No matter how many hours Armin van Buuren has travelled to get there, as soon as he enters the DJ booth, the Dutchman puts his full focus on the music, the crowd, and how those two will combine. Once the beats of his first record kick in, the room lights up and chanting starts to fill the air. To witness a set by Armin van Buuren is to be blown away — to lose yourself completely in the music and become one with the people around you. Mixing seamlessly, he has created his own sound and style, making his DJ sets a truly unique experience. He unites millions, not only through the gigs in his challenging schedule, but also through his ‘Armin Only’ and ‘A State of Trance’ world tours.
His busy life as a DJ has inspired countless people both personally and professionally. In 2009, Dutch author Coen Bom presented his on-the-road biography of Armin called ‘Eén op één’ / ‘Armin Only’, in which he reported on the hectic life of Armin and tried to find the secret behind the grand success of the humble Dutchman. In October 2012, the official documentary ‘A Year With Armin van Buuren’ was released, in which Armin was followed during an important year in his life, offering a unique look behind the scenes and inside his personality. Again and again, his life as a superstar DJ continues to inspire others.
Armin has had the privilege of performing at some of the world’s biggest and best festivals, clubs, events, and shows. One of the highlights of his career was Armin’s performance for the newly crowned King and Queen of the Netherlands in 2013, Willem-Alexander and Máxima. Together with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra and in front of the monarchs and 15,000 fans, he performed both ‘The Bolero’ as well as an orchestral version of the title track from his ‘Intense’ album. During the ‘Koningsvaart’ (a special, cultural boat trip through the city of Amsterdam), the King and Queen surprised both the crowd and Armin by getting on stage and dancing along with him.
Without question, another memorable highlight of Armin’s career was his DJ set at the Museumplein in Amsterdam in July of 2010, during the ceremonial honoring of the Dutch national soccer team. Even though the national team lost in the FIFA World Cup final, they partied like they were the absolute winners with a crowd of 200,000 strong.
In 2013, Armin’s career hit a new milestone when he became the first solo dance artist to play in Madison Square Garden. The event was completely sold out, representing another crowning achievement for the DJ.
After the 2013 summer season had ended (along with his residency at the world’s biggest club, Privilege in Ibiza), Armin kicked off a new ‘Armin Only’ world tour based on his ‘Intense’ album, in collaboration with theatre director Jos Thie. More than 33 dates were set, with shows landing in cities such as Kiev, Mumbai, Saint-Petersburg, Helsinki, New York, Toronto, Mexico City, Sydney, Johannesburg, and more. With the ‘Armin Only’ tour, Armin brandished a unique and exclusive show format, which unfolded like the many layers of his ‘Intense’ album. In total, more than 500,000 visitors attended, spanning 5 continents. A ‘Road Movie’ series was also created, documenting behind-the-scenes footage of the entire tour as it took place.
In 2014, Armin began a highly successful weekly residency at the famous Ushuaïa Beach Hotel in Ibiza, playing every Thursday night from June 26th to September 11th alongside top DJs from the Armada Music roster. After the residency, he released a compilation entitled ‘A State of Trance at Ushuaïa Ibiza’ to commemorate the season.
As if to underline the success of the residency, Armin returned to the Ushuaïa Beach Hotel a year later for another ‘A State Of Trance at Ushuaïa, Ibiza’ summer. His performances in the center of the Ushuaïa pool were met with widespread passion and enthusiasm amongst his fans, subsequently leading to the release of the second volume of his Ushuaïa compilation series: ‘A State Of Trance at Ushuaïa, Ibiza 2015’.
On January 26th, 2016, Armin van Buuren announced the first two dates of his brand-new Armin Only Embrace world tour, to which even more dates were added later on through a live announcement at A State Of Trance Festival Utrecht on February 27th. ‘Armin Only: Embrace’ has since seen a spectacular kick-off in Amsterdam, the Netherlands and has brought a spectacular offering to other cities, including Gdansk (Poland), Dubai (UAE), Sofia (Bulgaria), Minsk (Belarus), and Mexico City (Mexico and more.
In 2017, on Friday, May 12th and Saturday, May 13th, Armin van Buuren celebrated his twenty-year anniversary as an artist in one of the most prestigious venues of the Netherlands. Both shows in the Amsterdam ArenA sold out in no time, which allowed Armin van Buuren to celebrate the special occasion with tens of thousands of his most loyal fans and to create a memory able to withstand the test of time.
In the summer of 2017, Armin van Buuren returned to the White Isle for another highly anticipated summer residency. Gracing Hï Ibiza – one of Ibiza’s newest and hottest clubs – with sublime Wednesday Night shows alongside fellow-Dutchmen and friends Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Armin van Buuren does what he does best: rousing crowds beyond belief and giving them the time of their lives for the full duration of the show.