In 2005 Armin van Buuren released his 2nd artist album Shivers and his A State of Trance radio program was well underway to becoming what it is today, the #1 source of trance music available to the general public.  Below is a nice set from the same year, recorded from the annual Red City music festival held on a beach in Eilat, Israel. This mix features several songs from his Shivers album, including the classic balearic tune Zocalo as the intro track. What I like about this set is the way Armin builds it up from start to finish, which is something I haven’t heard from him in a while. The first ten tracks or so are very low-key and progessive, the middle of the set gets pretty techy, and then the uplifting tunes are brought in at the end. I love this formula for planning sets, and I wish all DJ’s would follow this more often. One possible reason why Armin doesn’t do this anymore is because he is always the main act and usually has to play with more energy, or it could be due to the changing shift in audience expectations. It seems like nowadays most DJ’s like to play one banger after another, and that is what the crowd has come to expect. Has building sets become a lost art? I sure don’t hope so, but at least we have these older mixes to fall back on.

Armin van Buuren – Live at Red City (Eilat, Israel) on April 8, 2005
01 Armin van Buuren feat. Gabriel & Dresden – Zocalo
02 D-Formation – Signs & Portents (Original BF’s Version)
03 Andy Moor – Halcyon
04 Matthew Dekay – Digifruitella
05 Eye Wall – Bad Deal (Remy & Roland Klinkenberg Remix)
06 Matthew Dekay vs. Proluctors – Bad
07 ID – ID
08 Alex Stealthy – Able To Forget
09 Eluna – Severance (Markus Schulz & Elevation Remix)
10 Blank & Jones – Perfect Silence (E-Craig Remix)
11 Randy Katana – Pleasure Island (Dub Mix)
12 Scott Mac – Damager 02 (Mac Zimms Remix)
13 Mr. Sam – Lyteo (Rank 1 Remix)
14 B&W – Mistaken (Fictivision Remix)
15 Armin van Buuren – Communication (Part 3) (Midor & Six4Eight Remix)
16 Police – Message In A Bottle (Sander van Doorn Remix)
17 Hammer & Bennett – Language (Santiago Nino Dub Tech Mix)
18 Armin van Buuren – Shivers (Alex M.O.R.P.H. Dub Mix)
19 Inertia – The Chamber
20 Bart Claessen – Playmo
21 Robert Gitelman – Children Of The Sun
22 Marcel Woods – Cherry Blossom
23 Daniel B – God’s Keyboard (Coldware Remix)
24 Rank 1 – Top Gear
25 TDR – Squelch (SVD Remix)
26 Out Of The Past – Mystery (Fred Baker vs. Vincent Gozack Mix)
27 Armin van Buuren feat. Jan Vayne – Serenity (Signum Remix)
28 Armin van Buuren – Shivers (Original Mix)

Download the set here