Men, have you noticed that as you get older you want to go out and party till the sun comes up less and less? Girls, have you noticed that the responsibilities of work and family have crept in and you don’t get to dance as much as you would like to?

Why is it that in America clubs are for twenty year olds? And, in Europe, you find yourself fist pumping next to a 50 year old? There’s probably lots of reasons and frankly who cares. The point is we tend to get boring as we age over here in North America.

Don’t get me wrong- I’m totally guilty of it myself. But, I decided to change things up in my life. You know…try new experiences. Before we went to Mykonos this summer a friend told me that we should see Tiesto at Cavo Paradiso. I said who’s Tiesto? He said, “dude come on”. I said “really, have no clue”. He said “Google him”.

So begins my journey…..

Turns out this Mr Tiesto guy has -um- 10,018,516- Facebook fans. JEZUZ! Who the hell is this guy? Turns out DJ magazine voted him the worlds best DJ. Fair enough. I’ll give em a listen. I called my favorite hotel front desk girl Eleni and asked her if she would get me some tickets to see him. She called me back and said “all the tables are sold out”. Wait a minute. Sold out? He’s not coming for two months! I don’t want to see the second coming of Elvis. I just want to see a DJ.

Ultimately my Rock Star front desk girl Eleni (read more about her here) was able to score the tickets through some other channels.

Kim and I were told to get there at midnight to secure our VIP table. Tiesto would come on at around 3am. He would play until the sun rose and the first airplane lands at the nearby airport. He did and it did.

Wow. What an experience…

Trying to set this scene is next to impossible. I’ll try. Imagine 4000 people in a club which is built into a bluff and overlooks the Mediterranean. When you first arrive at Cavo Paradiso you completely think that you are inside a club with four walls.

Around 4 am you notice something strange happening to one of the walls. It begins to turn purple. After a few cocktails and being up all night you sort of don’t pay that much attention to it. Until you look again and see that that “purple wall” actually isn’t a wall and has now miraculously been transformed into the Mediterranean ocean. Holy sh*t bawlz. We’re outside!

Before you can say “where’s my glow stick”, Tiesto points out to the horizon from his pulpit, indicating that something is coming. I try and rub the alcohol out of my eyes in vain to make out what’s coming. I see two headlights twinkling in the distant sky which appear to be an airplane. I thought, maybe it was Tiesto space ship coming to pick him up because the gig was over (I later found out he has a Lear Jet for that).

As the twinkling headlights begin to look more like two bright round fireballs hitting their final approach on our dance floor. Tiesto musically scores the landing to classical music which makes you feel as if you and 4000 other people are landing the plane with just the crowds’ combined energy.

I can only imagine what the Captain who just piloted in this overnight flight must be thinking. 4000 people jumping, dancing, screaming and pointing at him as he lands his massive beast of metal at the airport adjacent to Cavo.

After that night I officially became Tiesto Facebook Fan #10,018,517. For me, It’s more then just being a part of good music. It’s about being willing to embrace that dark side we all have inside us. We spend so much of our lives being restrained and contained. Maybe it’s time to take a walk on the dark side. Even if it’s just to party one night until the sun comes up with 4000 of your closest friends.

I wanted (needed) to understand more of what was going on behind the scenes at Cavo Paradiso. So, I asked resident DJ Stathis Lazarides to explain it all. I found him to be an amazing man that is filled with an infectious level of love.

Here’s my interview with him: