A night that featured Paul van Dyk's return to Passion for only the second time in the clubs history, after quite a disappointing turn of events from his debut last year. What happened this time? Find out here.

Firstly, the lineup:

2130 - 2300 Marc West
2300 - 0100 Matt Hardwick
0100 - 0400 Paul van Dyk


Just the thought of seeing 3 of my favourite DJ's play in a row like this excited me and sent tingles down my spine on the drive to Passion. It's been a long time since I proper felt a sense of excitement before going out to a club, but I could tell there was something about this night before even attending that it was going to be special. As we arrived, we were only to enter, greeted by the sounds of Against The Grain - Further (Harry Lemon Remix), being hammered out on the Passion sound system by Marc West in his warmup set.. Could you possibly enter a club to a more perfect track? I think not! I say warmup, but to be quite honest, I think Marc could have quite easily have gotten away with the set he played at a peak time. It was fantastic. Warmup's don't have to be all about progressive buildups and slow paced trancers, and Marc West was clearly there to show us all this. He even played the classic Skydive that sent huge eruptions and cheers throughout the venue. His mixing was pretty much spot on throughout, just like what the passion regulars have come to expect.

Without me realising, time had completely flown by and I saw Matt Hardwick entering the booth. As he appeared the crowd cheered. It was quite obvious we were in for a treat from the ex-Gatecrasher resident. Him being one of the most consistently superb DJ's on the planet, I was naturally excited, and to my delight started he off with an absolutely banging intro track; the Katana Remix of Aquarius. I had noticed by this point that the club was surprisingly not as packed as it usually was. There was certainly a large attendance, and as a result the atmosphere was electric, but there was still room to dance. When I had attended Passion on other occasions it was always like being in a mosh pit, so I was very pleased with the perfect turn out. Matt continued to thrill with tracks like Autumn Falls, White Room, Emotion in Motion, etc. His mixing was awesome, with very little mistakes, and he really seemed to be having just as much of a good time as the crowd. He continued to bang out quality trancers like Broken Morning, and the new Junkie XL remix of Sarah Mclachlan's track World On Fire before finishing on Whirlpool - Under the Sun (Solarstone Mix). Absolutely awesome. Nuff said!

It had by now reached 1.00am, and PvD had entered to booth. You can always tell when PvD enters a booth no matter where you are in the venue due to the huge eruption of the crowd. He started with his rework of Red Bullet. The bass was non-existent in the intro, which was very quiet, and then as the track kicked in it was loud as f**k! Superb start to the set. His mixing was aggressive, creative, and extremely high paced. Track's were coming in left right and centre as he took us through various genres playing tech-trancers such as Mac Zimms - I Feel, In Silence, Are You A Freak, etc. before taking the set into a more uplifting state. To my annoyance he insisted on playing tracks such as Holding Onto Nothing, Nothing But You, Time Of Our Lives, etc. that seemed to go down very well with the rest of the crowd, but in my opinion the term 'overplayed' in this context is an understatement. However, for me personally he made up for this by keeping the energy of his set up throughout the entire proceedings. Paul continued to bang out hard trancers and tech-trancers, including my personal favourite of the night; a hard remix of Drax Ltd. - Amphetamine. As Paul's set came to an end he finished on a very high and uplifting note by playing his rework Sosei. All in all, a fantastic set to a fantastic night.

Having had one of the best nights out in a very long time, and not having seen a decent set from Paul like this since possibly at Gatecrasher in May last year, I decided I didn't want it to be spoiled by the sounds of JFK. So completely buzzing, and completely hammered I left! Fair play to Passion for putting on such a storming night, and an even bigger fair play to Marc West, Matt Hardwick and Paul van Dyk!




Tracklists for Matt Hardwicks and Paul van Dyk's set: (order of tracks may not be 100% correct.)



Matt Hardwick
-
01. Abel Ramos- Aquarius (Randy Katana mix)
02. Randy Katana - In Silence
03. Ronski Speed - EOS
04. Unknown - Unknown (Agnelli & Nelson Remix)
05. George Hales - Autumn Falls
06. Plastic Angel vs 2 Players - Untitled
07. White Room - White Room
08. True Form - Forbidden Colours (Thomas Datt Mix)
09. POS - Gravity
10. Corderoy - Deeper
11. Matt Hardwick vs Smith & Pledger - Conneceted
12. Usual Aspect - Mr Blue (Thrillseekers Mix)
13. Witness of Wonder - Emotion in Motion
14. Empyreal Sun - From Dark To Light
15. Another unknown track from Anjunabeats
16. Whispers
17. Madison Factor - Lights in Motion
18. Activa - Broken Morning
19. Koala - Imagine
20. Cabala - Visions
21. Hellpass - Growler
22. Sarah Mclachlan -World On Fire (Junkie XL Mix)
23. Whirlpool - Under the Sun (Solarstone Mix)




Paul van Dyk
-
01. Marcos - Red Bullet (Muzikman Mix) (Paul van Dyk Rework)
02. Mac Zimms - I Feel
03. Katana - In Silence (Txitarro Remix)
04. Mike Robbins - Are You A Freak (Marcel Woods Techtrance Remix)
05. Oceanlab feat Justine Suissa - Satellite (Alx Oddens Flipside Vocal Mix)
06. Paul van Dyk & Second Sun - Crush (Vandit Club Mix)
07. Petibonum - Once Upon A Time
08. Thomas Datt - 2v2 (John Askew Mix)
09. Terry Bones vs. Fred Baker - Introspection (John Askew Remix) (Paul van Dyk Cut)
10. Decent Benni - Revention
11. Mark Norman - Phantom Manor
12. Flashbang - Grooveslide
13. Unknown
14. Ernesto & Bastian - The Dark Side Of The Moon (Vocal Mix)
15. Digital Delinquents - Forever (Gareth Emery Remix)
16. Unknown
17. Matt Darey - Nocturnal Delight (Sandler Mix)
18. Unknown
19. Agnelli & Nelson - Holding Onto Nothing (Paul van Dyk Edit)
20. Emmanuel Top - Mars (Kai Tracid Remix)
21. Illuminate - Montevideo (Paul van Dyk Rework)
22. Kay D. Smith & Marc Tall Pres. Passive Resistance - Praiseworthy Tunes (Hoipolloi Mix)
23. Marcel Woods - Time Is Running Out
24. Paul van Dyk - Nothing But You (Original Mix)
25. J.L.N.D - The Sound of Nothing (Arc In The Sky Remix)
26. Paul van Dyk - Buenaventura (Paul van Dyk Club Mix)
27. Sean Tyas - Remember
28. Corderoy - Sweetest Dreams (Ferry Corsten Mix) (Paul van Dyk Rework)
29. Paul van Dyk feat. Vega 4 - Time Of Our Lives (UK Club Mix)
30. Mojado feat. Mr. Sam - Naranja (Dimitri Andreas Vision Mix)
31. Love Fist - Hanging On A String (E-Craig Mix)
32. Drax Ltd. - Amphetamine (Paul van Dyk Rework)
33. 4 Strings - Summer Sun (DJ 4 Strings Mix)
34. Nick Lunn & YOMC Pres. Tecno-Punx - Energize (Paul van Dyk Edit)
35. Airscape - Sosei (F&W Remix) (Paul van Dyk Rework)