The Gallery is turning 21 this Friday and Markus Schulz will be playing all night to celebrate
To celebrate The Gallery hitting US drinking age this Friday, they've invited fan-favourite and former resident, Markus Schulz down to Ministry of Sound to play ALL NIGHT LONG. Markus, also known as the 'unicorn slayer' has a long and storied history with The Gallery, so who better to lead the celebrations?
Markus has made quite a name for himself in recent years for marathon sets and as a Gallery resident he honed the craft of warm up and cool down DJ, so thought it'd be a good idea to get him to give us a guided tour through his legendary all night sets.
Hour 1: Doors Open
Markus Schulz: The first hour of the solo set I like to call the "long hello". It's where you deliberately keep the mood low, don't have much lighting and play deeper, more progressive. The track I have included is taken from Italian Gai Barone's debut artist album Towards. I have been a huge admirer of his work for many years, and when it comes to planning the solo sets, his tracks are essential to set the tone for the night. He did an absolutely incredible remake of "Love Stimulation".
Hour 2: Heating Up
This is where the crowd begins to settle into its spot for the night, but you want to slowly tease them towards the main portion of the set. So you begin to introduce more grooves, more melodies on top, but without the peak buildups and drops. I've chosen Cosmic Gate's recent single "am2pm" here, it has has dark throbbing bassline with such a beautiful breakdown, that acts as an energy ascender in a live set.
Hour 3: The Main Show
We now move into what you would typically hear in a normal Markus Schulz 2 hour club set. All the big melodies, the big vocals, the fan favourites from Global DJ Broadcast and beyond. The track featured here is one of the instrumentals taken from my upcoming artist album Watch the World, and I have been playing this in every set since Christmas. I kept it as an ID for three months and revealed it recently, with it resonating very fondly with fans already. This is called "A Better You".
Hour 4: Chaos
At this point, all bets are off, and the energy reaches its peak. The riffs are at their most boisterous and the basslines at their rowdiest. To highlight this hour I will choose the recent single by a Leeds-based duo, who I think are going to become some of trance's biggest stars in the next few years, Arkham Knights. They have this amazing fusion of tech and trance that is reminiscent of Tiesto's sets from back in the day. This single has been very important in my sets in recent months, entitled "Legacy".
Hour 5: The Rabbithole
One of my favourite parts of the solo sets, where we celebrate all things weird and trippy. This is where I want the audience to stop facing the DJ booth and start facing the party. At this point, the entire room is cracking in unison. I could pick quite a few for this hour, but the one that has stuck with me throughout in the past six months has been Sam Paganini's brilliant "Rave".
Hour 6: The Classics
For the final hour, as we transition into the morning sunrise, is to pay homage to the memories and seminal pieces from years gone by with a collection of classics. Again, there are many I could choose through the experiences of previous MOS solo sets, and one which seems to resonate the most is the iconic "No One On Earth". I have an exclusive reconstruction for my live sets of this version.
Markus Schulz will be celebrating The Gallery's 21st Birthday all night long on Friday 8th April, get your tickets here.
