It’s been over a week since ASOT 400 and I finally have a chance to sit by laptop and write up a full a report about my experience. If you are too lazy to read the entire post or watch the videos, here is a short two-word description: it was LEGEN..wait for it … DARY!!!! (That’s right I watch HIMYM, so what?)

If you’ve been reading my previous ASOT related posts, you probably already know that my plan was to go to the part of the event that took place in Rotterdam on Saturday, April 18th. However, ASOT was not the only destination during my trip. In fact, it all started on Tuesday, when I went to London for 2 nights. Moreover, before I actually made it to Rotterdam, I met up with a bunch of my friends in Amsterdam for the Friday night. And I’m sure you know what that means… but that’s a different story that I might write about later.

So, anyway, when me and my girlfriend finally made it to our sketchy hostel boat (read this, if you don’t know what I mean), we were still hungover and super tired. It didn’t stop us a tiny bit as the first thing we did upon our arrival is went to a nearby shop to load up on some booze. After picking up a bottle of Red Label and some food, we headed back to the hostel to suit up (ohh is that another HIMYM reference, damn).

While we ended up not wearing any crazy costumes as it was originally planned, we picked up some crazy party glasses in Amsterdam along with some other funky coloured stuff such as lime shoe laces for our sneakers. You can see some of the outfit in the video at the end of this post.

Around 10.30, when we were finally dressed and nicely sauced, it was time to head out. Since, we had no idea what subway line to take, we decided to have a walk. It was only a couple of kilometers away, so it was good idea to get some air after we got our stomachs so nicely irrigated with a whisky-rich lubricant such as Red Label. Interestingly enough, we had to walk across the famous Erasmus bridge, which was absolutely stupendous.

We reached Maassilo around 11.00. First impression, that place is enormous. From outside, this 20-meters tall building looks like an abandoned factory of some sort. We got in with no line and quickly reached the bar. There were already at least a 1000 people inside, but it didn’t really feel super packed given that the club is even bigger than what it looks from the outside. There were two huge rooms and both were filled with people, but most of them were just hanging out at the bars and getting plastered. At the time we arrived Gareth Emery was spinning in the main room and Mr. Sam was warming up the crowd in the second room. Here are some highlights.

Gareth Emery (my favorite parts of the video are at 0:47 and 1:19)

Mr. Sam (my favorite parts of the video are at 1:00 and 2.15)

Overall, everything was pretty nicely organized. You had to get tickets for drinks, but there were more than enough ticket booths around, so it wasn’t a problem. Size of the venue seemed just perfect for the size of the crowd. It felt nice and tight on the dancefloor, but the access to the bathroom and to the bar was very relaxed.

We got ourselves a couple of more drinks and got straight to dancing. At midnight we made our way to the second room, where Cosmic Gate was about to do their performance. I’ve got to tell you, I’m a big fan of Cosmic Gate from a while back, so I loved it. They played some solid tracks, some of which were pretty well known, so the people in room were getting really hyped up. Unfortunately, I was too into getting crazy on the dancefloor that I didn’t even get a chance to make a solid video.

Around 1 everyone started slowly shifting to the main room as Armin was about to kick off his thing. We sneaked our way in pretty close to the stage and it started to feel kinda tight, but in a way it was fantastic, since you really got a jist of the enormous energy of this crown of trancelovers. When Armin hit the decks, the whole place just blew up. He started strong and didn’t disappoint. I would have to say it was probably the best of Armin I have ever seen. In fact, I can’t even find many words to describe it. Instead, I will let you watch the video I made and judge it for yourself.

Well, all in all it was yet another great year for A State of Trance and my first live experience of it was quite amazing. Let’s hope there are more of these to come. And to you: if you ever think of going to see ASOT live, don’t hestitate and just do it… Because it’s worth it.