Home Aly & Fila Event Review Events News Events Reports Features Festival Review FSOE FSOE 450 UK Kingdoms Fsoe excelsior FSOE recordings Trance FESTIVAL REVIEW: FSOE450 in Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, Saturday 1st October 2016
02:22:00
A+ A-

FESTIVAL REVIEW: FSOE450 in Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, Saturday 1st October 2016


FSOE450 in UK was the only FSOE festival in Europe this year and it took place at Victoria Warehouse in Manchester. It was organised by the very well known and trusted UK events brands and promoters Rong and Goodgreef that are responsible for many memorable trance events in UK and internationally including Ibiza. While this event was not promoted exactly as festival in my opinion it deserves to be called festival rather than just an event. FSOE450 is the biggest celebration of the world known Future Sound Of Egypt radio show curated by the Egyptian trance duo Aly & Fila with millions of listeners across the globe. The Future Sound Of Egypt brand includes  FSOE recordings and FSOE Excelsior, two of the  world leading trance record labels, DJs and events management and of course the radio show. The decision to organise this top festival in UK signifies the constantly growing popularity of trance in UK resembling good old days when UK had witnessed the huge explosion of trance super clubs. Manchester is considered as an ideal location because it has the required infrastructure to support festivals of such a calibre. It has frequent airport connections with countries from around the world and in that way it is easily reachable for the friends of the festival. Also Manchester has variety of accommodation choices for the visitors to stay from budget hotels to luxury ones. FSOE450 in Manchester is considered as being extremely successful and one of the most significant trance events in UK for 2016.

 There was a pre-party at Ark Deansgate Locks from 2pm - 6.30pm warming up the crowd for the main event with main act the brilliant trance duo Allen & Envy. The main festival started at 19.00 and lasted until 04.00. Victoria Warehouse is the ideal location for such grand scale events and FSOE450 included the main room, the future room and also had a smaller room between the two that was in some cases was very crowded as well. In the main room from 19.00-20.15 Mohamed Ragab unleashed the magic vibes of FSOE Excelsior with the right amount of melodic emotion and bass punch for the ultimate progressive trance experience.



He was followed by the awesome duo 20:15 to 21:15 by Darren Porter vs James Dymond who were exceptionally good as they unleashed their finest tunes back 2 back.



From 21:15-22:15 the decks were taken over by Ferry Tayle vs Dan Stone who proved that those who consider them to be two of the main trance names are actually extremely right. Myself after searching in various wrong directions as I went with the bus at Victoria Warehouse and the bus driver was totally unhelpful as he was eating his banana and didn't care to give me the right directions I manage to enter the venue after thorough investigation in the entrance for our safety and security. I familiarise myself with the place and here how I  covered the event through twitter with photos and short videos.









At the second biggest Future Room from 19:00-20:00 Pete Bromage vs Dan Dobson followed by Michael Hutchinson from 20.00-21.00 and when I arrived the Polish superstar Simon O'Shine was on the decks.










Then at the FSOE Main Room from 22:15 to 23:15 was the right time for PURE NRG live with Solarstone and Giuseppe Ottaviani providing a very eclectic taste of classics and fresh material in new mixes and mashups. This set was pure fun to dance and trance out for sure.














Next was an hour of the magnificent Dutch hero of trance Ferry Corsten with his trance side project Gouryella. Excellent show with euphoric melodies, classical orchestral strings, video projections with very important messages about our relationship and connection with technology and nature and intensity that keep us dancing with hands in the air. 










From 00:15 to 02:00 Aly & Fila was on stage for a powerful set that merged uplifting euphoric vocal trance with tech and psy trance in an explosive magical DJ set.



















Meanwhile at the Future Sound Room Allen & Envy played for just half an hour replacing Fady & Mina who couldn't make it due to VISA issues followed by the upcoming Omar Sherif and then from the beloved Alan Morris who I catch for the first time live and I must confess I loved his enthusiasm and passion. 




Next was the turn of the Egyptian masters A & Z for trance that you can trust.




After the glorious set of Aly & Fila the incredible Simon Patterson was on the main room to bring his underground trance vibes. Dark, powerful, twisted, naughty, cranking and explosive are some of the words associated with Simon Patterson Dj sets and at FSOE450 was not an exception.




At the same time slot ReOrder teamed up with the awesome Driftmoon for a banging mainly psy tech trance DJ set. I don't know if they have tried this back2back set before but I think they should actually invent a common project because together in the stage are smashing without doubts and can radiate energy and positive vibrations. I was expecting them to be more melodic and I wouldn't mind more pure trance material to feature in their sets. 


Last set on the main stage was by Jordan Suckley who revealed how inventive he is in his set as he delivered quality psy tech trance choons to keep the feet moving.




At the Future Sound Room the upcoming and quickly rising at the top Manchester based Liam Wilson and the beloved Amir Hussain who played uplifting trance to the core and they were unstoppable.




Unfortunately I could't make it to after party that was moved to a different location within Victoria Warehouse because I didn't manage to get ticket for it. It included Solarstone,  Sam Mitcham, and Dark Fusion that all have commented very positive about the atmosphere on the after party. 

Dimitri Kechagias Quick Facts Review:
[review top="1"]
 [item value="10"]Design & Decoration of the main stage[/item]
 [item value="10"]Design & Decoration of the 2nd stage[/item]
 [item value="10"] Design & Decoration of the smaller stage[/item]
 [item value="10"] Video Projections on all stages[/item]
 [item value="10"]Pyrotechnics and confetti for party atmosphere[/item]
 [item value="10"]Sound Quality in all stages[/item]
 [item value="10"]Lazer show[/item]
 [item value="10"]Quality of the venue[/item]
 [item value="10"]Final line-up[/item]
 [item value="10"]Quality of DJ sets[/item]
 [item value="10"]Originality and Inventiveness of DJ sets[/item]
 [item value="10"]Connection between DJs & crowd[/item]
 [item value="10"]Crowd response and involvement at the DJ sets[/item]
 [item value="10"]Goosebumps / Shivers moments during the night[/item]
 [item value="10"]Emotional affinity between the members of trance community[/item]
 [item value="10"]Free Drinking Water[/item]
 [item value="10"]Quality of drinks and friendliness of the bar staff[/item]
 [item value="10"]Safety and security during the event[/item]
 [item value="10"]You can’t get this memorable event out of your head[/item]
 [item value="10"]It has potential to become the trance event of the year[/item]
 [item value="10"]Overall perception of the night[/item]
 [content title="Summary" label="Overall Score"]FSOE450 in UK was an excellent event which lived true to its promises for an unforgettable trance night. If someone had the courage and energy could party non stop from 14.30 until 07.00 in the morning. The line up was the finest that you could get in such events and it seems that particularly the back2back sets worked well and I believe some of them should think seriously to set up common projects as well. The design of the stage, video projections and lazer show was true spectacle particularly during Ferry Corsten performance that took advantage of it. The crowd was enthusiastic and were responding passionately during the DJ sets  true to their feelings. The sound quality for my ears was crystal clear despite comments that appear in the social media and safety and security up to the standards. Manchester can be easily named the UK City Of Trance 2016 for sure. #PureGold Love iT [/content]
[/review]

Review was written by Dimitri Kechagias, Electronic Music Journalist and radio host at 1mix radio.

Thanks very much to Paula at Twenty4Seven management for the guest entrance and the FSOE team Stuart and Ed plus the Rong and Goodgreef crews for having me.

Additional info:
, , , , , , , , , ,