Sensation is an indoor dance-event which originated from the Netherlands. The original event which ran exclusively in the Amsterdam ArenA for a period of five years until 2005 is now located throughout Poland, Spain, Chile, Germany, Belgium, Hungary, Czech Republic, Latvia, Russia, Denmark and Lithuania.
In 2008, it was announced that for the first time Sensation would be held on New Years Eve in Melbourne, Australia, aswell as in Barcelona, Spain.
In 2000 and 2001, it was made up of one edition, just called Sensation, but has now been split up into two editions: Sensation Black and Sensation White. This was done to differentiate the music and feeling more than would have been possible if it were one event. Sensation Black focuses more on darker music, like Hardstyle and Hardcore, whereas Sensation White focuses more on House and Trance. Every year, Sensation also releases two doublediscs (Black and White) and two singles they call the Anthem.
Note: The names of both events have been changed: Sensation (formerly Sensation White), and BLACK (formerly Sensation Black).
The first edition of Sensation in 2000, was not sold out. The media did announce it was sold out, to keep the buzz high. The event attracted 20,000 people then. In this first edition, the DJ's only used one side of the Amsterdam Arena as the stage. Later editions have the stage in the middle. This Sensation was the only one that did not have a dress code. All other editions of Sensation White were sold out, usually well in advance (usually all 40 000 tickets are sold in a few hours). Sensation Black has not been as successful but is usually either close to sold out capacity or sold out a few days before the event.
In 2005, Sensation White was also held in Belgium and Germany. In 2006, ID&T started Sensation International, an international tour, based on the simplified version which could be seen in the Amsterdam ArenA, in 2005. The first edition was held in the Antwerp Sportpaleis. In 2008 Sensation White was held at SCC Peterburgsky in Saint Petersburg
Sensation (White) is mostly a trance and house event. All the attendees are required to wear white and the Amsterdam ArenA itself is decorated to match. Sensation White's slogan is "Be Part Of The Night - Dress in White". Every event has around 40,000-45,000 tickets available. The Amsterdam ArenA event takes place every year on the first Saturday in July.
Notable DJ's that have appeared at Sensation include André Tanneberger, Armin van Buuren, Darren Emerson (one of the Underworld members), David Guetta, Erick E, Erick Morillo, Ferry Corsten, Marco V, Paul van Dyk, Johan Gielen, Sander Kleinenberg, Steve Angello, Tiësto, Fedde Le Grand, Mason, Felix Da Housecat, Laidback Luke , Tocadisco and Rank 1.
The event has recently been criticized by trance fans who think there's too much house and electro and too few Trance DJs in the recent events. However, in the eyes of the organisers, the popularity of trance has been receding in the past few years, and therefore Sensation White has adapted to this by altering its programming to add house and electro. Nonetheless, the popularity of trance and indeed the DJs associated with the genre still seem to be a major force in Europe. Trance Energy, with over 30,000 people, has been selling out faster than ever before. In the 2008 edition of Sensation, there was only one (former) trance-DJ present in the line-up: Marco V. However, this year, trance was left out completely in favor of house(classics) and techno.
The name Sensation White has been changed back to Sensation, the original name of the very first event in 2000 where it all started.
Sensation Black (since 2007, BLACK) slowly builds up the pace, starting from Hard trance,Hardstyle and then Hardcore/gabber. Sensation Black is always held in the second weekend of July. All attendees are required to dress in full black.
Notable DJ's that have appeared at Sensation Black include Evil Activities, Noize Suppressor, Showtek, Angerfist, Donkey Rollers, Headhunterz, DJ Promo, Outblast, Marcel Woods, DJ Vince, Chris Liebing, DJ Lady Dana, DJ Luna, DJ Zany, The Prophet, Yoji Biomehanika, Technoboy, Tom Harding and Mauro Picotto.
An incident occurred at Sensation Black in 2006, where DJ Rob Gee and his live entourage, performing at the event against the recommendations of the majority of ID&T's staff, were booed and catcalled during the performance. Slight mayhem ensued as a member of the audience climbed onto the stage and hit Rob Gee himself. The rest of Rob Gee's performance was cancelled and ID&T's manager, Duncan Stuttertheim, later acknowledged his mistake in allowing Rob Gee to perform against the wishes of his employees.
Official Website:
http://www.sensation-white.com
