Sunday was the final day of Electric Zoo. After a slew of after parties, the Aly & Fila and John O’Callaghan party was the final trance party of the weekend. When Aly & Fila and John O’Callaghan are in the building, you can expect nonstop banging trance. That was exactly what we got that night. Jaytech and Jochen Miller were added bonuses, which made the night extra special.
Jaytech was on opening duties, and was well into his set when I walked in. James Crayzer (better known as Jaytech) is a master of progressive house and trance. This classically trained musician has been a mainstay on the Anjunadeep label. He frequently opens for Above & Beyond during their tours. James has played at many of the most popular electronic music festivals and clubs. Every month, thousands listen to Jaytech’s radio show, Jaytech Music.
It was still early in the night, so the large theatre wasn’t packed yet. Still, those who were there loved Jaytech’s opening set. I had seen Jaytech several times before, and I knew he’d put on a good show. He displayed his talent for constructing interesting live sets, making the fans scream. It wasn’t long before we began chanting his name to show our appreciation. He played a few tracks from his recent album entitled “Stranger.” Tunes like the Andrew Bayer remix of “Alquimia” satisfied the thirsty Anjunadeep fans in the crowd. His set was extremely danceable, yet melodic at the same time. It was the perfect start to the night.
Jaytech finished to a roar of applause and cheers. Following Jaytech was Jochen Miller. Jochen began his DJ career at the age of 16 by mixing at his father’s disco in the Netherlands. He also won the Dutch Music Championships in 1999. Since then, he’s gone on to be a world-renowned trance producer. His breakout tune was “Lost Connection,” which received ample support from Armin van Buuren.
Jochen Miller’s set was packed with hot big room tracks. Jochen rocked the stage with crowd pleasers like “In My Mind,” which got many people screaming. “Wild and Perfect Day,” a popular track produced with Rank 1 and Sarah Bettens had the crowd going wild. Jochen threw in some hot originals like “Zodiac” for good measure. Although the theatre was crowded, there was still enough room to dance around to Jochen’s beats.
One of the final tunes Jochen played was Porter Robinson’s “Language,” which had quickly become one of the most popular edm tracks of the summer. Naturally, the crowd loved this one. After Jochen finished, it was time for the final act of the Electric Zoo weekend: John O’Callaghan and Fadi Wassef Naguib of Aly & Fila.
Aly & Fila is an Egyptian trance duo known for their fast paced uplifting and tech trance. Every week, thousands listen to The Future Sound of Egypt, Aly & Fila's radio show. Their breakout release was “Eye of Horus” in 2002, released on Fundamental Recordings. Over the years, they have performed all over the world, establishing them as one of the most popular trance acts. In 2009, they founded FSoE recordings, named after their radio show.
Trance master John O’Callaghan is another one of the world’s elite trance producers. His track “Big Sky” was voted “tune of the year” by listeners of Armin van Buuren’s A State of Trance. Since the beginning of his professional career in 2003, John O’Callaghan has had countless releases on top labels. In 2010, John started Subculture, a sub label of Armada records.
From their opening track, it was obvious that John and Fadi meant business. As they began their first track, the room was filled with cheers. The first tune was an amazing remix of Kepler 22 by Andrew Rayel, and it set the tone for the rest of the set. The next huge track they threw down was “The Box,” a one of the hottest trance tracks of the summer. The in-your-face sound of the track fueled us with plenty of dancing energy. From hear on, the tracks only got faster and harder.
The highlight of my night was when John O’Callaghan played his remix of Jon O’Bir’s “Found A Way,” one of my favorite vocal trance songs. This remix was done under John’s alias, Joint Operations Centre. The immediately recognizable dark bassline made the trance fans go nuts! We sang along to the vocals of Fisher as loud as we could.
Throughout the night, Fadi and John dropped bomb after bomb. Pounding tech basslines and epic melodie
s put us in a 
state of trance. Vocal hits like “Concrete Angel” were fun to sing along to. Although Fadi and John frequently switched places at the decks, their styles meshed well together. Their set was a blend of old and new. Originals like the Aly & Fila hit “We Control the Sunlight” and classics like “Good For Me” were exactly what we wanted from the two masters of trance. The visuals displayed on the screen behind the DJ booth complemented the music well. During “We Control the Sunlight,” the screen displayed a giant sunset, which made it seem like we were transported to some far away land.
After John and Fadi finished, they came down from the DJ booth to talk to the fans, who were eager to congratulate the two on an excellent tag team set. It was great to see the two DJs taking the time to talk to every fan and sign autographs. Supercharged trance sets like the one from John and Fadi are a rare treat for New Yorkers. Whether it was a hard tech bassline or a shiny uplifting melody, the crowd enjoyed everything John and Fadi played that night. It was Subculture meets the Future Sound of Egypt, and it was a great way to wrap up one of the biggest edm weekends in New York.
-Jean-Luc Mosley for EDMNYC
If you need more 140 bpm trance, visit www.alyandfila.com and www.johnocallaghan.net
Partial set list:
Jaytech
- Jaytech – Stranger
- The Prodigy – No Good For Me vs. Deniz Koyu -Hydra
- Parker & Hanson – Alquimia (Andrew Bayer remix)
Jochen Miller
- Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl – In My Mind
- Rank1 & Jochen Miller – Wild and Perfect Day
- Jochen Miller – Zodiac
- Jochen Miller & W&W – Summer
- Sander van Doorn – Kangaroo
- Zedd – Spectrum
- W&W – Moscow
- Porter Robinson – Language
Fadi & John O’Callaghan
- Fady & Mina – Kepler 22 (Andrew Rayel remix)
- Ummet Ozcan – The Box (Cristian Ketelaars Rework)
- Jon O’bir feat. Fisher – Found A Way (Joint Operations Centre remix)
- Gareth Emery feat. Christina Novelli – Concrete Angel (Aly & Fila remix)
- Planet Perfecto Knights – ResuRection (Paul Oakenfold Full On Fluoro remix)
- Paul van Dyk feat. Plumb – Don’t Deserve You (Giuseppi Ottaviani remix)
- Space Rockerz & Tania Zygar – Whatever Happens In Puzzle Piece (John O' Callaghan Mashup)
- Solarstone with Aly & Fila – Fireisland (Aly & Fila’s Uplifting Mix)
- FKN feat. Jahala – Why (Aly & Fila remix)
- Reflekt feat. Delline Bass – Need To Feel Loved (Ally Brown Rework)
- Aly & Fila feat. Jwaydan – We Control The Sunlight
- Armin van Buuren vs John O’Callaghan – Raw Deal In & Out (John O’Callaghan mashup)
- Above & Beyond – Good For Me
- John O’Callaghan feat. Sarah Howells vs Mark Learnings – Find Your Dropshot (John O’Callaghan remix)
- John O’Callaghan – Big Sky
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