While the electronic music community often prides itself on unity, peace, and shared values, a glaring double standard continues to happen behind the scenes, where unrepentant pro-war trolls and abusers are being welcomed onto European stages.

​At the upcoming Amsterdam Dance Event (ADE 2026), the Interplay Afterglow showcase (hosted under Paul van Dyk’s Interplay label brand) features a line-up that includes Alexander Komarov alongside other Russian acts like Alexander Popov.

​For those unaware of who Alexander Komarov is, his online behavior goes far beyond simple political disagreements. Following the full-scale invasion, Komarov targeted Ukrainian producers directly in private messages, unleashing vile, pro-genocidal hate speech and death threats.

​An excerpt from his direct messages to a Ukrainian producer (which has been widely documented on community forums like trancefix.nl) shows his exact words:

"Обосрался вадимка и убег из нэньки роняя говно XD пищит что-то на фоне флага цвета мочи и слез, ноет и обоссывается) надеюсь ты, сраный нацик, сдохнешь в мучениях и вся твоя недострана. вы просрали все что можно, уебки."

​(English translation for context: "Vadym shit himself and ran away from motherland dropping shit XD squealing something against the background of the piss-and-tears colored flag, whining and pissing himself) I hope you, you fucking nazi, die in agony and your whole fake country. You've lost everything possible, assholes.")

​How is it possible that someone who openly wishes death upon Ukrainians and attacks them with rabid hate speech gets a free pass to enter the EU, play showcase events, and have their career laundered under a major Western-facing label like Paul van Dyk’s Interplay at a premier global festival like ADE?

​Music is supposedly "above politics" until your label is actively platforming individuals who cheer for bloodshed and destruction.

​It’s time to ask the organizers of Amsterdam Dance Event, the venue Bar Bacán, and Paul van Dyk’s management: Are you comfortable giving a platform to someone who tells people he hopes they die in agony because of their nationality?

​Screenshots and proof linked via Trancefix / ADE official line-up.

As previously reported, the broader ADE lineup also features a whole cohort of other Russian DJs and producers, including figures like Roman Messer and others, continuing a trend of sweeping these toxic ties under the rug.

Good news from the trance scene: it looks like public pressure and basic human decency are finally working.

​German DJ and producer Ronski Speed has officially pulled out of his upcoming performances at the Russian "Trancemission" festival (Трансміссия «Портал») scheduled for this autumn in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

​While the festival organizers tried to save face by publishing a standard PR excuse blaming "family circumstances", the reality is crystal clear. Nobody with a shred of conscience wants to take Russian blood money while a brutal war of aggression is actively raging, cities are being bombed, and Ukrainian children are being killed every single day.

​Shame on the remaining line-up members (like Allen Watts, RAM, and others) who still choose to cash checks from the aggressor state and normalize terror through music. But props to Ronski for stepping back and not soiling his reputation with blood-soaked rubles.

​Culture is never apolitical when bombs are falling. Keep the pressure on these artists — accountability matters!

Do you know if it’s possible to buy merch at Armada HQ when attending the studio visit?

Does AVB still do birthday shoutouts? The link on the site doesn’t work. My husband has been listening since he was a teen and I thought a birthday shoutout would be perfect this year. It’s been tough on him. His dad and uncle passed away this year. TIA!

Hey guys! This morning I received the invitation email for the ASOT ADE Special and I'm so hyped!

The only problem is that on the same day Eric Prydz is playing at Gashoduer and I don't know what to do!!

Eric and Armin are my all-time favorite DJs so this is a tough one!

I've already seen 6 Armin shows (and I'm gonna see him again at AMF) and Eric just once, so I was really looking forward to see Eric at ADE.

What would you do? Would I regret not attending the ASOT ADE special?

UPDATE: I’m going to the ASOT ADE special, I‘m sorry Eric but I can’t miss this one!

Voyage to Surreal

First done masterfully by Tiesto in the unbelievable Magik 6 back in 2000

Hey guys,

Just got an email that I have been accepted to attend the 10 hour marathon ASOT ADE show October 22 at Armada studios. I am so excited to hopefully meet Armin and experience this unique event.

Anyone else here going or been before how does the day usually go?

I had Maddix all day rave booked for same day but think can’t miss the opportunity to attend ASOT studio.

Typography stays booty but looks pretty solid. Glad he isnt b2b spamming anymore tbh.

First one im missing in a while 😭

Hey, I was just listening to Hans Zimmer’s F1 Movie theme (2025), and I couldn't stop thinking about how perfectly it fits Armin's ASOT DNA.

The heroic melody, the massive buildup, the driving energy, it’s literally begging for a proper treatment and set-integration by Armin van Buuren. And I found out Armin is a huge Hans Zimmer fan (and loves F1), so how about a collab with Hans on it... I imagine this destroying the mainstage at Tomorrowland or ASOT!

I'm not frequent on reddit, and it's my first ever reddit post, but I felt I have to pitch this, maybe it would get interest. Just maybe some noise here would get it on his radar.

Fun Fan Fact: For me, Armin's State of Trance is quite literal. I went on a 2hrs drive on the highway, so I played on the car speakers one of my favorite Armin's live sets. When exiting the highway to a traffic light, I literally felt this most amazing epic waking-up experience. That is when I knew I'm not just imagining to like Armin's transcendent music. A nameless celestial plateau of his own.👑

Thank you Armin, for you!❤️

Hey guys! I am a long time trance veteran and I've been an ASOT fan for quite a while now, I've been to the ASOT stages here in the US at Ultra Music Festival. So this will be my first dedicated ASOT festival outside the US. Never been to a festival by myself so this will be a first time. Anyone have any tips for first time ASOT travelers ? What is transportation like in Rotterdam to the festival? And lastly, are there other 40 year old trance veterans to hang with? Lol. Thank you. TRANCE ON! 🙌🎶

I know nobody cares, but this is the ASOT reddit, so why not tell my story.

So, over the past 4 years, I've been trying to complete my ASOT CD collection, across all mixes: Regular, Ibiza, Year Mixes & Classics.

Some are impossible to find & some others are expensive or not available anymore to order, so I work with what I have & when I have extra money to spare.

These are all I've gathered so far, so tell me if my collection is whack or good, I guess. For the record, I like them all.

So I've collected:

- ASOT: 2008, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024

- Ibiza: 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025

- Year Mix: 2009, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024

- Classics: Volume 14

Hey, Is anyone still at ASOT at UNVRS on 21 September and fancy sharing a VIP table with a couple aged 31/39? Drop me a DM

So I have decided to do a master mix of every original song and remix by Armin’s Alias Rising Star. I have been looking through Wikipedia, Discogs and the artist profile on Spotify but I am never sure if the lists are complete. I will put the link of the pages I am using at the end. If there’s something missing I would please like if you could comment so I can make this mix as amazing as possible. Thank you for reading.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armin_van_Buuren_discography

https://open.spotify.com/artist/3HYUBCT2pYtoo0JHztEsRJ?si=lB_TuXsrREeLA7bjte2jdQ&utm_source=copy-link

https://www.discogs.com/artist/13303-Rising-Star?srsltid=AfmBOoqAx8WkTzK0JD2-Jbjw-lP1Fn7FUE5d8puoRgIuoMUTX_5XC3D5

hey fellas, I need to find out what track number 28 is—the one with the distinctive French vocals. Can you help me?

I’ve been building a playlist containing all tracks from ASOT 1100–1199, and I’ve started noticing something pretty ridiculous: tracks that were definitely available before are now becoming unavailable inside the official ASOT releases.

One concrete example is Mark Sixma & Emma Hewitt – Restless Hearts from ASOT 1124. I listened to that exact ASOT version on Spotify before. Now it is still in my listening history, but Spotify says it is unavailable. Just two days later.

The weird part: the same track from the same ASOT episode is still available on Amazon Music, and the original ASOT episode is also intact on YouTube.

So this isn’t simply “the song no longer exists”. It looks like Spotify’s version of the ASOT catalogue is slowly developing holes because individual tracks inside old episodes lose availability.

I’ve also noticed this more than once, which makes me wonder how much of the older ASOT catalogue is already incomplete.

Has anyone actually measured this? Are there known lists of missing tracks/episodes? And is there any streaming service where the ASOT archive is reasonably stable?

It’s pretty insane that an official radio-show archive can silently lose individual tracks years later while the original episode remains complete elsewhere.

Helly asot family,
Do weekend tickets get soldout quick or will there be a chance to find tickets in October ?

Where can I check the prices for GA, VIP, and other ticket tiers? I couldn’t find them on the website.
will they only be listed once the sale goes live?

Hi,

Anyone has the episodes 988, 1104, 1126, 1132 in 320 kpbs? Thank you.

Is anyone else there this evening? We’ve got a VIP table and there are still some seats available – we’re a couple from Switzerland; please send us a DM if you’re interested. Split bill

I'm looking at my options as to what kind of package/ticket to get and I would really love to go to the floor and possibly get barricade. Can I do that with a VIP ticket or are VIPs only meant to be on the deck at all times?

Do i misread this but why is Vinly sometimes mentioned for the „normal“ Weekend tickets and sometimes its not listed ?
I planned to get a normal Weekend ticket but i want to see the Vinly :) no need for Hotel, might get VIP but do i NEED VIP for the vinyl ?

Thanks :)

It’s not doing it for me. There’s a lot of nice tracks in there but the whole thing isn’t working for me.

Anyone else?