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Paul Van Dyk in Singapore 6th October
Admit it, the dance fan in you has been waiting for the day when the
man who has made millions around the world ballistic with his electronic
musical creations and unique method of spinning. Rumours have been a-flyin'
that Paul van Dyk was to make his yearly appearance in this part of the world,
but now that he has come and gone, it seems he left all too soon. Having flown
in from Berlin early Friday morning, we managed to catch the German at the
Hilton some time mid afternoon. Dressed casually in a black t-shirt and pants,
van Dyk seemed to be in a good mood as he decided to discard his half-eaten
green apple so that we could begin the half-hour interview.
Speaking about different topics ranging from the progression from his music
since his 1994 album, “ 45 RPM”, his decision to stick to electronic
music even before it became something everyone else caught on and his source
of inspiration, van Dyk was patient with the camera even though there were
minor interruptions to the interview. There were also aspects of his family
life which he talked about, plus being able to maintain his professionalism
while injecting his emotions into his productions, which cast more light on
the man who is well known to be camera shy. Catch an excerpt of his exclusive
interview with Vivamusic here.
Interview In The Box / Showcase @ The Pavilion on the 6th October 2000
Besides accepting an interview at the Hilton, Paul van Dyk had also made an
appearance at the Vivamusic Hub before a sumptuous dinner at China Jump. Catch
our Internet Jockey Karen with the German maestro as he talks about his latest
release, “Out There And Back”.
But the icing for Singapore's cake is definitely his performance at The Pavilion.
The double-storeyed glass building at Far East Square, which also houses a prominent
advertising agency in Singapore, was all geared up for the event, with bouncers all
ready at hand, and two makeshift bar counters at the ends to provide clubbers with
alcohol to complement the music. Although not as sophisticated as the typical Singapore
club, the feeling of dancing under the stars was unique on its own.
Even before the gig was to have begun, clubbers were seen milling around the area.
By 7.30pm, the ticket queue had become prominent, and had snaked its way around
the back of the Pavilion and out onto the road. Some 600 tickets had been sold
earlier, establishing van Dyk's popularity in this part of the world. He had
already performed here in 1997 and 1999, and this year's installment was one
which would not disappoint either. DJ Cher Ng, who was formerly with Zouk, began
the crowd appetizers at 11pm. Now into event management, he was responsible for
bringing van Dyk in this year.
An hour later, van Dyk appeared at the decks, greeted warmly by the crowd by loud
applause and vigorous waving. His three-hour set, well punctuated with addictive
tech-trance beats and melodious snippets, was a classic showcase of what the man
was capable of, making no mistake about why he managed to clinch “Best International
DJ” by the Ministry of Sound magazine and other such awards in similar publications.
Giving no rest to the sea of bobbing heads and gyrating bodies consisting mainly of
young adults and expatriates, van Dyk was able to control the emotions of the crowd
with his creation of smooth blends of harmony and hard-core beats, bringing them all
on a roller coaster ride with his productions and spinning.
Some of the more familiar tunes spun during the three-hour set included van Dyk's
own “We Are Alive” from his latest release “Out There And Back” in
the first hour, “Carla's Theme” by Transa and “Sound Piercing” by
Prototype in the second, and Underworld's “Born Slippy” in the last. The latter,
which can be found in the soundtrack of the movie “Trainspotting”, was also
remixed and dropped by van Dyk at the Love Parade in Berlin earlier this year. It drove
the crowd mad there, and it certainly drove the crowd here mad as well, with enthusiastic responses by the people as van Dyk executed flawless mixing skills coupled with an acute assessment of crowd favourites to keep the spirits of the masses running high.
Although the gig had ended at 3am, the crowd was so enthralled by van Dyk's spinning an
encore was requested, and the maestro came back for another 10 minutes before having
to call it a night. Before leaving, however, van Dyk managed to sign autographs for the
masses on ticket stubs, posters, CDs, and even a plastic cup which someone claimed van
Dyk had drunk from.
From Singapore, he will be moving on to Hong Kong, where he will spin to more than
4,000 people in a convention hall. Vivamusic will be producing a 4-part programme
about DJs programme, which will incorporate parts of the interview and the gig at the
Pavilion plus a look at what clubbers who were queuing outside before the set think
about the German DJ/Producer, so keep a lookout for that in the pipeline!
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