After seeing KhoMha’s show on a Friday in March in New York City, I was excited to see the super duo New World Punx (NWP), consisting of Markus Schulz and Ferry Corsten play at a State of Trance 600 on Saturday. The show sold out in one hour at Madison Square Garden, a massive arena which hosts the biggest sporting events in New York, a sign of just how big trance music has suddenly become today.

Markus Schulz is often described as a DJ’s DJ, a musician who fellow DJs study, imitate and admire due to his amazing skill, vast technical mastery and hooky, vibrant compositions. Schulz was named America’s Best DJ of 2012 by DJ Times.

Madison Square Garden was completely packed to the ceiling with crazy, berserk, screaming fans after I arrived and the show started.  At one point, right before NWP came on, the entire sound system blew up, dying for a tense 10 minutes during which time the crowd nearly turned into a mob. Fortunately the sound was restored quickly and everything was good.

NWP’s set was visceral, ethereal, dark and memorizing. The percussive keyboard style of the group was present in almost every element in their arrangements. At one point, the keyboards turned into a heavy, crushing bass that felt like it was going to vibrate your atoms apart.

If Markus is dark than Ferry is light. Their two styles contrast and compliment each other quite nicely much like fire and oxygen. Their set twisted and deftly turned on so many hair pin, musical dimes it made you feel dizzily breathless. Unlike many DJs which just play the same old, tired riff over and over again, NWP didn’t have a set of songs, but instead an aggressive and sophisticated, series of hooks which could have been the basis for a 100 separate songs by themselves. The massive output was mind boggling and it is no wonder that Schulz has played long sets for hours and hours as a solo artist, together the group is a bottomless well of rich ideas.

The light show was hypnotic, an unreal hyper kinetic collection of images that made you feel as though you were in a higher, more enlightened state of transcendental being. It was like staring divinity in the face, both the devil and the angel together in one space, one group, until it was good, much like day and night coexisting to create a full normal day.

It’s no wonder that A State of Trance is one of the most successful world tours today. At the show, NWP not only showcased the future of trance but also set the standard for all live performing acts. If you have not seen NWP perform live it is recommended that you check them out when they come to town.

New Word Punx at ASOT 600 NYC