15€ from Cybershop (Asematunneli, Kamppi & Itäkeskus)
100 VIP tickets for sale on monday 6.9.2010 (Only from Tiketti)
Price 30 €
VIP ticket includes:
-VIP entrance with free queue passing at the venue
-Special gift @ Tivoli
-No queuing at the afterparty entrance @ Playground (afterparty ticket is not included to the price)
-Tiketti booking fee
650€ SUPER VIP for 10 people (only 3 tables for sale) 800€ SUPER VIP for 15 people (only 2 tables for sale)
SUPER VIP ticket includes:
-VIP entrance with free queue passing at the venue and escorting to the table
-Table reserved for all night next to the stage
-1 bottle of Smirnoff vodka + mixers, 2 bottles of sparkling wine (3 bottles for 15 persons VIP)
-No queuing at the afterparty entrance @ Playground (afterparty ticket is not included to the price)
Few trance artists have reached Above & Beyonds stature in terms of integrity and respect. IDJ
A cut above. Mix mag
Above & Beyonds vault from innovative trance trio to globetrotting DJ superstars is now complete. DJ Magazine
The UKs new dance superstars. Pete Tong, Radio 1
A blend of sleek electronic rhythms, lush filmic textures and old-fashioned songwriting, Tri-State is the fulfilment of any dance acts ultimate album aspiration: a padding-free, skilled, diverse long-player. In a word brilliant. 5/5 DJ Magazine
There are DJs who can rock a party, a club, a festival. And there are acts that can write songs that will bring out the goose bumps in you. But theres only one group that can do both: Above & Beyond. Currently fourth in the DJ Magazine annual poll the highest-placed Brits in the last year alone, they have sound-tracked the unveiling of a new space-ship, performed an acoustic show in a hot air balloon, and entranced a crowd of 8,000 in Beirut with their first full live show. For the worlds most famous trance trio, there are no limits. Theres so much going on, says Tony McGuinness. Were trying to do so many things.
From remixing Madonna (2001), to winning Essential Mix of the Year (2004) or playing to one million people on the beach in Rio de Janeiro (New Years Eve 2007), Above & Beyonds career has been a constant upward curve since the trio formed in 2000. Because Above & Beyond make music, pure and simple. That music happens to be electronic. And it connects. Were a group, says Tony. And were trying to connect with people. When you see people singing along as passionately as they do, I guess youre getting it right. The key difference is this: Above & Beyond are DJs, producers and musicians. We like to think of ourselves as songwriters first, says Paavo Siljamaki, who with Jono Grant makes up the trio. The most challenging thing is to write a song that really touches the listener.
Creatively and geographically, Above & Beyond dont believe in borders. Hence 2009s full live band show in Beirut, Lebanon. What an undertaking, says Tony. We decided to do a really big, high production live show. It was an enormous undertaking and a risk. It was the first time they had translated the Above & Beyond sound to a live line-up drums, bass, guitar, keyboards, singers Zoe Johnston and Richard Bedford. People were blown away and we felt blown away by it ourselves, says Tony. And Beirut left its mark. They rebuilt the town centre, its beautiful, says Tony. But we did a photo shoot in an old Chevrolet showroom and it had bullet holes, and the driver had fought on that very roof, and was picking up shell cases and explaining what happened.
At the other end of the scale, the group played an acoustic show for two fans and BBC Radio 1s Pete Tong in a hot air balloon as it sailed serenely over the English countryside. At one point, the driver flew the balloon at little more than a metre over a field of wheat. Its like a dream sequence in a movie, because youre not flying fast or up and down, youre looking at something you would never see in nature, says Tony.
And when Richard Branson needed a theme tune for the unveiling of his new Virgin Galactic spaceship in the Mojave Desert with California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, he turned to Above & Beyond. Jono DJed at the event. And Buzz, the track Above & Beyond provided, delighted the ships designers with its sleek, rocket-fuelled, trance dynamics and crackly radio dialogue by astronaut Buzz Aldrin. They thought it was perfect, thought it had the right resonance, says Jono.
From small, East European club shows to major festival like Americas Coachella, Above & Beyond have a unique ability to captivate and engage audiences. Their music has grandeur and melody, but its edged with steel too. There are dark shadows among the sweet moments. Trance is too small a word for their cinematic, ambitious sound, its bigger than genres.
THE trio are experienced musicians who know their way around a studio. Tony McGuinness was marketing director for Warner Brothers Records but for years previously was the guitarist/songwriter of cult indie band Sad Lovers & Giants. Asked to organize a remix of Chakras Home in 2000, he joined together with Jono Grant and Paavo Siljamaki - and Above & Beyond was born. By coincidence we ended up putting three individuals with complimentary and different talents into the mix, says Tony.
Jono Grant first discovered dance music when he borrowed his brother Jamess cassette of Paul Oakenfolds classic Goa mix and fell in love with its sweeping melodrama. Already training as a classical pianist and guitarist, he was inspired him to build his own studio, taking on part time jobs to fund his equipment. I managed to save up enough money from mowing the lawn to buy a drum machine, he laughs. When he arrived at Londons University of Westminster, he had a small, yet compact studio. His first production was a remix of Strikes Top Five hit U Sure Do.
Paavo had arrived at the same university from his native Finland. Also classically trained on cello and piano, he was studying music business. The two met one beery night and Jono proceeded to play his latest productions. Lets write a track together, Paavo told Jono. They pooled their studio resources in one mad taxi dash, and Anjunabeats was born. It is now one of the most famous labels on the world stage.
In 2001, Above & Beyond remixed Madonnas What It Feels Like For A Girl after Tony talked his way into her managers office and into a remix. We were pitching for the stars at that point, smiles Paavo. Madonna used their mix for her controversial hot rod rampage video, directed by her husband Guy Ritchie. Other remixes have included Didos Sand In My Shoes and Britney Spearss Everytime. Their first single proper, 2002s Far From In Love with Kate Cameron, became a dance anthem. Their 2006 album Tri-State was greeted with rave reviews. Brilliant, said DJ Magazine. The ultimate fulfilment of any dance acts ambition. It was the song-writing that shone through - sweeping from euphoric melodies to atmospheric down-tempo moments. We felt the perfect album wouldnt be 12 club tracks but a collection of songs that take you on a journey, says Paavo. There were moments where we werent really sure. But in the end we feel we made something we could be proud of.
One of the albums many standouts is Alone Tonight whose otherworldly melodies and heartfelt vocal performance from Richard Bedford resonate with audiences all over the world. A lot of people who go to clubs are single, and that song is about being in a relationship but feeling alone, says Jono. So it resonates. Under their Oceanlab alias with singer/songwriter Justine Suissa, they also produced the unforgettable Satellite. Another lyric with universal appeal which Tony wrote about Paavo and his Japanese wife, when both were on opposite sides of the world coupled with melodies to make you shiver and a vocal drenched in emotion. It too has become a vocal trance classic and live favourite.
Yet Above & Beyond arent just consummate musicians and songwriters, they are also world class DJs. Their Trance Around The World radio show airs on over 15 FM, Internet and Satellite stations worldwide and has just celebrated its 300th show in Russia. They began their DJing career in front of 8,000 people in Tokyo in 2002. In 2004 they won BBC Radio 1s Essential Mix of the Year. They are Number Four in DJ magazines prestigious poll. To be among such great DJs is a real honour, says Paavo. There are people above and below that I really, truly respect.
Their Anjunabeats 100 a collection of the very best tracks from their universally respected label - included a DVD documentary of the shows the group played over the Christmas holidays in 2007 in Goa, India and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where they celebrated New Year with a million people. A peak in a career that has been full of them. It was life-changing, says Tony. Amazing to look out and see that many people. In some ways it was too big to comprehend!
WHAT audiences around the world also respond to is the professionalism and enthusiasm that Above & Beyond bring to their art. There is a warmth about the trio that people love. Tony is the one who gives it all on stage. Tony is really the rock n roll star of the whole crew, says Paavo. Tony sums up his band members with equal enthusiasm. Jono is ambivalent about the incredible talent he has. He has a lot of energy, he is fearless when hes DJing and is always in a good mood. If Jonos contribution is an effortless musicality, says Tony, Paavo adds heart and soul. What he brings is a sense is how to bring out the emotion in a track.
The ongoing Above & Beyond world tour continues. They just hosted a stage at the Future Music Festival, Australias biggest live event, covering five cities. In the studio, they moved towards a fusion of house and trance with their gorgeously anthemic remix of Dirty Vegass Tonight recorded in just 24 hours as part of the Ibiza Winter Music Conference. Its a direction the group are also following with their Anjundadeep label which hit Number One on the US itunes album chart. It felt to us like the road between house and trance used to be fairly empty, notes Tony. Now that has turned into an eight lane highway. The album included a daring, soaring remix of Radioheads Reckoner. We always wanted to work with a Thom Yorke vocal, theyre one of the most distinctive groups in the world, says Tony. Meanwhile their remix album of Oceanlabs Sirens Of The Sea also reached Number One in the itunes Dance Album chart with pumped up versions of hits like On A Good Day.
The next major project is the new Above & Beyond studio album currently scheduled for Autumn 2010, their first since Tri-State and in its finishing stages. Above & Beyond are a team of perfectionists, constantly striving to get better. You get more out of life by collaborating, notes Tony. Were always trying to grow. And what they do is make music with melody, movement and meaning. Music, in short, that matters to people across the globe. You can do stuff that is popular without selling out, says Jono. If you do something with quality, people respond to that. Which is why even when they are half a world away, audiences always make Above & Beyond feel at home.