Are you Smirnoff Experienced?

It’s a real privilege to attend a Smirnoff Experience event. You can’t buy tickets, you must win them.

Or in my case, receive the ultimate VIP invite; the kind that other standard VIP’s lie awake fantasizing about.

Already this prolific series of user generated club nights has been hosted in over six of the world’s finest capitals; from Moscow, London and Paris, to Shanghai, New York and Berlin. Tonight Mashup Street Johannesburg, South Africa is on the agenda – and it’s the largest one to date!

Located forty minutes out of Jo’burg city, the 3,000 capacity aircraft hangar venue voted by fans looks amazing and exudes an exclusive air. Street art adorns the walls, the “fully sick” LED light shows are powerful enough to send a non-epileptic into a raging fit and there are pole dancers on trapezes swirling effortlessly above the perky crowd. To top it off, the VIP bar is gun! Apart from the stellar music line-up… that’s what counts, right? It’s all about the Smirnoff, baby!

Punters are designing their own drinks on touch-screens for the trendy bar staff to whip up at the communal bars, while we’re freely served a concoction of shots, Moscow Mules and vodka in every possible shape and form. Sporting colourful retro glasses and a Rubik’s cube clutched in my palm, I couldn’t possibly feel more elated drinking as I anticipate the upcoming deck work of headlining act Tiësto; along with local South African big guns BLK JKS, DJ Ashton Abels, SPHEctacula and Dean FUEL.

The first artist to start my own party is Cape Town’s hottest DJ Ashton Abels spinning in front of the VIP bar. What a set! His innovative style and ability to integrate multifaceted genres in his mixing is completely inconceivable. I’ve gone to a lot of festivals thus far in my short lived years and there aren’t too many DJs who can spin a fresh and lively set that flexibly combines genre to genre, international and local, mainstream to unheard of material and still keep the crowd engaged. Thank you Ashton Abels… wow! You did Cape Town proud.

More drinks turned into oblivious time passing and I’m bummed to learn that I’ve completely missed BLK JKS’ set. Do excuse my penchant for alcohol, considering I was too busy drinking in the main room with the best company in town: my creative buddies Francisco, PJ, Stuart, Niall, Darragh, Johnny, Bobby and Nick.

Meanwhile back at the ranch… history begins to repeat itself and I would have had no idea Tiësto’s set was about to commence if it weren’t for PJ’s timely reminder. We quickly proceed to the front; unaware of what we’re about to experience.

I’m not super big on Tiësto; nor am I going to front that I’m his most loyal and devoted enthusiast or even his Facebook Fan Club President. Sure a lot of hype surrounds him, but in my humble opinion the big Dutchman is at his best live and I strongly feel that his CDs do not do him justice.

I was soon to discover that Tiësto’s art in mixing live sets is the reason why he has been voted the world’s number #1 DJ for the past three consecutive years. To witness an enduring three-hours of music delivery astounded me. What made the set so first-rate was Tiësto delving into the mainstream sphere and stirring the crowd by covering house and electro; which is notably different to his signature progressive trance style.

The teasy, wind-up moments and synchronized LED lighting shows were highlights and I thoroughly enjoyed Tiësto lacing grindy, dirty progressive beats that were so jammy you could feel the crowd around you dancing on top of you. That’s a tell-tale sign right there of fine deck work.

At the end of the day, Tiësto senses the crowd’s desires and delivered a spontaneous set. Despite not promising any surprises in our earlier press conference, he was true to his word and delivered “honest, pure music from the heart” with the cutest turntable dance moves in town.

To some it all up: We drank, we listened, we danced and we were experienced just as Hendrix was at Woodstock. But this wasn’t Woodstock. It was Smirnoff Mashup Street and it was a unique event that I will never forget (despite being slightly inebriated). I partied with people who inspire me, I was exposed to new music genres and an African culture that was previously foreign to me. For that, I am changed.

Thank you Smirnoff, thank you musicians, and thank you blogging crew for a crazy time. Kudos to the lovely lads at Splendid Communications for providing a very magical action-packed week in South Africa full of jelly beans, white picket fences, cream coloured ponies and everything nice. Even baby lion cubs.