Armand Van Helden, Chicane live and Zero on a beach in front of thousands? It can only be Sandance
Swapping dance floors for sand and nightclub confines for the open air, Nasimi Beach provides suitably sophisticated surrounds for the Sandance festival. Twelve hours of the finest dance music the world has to offer, plus fire-eaters, circus
performers and fireworks, the extravaganza comes in three sections: sunshine, sunset and after dark. The blazing afternoon heat is smartly countered with a relaxing DJ set from Zero 7, the London duo whose million-selling 2001
debut album, Simple Things, catapulted them to the forefront of the chillout movement. Housemaster Da Sendri – veteran of residencies across Dubai (including 360º), Ibiza and the UK – lends a local slant, continuing the cool-maintaining tunes. As temperatures fall, the action warms up with fashion-conscious Dubai-based spiritual house globetrotter Pierre Ravan. Then comes a full live show from Chicane, the trance/ house/electronica-straddling brainchild of English producer Nick Bracegirdle. And the stars should be twinkling by the time hometown deep house ambassador Charl Chaka precedes a live PA from Baby D, the latter sure to feature timeless rave classic Let Me Be Your Fantasy. The main event, however, is clubbing kingpin Armand Van Helden, detonating a plethora of charts-crashing classics, sandwiched by sets from Nasimi resident Smokingroove and rabble-rousing Lebanese minimal techno twosome Ronin & Nesta, making their Dubai bow. Oct 15, Nasimi Beach, Palm Jumeirah, Dubai, 2pm to 2am, Dhs150. www.atlantisthepalm.com
Armand Van Helden’s top tracks Three anthems the New York-based superstar DJ should be contractually obliged to drop at Sandance…
1
BONKERS Last summer’s ubiquitous smash remains fresh as a cold shower on a summer’s day, Dizzee Rascal’s wide-eyed kinetic rhyming riding mutant grime-house bass-lines.
2
U DON’T KNOW ME A slice of disco sampling that earned AVH his maiden solo UK number one single, addictive string swoops envelop soulful self-empowerment sung by Duane Harden.
3
PROFESSIONAL WIDOW This Tori Amos remix twisted the original – allegedly directed at Courtney Love – into a throbbing monster that forcibly dragged clubbers onto dance floors worldwide.