As part of RPM Presents #BigWeekNYC, which celebrated the big week in NYC surrounding New Years, a variety of top tier talent came to play in the Big Apple. Among them was world renowned DJ and trance guru Armin van Buuren along with a stacked lineup of Armada favorites including Mark Sixma, Jochen Miller, and Andrew Rayel.
Sixma started off the evening at Pier 94 before Miller took his place behind the decks. The sounds of trance filled the warehouse styled venue, which was adorned in lights and decor for the holidays. Streaming from the stage, the lights and lasers could have lit up the Manhattan skyline in all its grandeur if the ceiling didn’t cut them off short.
The night was energetic, but stuck true to its trance roots. Sixma and Miller eased the audience into a trance before Armin van Buuren, in all his glory, took the stage at midnight. Arms spread wide in his iconic Jesus-like pose, Armin shone brightly from behind the decks. He was ready to take New York into the real state of trance. 
With fan favorites like “Sound of the Drums,” “Ping Pong,” “Forever is Ours,” and his acclaimed Grammy-nominated hit “This Is What It Feels Like,” Armin played every thing fans yearned to hear. When he asked, he succeeded at the infamous “every body please sit down” before building the audience back up into a dancing frenzy. A memorable moment was when AVB played his trance remix of “Let It Go” from Disney’s Frozen. It was nice hearing a bunch of dance music fans belting the lyrics just as the five year olds of the world do.
With balloons, confetti, a dazzling light show, and that distinct Armin style of trance, there was not a still body inside of Pier 94. To conclude the evening, Andrew Rayel took over the stage and grasped the audience’s attention to continue their musical journey.
Sometimes the genre gets put on the back burner as electro beats and big room take over, yet on December 29th, fans expected a night full of trance at Pier 94, and a night full of trance is what they got. From the moment the doors opened until Rayel shut it down, NYC was put into a state of trance.
Image source: Dougvansant
I hate to sound like a trance nazi, but all of the songs you listed are completely watered down pop commercial versions of trance or big room. “Ping Pong” is Animals 2.0 and don’t even get me started on “This is what it feels like”
I was not at this event but I’d be willing to bet that Armin didn’t play any of his pre “Intense” hits such as “In and Out of Love”, “How Do I know”, “I’ll Listen”, etc.