Tiesto's productions met with similar success. Inspired by radio heroes like eighties giant Ben Liebrand and the lamented Peter Slaghuis, Tiesto's boundless energy and networking skills (aided by a job behind the counter at the Basic Beat store in Rotterdam) brought him residencies in small clubs which eventually paid dividends when, in 1998, he played a careerdefining set at ID&T's Innercity rave in Amsterdam (a Ti6sto mixed compilation produced for the event went on to sell 100,000 copies in Holland alone). He investigated further and emerged with the influential compilation, Techno! The House Sound of Detroit and set the course for the rest of his life. I want you to play at the opening ceremony of the Olympics.' I looked at him, like, sure pal!"Īs we know, Tiesto's appearance at the Olympics was no hoax his epochal performance yet another in a long line of record breaking moments in an endlessly morphing career (Tiesto breaks records like a breakfast cook cracks eggs).Ī teenage heavy metal fan his interest was piqued by a sign in a record store proclaiming 'House Music'. "I was playing a gig in Greece in September 2003 and this guy walks up to me and says, 'Hey Tiesto I just heard you play you're amazing. All in a day's work for DJ Ti6sto, as Tijs Verwest is now more famously known. And then a DJ puts on his first record, as the Greek flag bearer parades around the stadium and all watched by a global audience of 4 billion. Jets of water shoot hither and thither as lasers and spears of flame dance breathtaking figures in the air. Tribal drummers beat out a propulsive rhythm. A crowd of 72,000 people watch on as the opening ceremony unfolds. A young Dutch DJ, Tijs Verwest, is blown away by the music he hears the ground zero of his burgeoning career. Sven Vath, the wild child of German electronic music is busily forging an international reputation with a unique take on Detroit techno incorporating notes of melodic trance with unique classical influences. Performing at this night are Sven Vath and Moby. SCENE 1: A murky club in early'90s Belgium, the launch pad of European techno.
To coincide with the album launch will be a full 'Elements Of Life' World Tour with four UK shows taking place in Kings Hall, Belfast (31st March) Alexandra Palace, London (20th April) The Point, Dublin (16th June) and The Royal Highland Centre, Edinburgh (30th June) all of which will feature spectacular stage shows and breathtaking production all based around the four key elements of life: Air, Water, Earth & Fire.
Tiesto is world ambassador for Dance4life, an AIDS project.Has toured the US with David Bowie and Moby as part of their'Area 2'Stadiurn.