DJ Tiesto's Sonic Cathedral

Left: DJ Tiesto.


I dawdled before heading over to the Community Center, and the show had already started by the time I got there. Since I hadn't bought a ticket in advance ($45 each, apparently) I had to buy the $75 ticket at the door.

Well, I suppose I'll have to do a lot of extra dancing to make up that extra $30!

After buying the ticket, I joined the long line of people waiting to get in. We could hear the music in progress inside, but I overheard someone say that Tiesto wasn't going to start till about 10 p.m. Well, then, who was playing now? "Oh, they'll find someone local who'll be happy to just play for anyone at all, and they'll just throw him up there," someone explained.

I started talking to another fellow. I said, "All my friends went to go see the Patty LuPone concert tonight in Davis." He said, "They really don't know what they're missing!" I also mused whether I would see anyone I knew inside. He said "Oh, they'll all be there, but you won't see them!" Startled, I asked why - was it too dark? He said they'll all just blend into the crowd.

I was never able to penetrate all the way to the stage, so I shuttled in an arc, from House left to House right, and back again. The crowd House right seemed more agreeable somehow. Either side, I made sure to dance in front of the Tower of Speakers - just to be sure I could hear the beat. The style of music, I would call Deep House, but there are so many types and subtypes of House music I'm sure I've mistaken in some picayune way.

The crowd was about 2/3 guys; 1/3 girls. I was impressed how Asian the crowd was. I had never before associated House Music specifically with Asians, but there was no denying the connection, at least in Sacramento.

As I danced House right, a Filipino fellow approached, and asked his girlfriend to dig deep into her purse. Much like Santa Claus with candy canes, he handed me two glow sticks from her purse, and through gestures, gave me some elementary instruction in their use. How unexpected! How nice!

House left, I ran into another group of Filipinos, and through gestures, they got me to perform a light show for them with my glow sticks, as they sat down on the floor, leaned back, and took it all in. In retrospect, I think my gestures were too big (first time I had ever done this). In response, they took my glow sticks and then performed for me, with a finely-tuned, less windmill-armed performance aimed directly at my face for my amusement. Oh, now I get it! This approach to glow sticks is almost like a cult, with performers hypnotizing their audience, and then switching places with them. Interesting! I liked what they did so much I surrendered my glow sticks to them, since they clearly knew better how to use them.

Several days ago, I was walking down the street, and I said to myself, "Self, it's been ages since you smelled marijuana smoke." Somebody's ears must have been burning - suddenly I smelled that unmistakable sweet smoke floating in the air (predictably, more on House right than House left).

DJ Tiesto finally came on, and the thundering music became even more thunderific. I couldn't imagine that they hadn't already cranked up the volume, but apparently there was still room on the dial. Standing near the Spaeker Towers, which looked like they contained a hundred speakers each, the sound waves were so impressive you could feel the wind they'd generate as the passed through the hairs on your arms.

And who is DJ Tiesto?

Wikipedia says:

Tiësto (pronounced [tiɛsto] in Dutch; born Tijs Michiel Verwest ([tɛɪs mixiɫ vərʋɛst]) on 17 January 1969) is a Dutch trance DJ and record producer. He was appointed Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in 2004 by Queen Beatrix. He has become one of the world's most famous people in the trance and electronic dance music scenes. Although he has used many aliases in the past, he is best known for his work as DJ Tiësto. On his latest productions, however, he has dropped the "DJ" label and is now known simply as "Tiësto", an alias which is a twist on his childhood nickname.

Left: I liked this projection, because it seemed to take the viewer on an endless journey down an endless tube filled with tree roots, or bacteria, or something - something like my home plumbing system.

I was impressed with the women who wore totem animal backpacks: tigers, bears, and Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants. Apparently it's a harajuku kind of thing, but I like it.

Then suddenly, at 1 p.m., it was over. Like the fellow said at the beginning, I didn't recognize a soul in the place. But my friends had to have been there all along, of course.

After the dance, I walked back to my office, stopping to help several people find Azucar nightclub. When I approached my workplace, a fellow who must have been at the dance leaned out the window of a passing car and shouted, "Hey, you're a pretty good raver!"

How unexpected! How nice!