Oakenfold's Ego vs. New York City Trance Scene

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Oakenfold was at the Roseland in NYC but his ego took up most of the dance floor.

By Chris X

Venturing to Roseland in NYC on a Thursday nite for the now famous Paul Oakenfold, I must admit that I was not expecting much. Recent rumors suggested that Oakey's style had become less aggressive, his ego even larger, and his mixing a lot less interesting. So I went to see what the self-proclaimed "godfather of trance" is doing these days, and to check out opener Max Graham and closer Sandra Collins. I was hoping Oakey would surprise me and blow me away -- and I was blown away, but not by Oakey.

For those that heard nothing about the event, it started by nearly not happening. The day before the show was supposed to take place, mass e-mails came out from the promotion camps. And messages were posted on store voice mail systems. "Paul Oakenfold has been canceled due to illness. Ticket refund information will be made available shortly."

Hmm...this has happened with Oakey numerous times, including one particular event which he canceled "due to illness" that a friend of mine had tickets for in London. Then through an inside source with a different local promotion crew, it was learned that Oakey had gotten into a fight with the high level management at Giant Step, the crew that organized the show.

Oakey's ego, for some reason or another, had gotten in the way. The next day, however, all the web sites and voice mails were changed. "Paul Oakenfold's doctor has declared him healthy enough to travel alone, and the show is on."

As the nite began, Max Graham laid down some nice tracks that really got the crowd moving. His style was a bit harder than Oakey, but definitely nothing that could be called hard trance, or even hard progressive. It was just simply trance, a bit on the progressive side. If that makes any sense. His set lasted from when the doors opened around 10pm until Oakey came on at 12:15am. Graham's mixing was very smooth, the tracks very danceable, and all in all he spun a good set. I often found myself starting to dance, although he never worked the crowd into a frenzy. He has just released the official mix CD for the Cream festival taking place in Montreal in Aug-Sept of this year, which is definitely worth a listen.

And then, while downstairs looking for a friend, Oakenfold came on. As I walked upstairs, I started to hear that sound which as of late has become known as "Oakey Trance" amongst many a partygoer. His blend, however, has changed a lot in the past two years. When he released his acclaimed "Trance port" album, which single-handedly catapulted him to movie-star like status, it received heavy rotation in many CD players -- including that of yours truly. It was an incredible blend of hard progressive trance tracks which all left the speakers banging' and the people moving'. But now, his style has become very bland, boring, slow, and unemotional. He let myself and my friends down a lot. Not only was his set too slow to dance to, but he destroyed the majority of the buildups. Just as one song would buildup and begin to climax, he would transition into another song. He would mix out the first one right as the buildup was reaching it's peak and thus eliminating any emotion the song contained. Only three or four times during his entire two hour set did he allow the songs to really explode into the emotional climaxes they contained. This complaint was echoed by a number of different people throughout the nite. His selection was moderately good, and a couple his tracks were reminiscent of his earlier harder style. All in all it was too melodic and down tempo to dance to.

And now, to the non-music critique of Oakey's set. His ego has just plain got to go. During the vocal parts of his selection, he would close his eyes and sing along with the lyrics as if they were his own songs. Getting into the music is one thing -- many DJs get into their music and have a blast. But there was just a different look in Oakey's face which made it rather unsettling. And not to mention the myriad of times when he would just wave one arm above the crowd slowly, seemingly to say "this is all my work. Praise me." And there were the other times when he would raise both his arms above his head, spread apart as a god itself would. Again, his actions echoed "Praise me!" to all who saw them. I heard similar comments from other equally disgusted event goers. Oakenfold did not get where he is without having skill -- I would never try to knock his ability behind the decks. But his ego makes his performances far from perfect. The other disappointment of Oakey's set was at the end -- as soon as he was done, the majority of the crowd left. Rumors of Oakenfold's position as a status symbol seem to be true. A great number of people seemed to just be there to hear Oakenfold because he was Oakenfold. And they missed perhaps the best part of the nite.

Sandra Collins. Wow. What a performance. She deserves far more credit than she has gotten. Sandra threw down an amazing set full of hard trance that kept everybody who stayed going until the very end. Roseland security not only had to turn the lights on, but they had to sweep the dance floor to get the last of the people off it. Nobody wanted to stop moving. I didn't feel that Trance port 3 was enough of an indicator of her abilities to work a crowd. She was intently focused during her entire performance on how the crowd was reacting, and she kept building up all nite long. She didn't destroy a single buildup, and she worked the crowd far better than either of her two predecessors. I will definitely catch Sandra the next time she's in town, and I would recommend you do the same if you get the chance. With the majority of the crowd gone, too, there was a ton of free space to move around and dance freely. I can't give Ms. Collins enough praise for her smooth mixing and! incredible abilities behind the decks. Well done.


	\| Home Oakenfold's Ego vs. New York City Trance Scene \| Are ravers being profiles by the police? \| Are ravers treated as drug users? \| Raves may be limited. \| Sell a glow stick, go to prison. \| The war on drugs is in the house. Oakenfold's Ego vs. New York City Trance Scene Oakenfold was at the Roseland in NYC but his ego took up most of the dance floor. By Chris X Venturing to Roseland in NYC on a Thursday nite for the now famous Paul Oakenfold, I must admit that I was not expecting much. Recent rumors suggested that Oakey's style had become less aggressive, his ego even larger, and his mixing a lot less interesting. So I went to see what the self-proclaimed "godfather of trance" is doing these days, and to check out opener Max Graham and closer Sandra Collins. I was hoping Oakey would surprise me and blow me away -- and I was blown away, but not by Oakey. For those that heard nothing about the event, it started by nearly not happening. The day before the show was supposed to take place, mass e-mails came out from the promotion camps. And messages were posted on store voice mail systems. "Paul Oakenfold has been canceled due to illness. Ticket refund information will be made available shortly." Hmm...this has happened with Oakey numerous times, including one particular event which he canceled "due to illness" that a friend of mine had tickets for in London. Then through an inside source with a different local promotion crew, it was learned that Oakey had gotten into a fight with the high level management at Giant Step, the crew that organized the show. Oakey's ego, for some reason or another, had gotten in the way. The next day, however, all the web sites and voice mails were changed. "Paul Oakenfold's doctor has declared him healthy enough to travel alone, and the show is on." As the nite began, Max Graham laid down some nice tracks that really got the crowd moving. His style was a bit harder than Oakey, but definitely nothing that could be called hard trance, or even hard progressive. It was just simply trance, a bit on the progressive side. If that makes any sense. His set lasted from when the doors opened around 10pm until Oakey came on at 12:15am. Graham's mixing was very smooth, the tracks very danceable, and all in all he spun a good set. I often found myself starting to dance, although he never worked the crowd into a frenzy. He has just released the official mix CD for the Cream festival taking place in Montreal in Aug-Sept of this year, which is definitely worth a listen. And then, while downstairs looking for a friend, Oakenfold came on. As I walked upstairs, I started to hear that sound which as of late has become known as "Oakey Trance" amongst many a partygoer. His blend, however, has changed a lot in the past two years. When he released his acclaimed "Trance port" album, which single-handedly catapulted him to movie-star like status, it received heavy rotation in many CD players -- including that of yours truly. It was an incredible blend of hard progressive trance tracks which all left the speakers banging' and the people moving'. But now, his style has become very bland, boring, slow, and unemotional. He let myself and my friends down a lot. Not only was his set too slow to dance to, but he destroyed the majority of the buildups. Just as one song would buildup and begin to climax, he would transition into another song. He would mix out the first one right as the buildup was reaching it's peak and thus eliminating any emotion the song contained. Only three or four times during his entire two hour set did he allow the songs to really explode into the emotional climaxes they contained. This complaint was echoed by a number of different people throughout the nite. His selection was moderately good, and a couple his tracks were reminiscent of his earlier harder style. All in all it was too melodic and down tempo to dance to. And now, to the non-music critique of Oakey's set. His ego has just plain got to go. During the vocal parts of his selection, he would close his eyes and sing along with the lyrics as if they were his own songs. Getting into the music is one thing -- many DJs get into their music and have a blast. But there was just a different look in Oakey's face which made it rather unsettling. And not to mention the myriad of times when he would just wave one arm above the crowd slowly, seemingly to say "this is all my work. Praise me." And there were the other times when he would raise both his arms above his head, spread apart as a god itself would. Again, his actions echoed "Praise me!" to all who saw them. I heard similar comments from other equally disgusted event goers. Oakenfold did not get where he is without having skill -- I would never try to knock his ability behind the decks. But his ego makes his performances far from perfect. The other disappointment of Oakey's set was at the end -- as soon as he was done, the majority of the crowd left. Rumors of Oakenfold's position as a status symbol seem to be true. A great number of people seemed to just be there to hear Oakenfold because he was Oakenfold. And they missed perhaps the best part of the nite. Sandra Collins. Wow. What a performance. She deserves far more credit than she has gotten. Sandra threw down an amazing set full of hard trance that kept everybody who stayed going until the very end. Roseland security not only had to turn the lights on, but they had to sweep the dance floor to get the last of the people off it. Nobody wanted to stop moving. I didn't feel that Trance port 3 was enough of an indicator of her abilities to work a crowd. She was intently focused during her entire performance on how the crowd was reacting, and she kept building up all nite long. She didn't destroy a single buildup, and she worked the crowd far better than either of her two predecessors. I will definitely catch Sandra the next time she's in town, and I would recommend you do the same if you get the chance. With the majority of the crowd gone, too, there was a ton of free space to move around and dance freely. I can't give Ms. Collins enough praise for her smooth mixing and! incredible abilities behind the decks. Well done.