Tiësto Live @ Dance Valley 02-08-2003

Martin van Zeelandt / TCD
12 hours ago
3 min read

Who remembers Dance Valley? I certainly do, even though I've never been to one. It was always on my list, but it never came to fruition. It remains a wish to this day, even though the line-up doesn't appeal to me anymore. Maybe the early years were more my cup of tea, especially the years surrounding the Millennium. What I did do, was buy all the Dance Valley albums over the years, and listen to the livesets, which were broadcasted on Dutch radio. And one set I've found only a few days ago, did remind me of the glorious days of old.

Sitting at home, listening to the radio, and recording sets on cassettes. Dancing in silence and with a massive headphone on, as we couldn't wake up mom and dad, who were asleep upstairs. I recorded a lot of sets, but unfortunately, time has not been pleasant to my cassettes. But I remember it like it was only yesterday, but deep down inside, you know it's 20 to 25 years ago. Not yesterday. I'm getting too damn old.

Tiësto is obviously a legend, and his sets were extraordinary. Not a fan of his current stuff, but more of his late 90s to late 00s. Basically when he ruled the world. From this small DJ to a world wide phenomena, that was Tiësto. He changed the rules for all of us, and gave us countless sets, and the one you are about to listen to, was recorded at Dance Valley in 2003. I do remember hearing this set on Yorin FM (which used to be Veronica Radio back in the day), and hearing those horrendous bits every 5-10 minutes, reminding us who we were listening to, on which radio station. ''Fun'' times... (not really).

Kay D. Smith & Marc Tall presents Passive Resistance - Praiseworthy Tunes (Hoipolloi Remix)
Randy Katana - Fancy Fair
Ton TB - Electronic Malfunction
Cern - The Message (Northern Mix)
Igor S - Boomerang (Igor S Remix)
Tiësto - Flight 643
Ricky Fobis - No Regular
William Orbit - Barbers Adagio For Strings (Tiësto Remix)
Armani & Ghost - Airport

A very short tracklist, but a very solid one. The set itself is only 45 minutes long, so I'm guessing it's not the full set (which is a pity). I can't remember how long the set was, but guessing that it was 2003, they must have done at least an hour set. Can't have the biggest DJ in the world do a 45 minute set, that's just ridiculous.

Whoever took this recording, took it from the live broadcasting on Yorin FM. And you are reminded every so often who you are listening to and on which station. That's annoying AF. It ruins the atmosphere. And what also ruins the atmosphere, is the MC. Really not needed, kind of unnecessary, if you ask me.

But the tracks in this set, they are golden. The golden years of Trance music, especially when it was this experimental. Even Tiësto went all out, and when needed, went a bit darker and rougher. But he always played the best tunes which were available at the time, and in this set, it has to be ''Electronic Malfunction'', one of the greatest songs of all time. A true Trance classic, one that goes on forever, and I wish it would continue for even longer, as it's an astonishing record.

The radio recording ruins it slightly and the MC, but besides that, it's a solid set. And did the record skip during his 'Flight 643', or was it just poor recording? Who knows, eh?

Take me back to 2003. The music was 10 times better, and non replaceable. The best. Just listen to this set. And if you want to go back to 2003 too, join the queue.