed it from the beginning till the end. Naturally, as the host he had a lot of time to play – more than others for sure! Sometimes he was alone, but very soon Leon Bolier joined him for a special B2B Classic set, which was a very unique experience as you don’t hear Leon playing trance nowadays. I loved that track selection of #BoRiel – it was like going back in time to their older productions. And later, old Tiesto… Why not? “New York City” by Paul Van Dyk? Anyway, that was the best part and everyone enjoyed it.
Soon this special B2B turned to be a B2B2B set, when Arnej joined both Sied and Leon on the decks, and it was probably the best set of the night. Sometimes it looked like guys were “fighting” for their turn to play, but if you were watching carefully, you would see – they are friends, who make jokes to each other, who take off the headphones from the other’s head when their turn is over, drinking, dancing and having fun together. Sharing an opportunity to play can be difficult since everyone usually wants to play as much as possible, but in this case it was not a problem: these guys were simply enjoying the night, especially Sied!
Who was playing next? Birthday boy again! At that moment (after 1 a.m.) dance floor was looking fuller and hyped. It was evident that people went there not just because of another Trance party on that weekend, but they attended also for Sied. What can be a better present for a DJ?
Shortly before 2 a.m. people from AO show started to arrive, with the purpose to continue their night out. The new public had a good warm-up already, so the next DJ was expected to be able to keep the energy, meaning it was a good timing for ReOrder to start his set.
Uplifting sets like ReOrder’s always make you jump like crazy and enjoy every minute of his performance: you always feel great vibes and see him exploit that energy, which he shares with everyone. Was it different this time? No, he was playing in his typical #DisOrder style, but this is one of the factors why listeners love and support him.
One hour later it was Misja’s time to begin. Before that I remembered how I liked his set from #ASOT800 in Utrecht, so, after telling him my compliments about it, I’ve waited for him to play – and I wasn’t disappointed at all. I enjoyed the music, but even more I enjoyed his attitude. Always smiling, dancing, and wearing headphones in a funny way (check the photo below). He knows how to engage with people through his eyes and gestures, which is a huge plus for DJs, because you easily attract people in this way – or at least that’s what happened with me.
Last one to close the night was James Kiedis, who started with some quite aggressive TechTrance right away… but isn’t it what you need at 4 in the morning when your body tells you to go to sleep? At that time you need some extra boost of energy, and music is one of the best options. Even if James’ attitude was rather reserved at the beginning, it didn’t last for a long: at the end of the set he was smiling and jumping with everyone, because it was 5 a.m. and the club was still full enough!
He even went as far as dropping “Children” by Robert Miles towards the end… I am sure everyone loved and appreciated this due to the fact that the legend passed away recently. But then… that was it – the end.
The whole night was also hosted by MC Da Silva – legendary man with a huge experience in this music and not only. He has introduced a huge amount of DJs during his career, and even if this work is not so popular anymore, it was good to see him playing a role which he loves, and this time was especially for friends. Short speeches between or during the sets are always useful to give extra energy not just to the crowd, but also DJs. And Robson was irradiating positive energy!
A successful beginning for something new
As it is known, this was the first Rielism event in years, and the first one in Holland, but not the last one for sure! Organizers made the most out of this event: managing to have Club Panama full in the middle of the night, on a Friday, in such a special weekend, it was definitely the best way to celebrate Sied’s birthday and also Rielism’s 2nd anniversary.
What can we expect next? Soon there will be a new Rielism 4 compilation coming out, with lots of new music from this label. Hopefully we will hear more news about future events, but one is already announced – Rielism presents Misja Helsloot on October 7. If you can’t wait to hear more of Sied even earlier – be sure to catch him on Friday, June 23 during Luminosity Beach Festival. Otherwise – check the Rielism and Sied van Riel pages on FB for more updates to come.
All in all, I would consider this event as a great success, and I hope that many other producers will follow Sied’s example of creating more of this kind of club events to celebrate special moments with their fans and friends. No business, no politics, just the music which unites us all!