Photo: Julie Bifano

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As I walked into trendy new nightspot, Statemynt I was immediately drawn to the trance-like energy of the crowd on this particularly windy Tuesday night. The gusts from outside seemed to follow people inside the club, making them twirl and dance as if they had no control of their movements. Even the typical, buttoned down, nine to five business-minded youngsters let loose, moving around not only in the dance area, but on tables and out in front of the club. When I peered outside, I noticed a long line forming as club goers eagerly anticipated Dutch DJ, Ferry Corsten, to spin his crowd-pleasing tracks. Deemed one of the top 10 DJ’s in the world according to DJ Magazine’s Top 100 list, Corsten could have been a little pompous — but this was not the case. Corsten radiates humility with his warm smile and down to earth personality. “Santa Barbara is wedged in between San Francisco and Los Angeles. I’m so excited to be here,” he said. He went on to tell me about his favorite two tracks. “’Fire’ and my single, ‘Into the Dark’ go over well with the ladies,” he giggled. When Corsten set up at the DJ booth to begin his set, a flock of ladies flew to the table closest to the DJ booth, practically dancing on top of one another.

A mesmerized, jam-packed crowd stood in front of Corsten’s booth, excited and ready to dance. I asked a security guard if there had been any issues with the size of the crowd. “Everybody’s having a good time. There are no problems. It’s a good environment,” security guard Jerry Powell said. And once the dancing started, it didn’t stop. One anonymous dancer was overheard saying, “finally some world class entertainment” during the set. Toward the end of the night, Corsten’s fierce tracks and magnetic stage presence had even the shyest wallflowers up and moving. DJ Matty Matt, who had been spinning tracks earlier in the evening said, “It’s a beautiful thing they brought a big DJ to a small town.” In the end, Tuesday’s performance provided a fun and decidedly different event for downtown Santa Barbara. Statemynt stepped up to the plate and took a big risk in booking Corsten, and the result was a hands-down success. Hopefully this means Corsten will come back and visit us sooner rather than later.

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