I just went Global Gathering Ukraine last night. I wish I had some rolls, but it still a very enjoyable event. DJ hype played some mad tunes and Dubfire was also pretty sick.
What ticked me off the most was the headliner: Armin Van Buuren. Now don't get me wrong, I really don't mind the anthem vocal trance too much, it's not the best music out there, but I think it has its place. But the way he was acting and the media being played on the screens on stage was awful. They had short videos portraying Armin sitting in various "cool" poses and another video portraying Armin as a godlike figure. He would also get up on the speakers and spread his hands to signal to everyone to copy his motion.
It's kind of ironic that his show is called "A State of Trance" because this was pretty damn far from a state of trance. Trance music is about zoning out into a trance not worshiping the DJ like he is some rock star or something.
What I really like about electronic music is how it naturally focuses solely on the music and not on what the artist is doing on stage. Armin's performance totally messed that up. It's hard to enter a state of trance when you have the whole crowd waving their hands for the DJ for half the damn show.
Now on the Drum & Bass arena, it was a whole different story. When the drops came, the whole crowd would go nuts and start dancing like crazy. None of the "I want your baby, Armin!!!!"