Last Friday I met up with my dear friend Kate. Well rested, heavily caffeinated and relatively prepared, we began pre-gaming for a night of top-tier techno. Things immediately became more authentic as we were joined by two Germans; Nils and Tim (and an Aussie, Justin) – long story…
A photo posted by juliancolucci (@juliancolucci) on Nov 29, 2014 at 7:45pm PST
After sharing war stories with the Germans (theirs were better) and trying to understand why Justin chose Nebraska to study abroad, we made our way down to a distant part of Brooklyn for Time Warp. The Germans complimented us (The USA) on putting Time Warp in a run down industrial park as it made them feel like they were in Techno Heaven–East Berlin (Authenticity points!!).
Frigid, we hurried in:
After fighting to check our coats we caught the end of tINI. With the Dubfire set to take the stage after, the German techno heroine took things easy, but warmed up the growing crowd.
After sneaking 10 minutes of funky hometown heroes “The Martinez Brothers” we rushed back to see the long awaited US debut of Dubfire’s “Live Hybrid” set. A far simpler, more refined version of Flying Lotus’s visuals (if you’ve ever seen them), they complimented Ali Shirazinia’s minimal sound perfectly.
A photo posted by juliancolucci (@juliancolucci) on Nov 29, 2014 at 10:20am PST
The set was particularly hypnotic and the bass was absurd.
He gripped me pretty hard with one of my favorites:
Next up was Luciano who had big shoes to fill. HE DID JUST FINE!
I love techno – I really, really do, but Luciano switched the pace a bit and freshened things up. Luciano transported everyone from the magnificent/signature Time Warp cave to some beach somewhere in Central America. Things got kicked up a notch and things got festive. Things went from minimal, refined, and dark:
to
Luciano is a MUST – MUST see. Great vibes and great times. Things got especially weird when he dropped this little gem on us (Thanks Beatport):
Really looking forward to Time Warp next year and I’m really looking forward to catching these amazing acts on their own.
Kate has you on day two.
-Julian
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Julian and I got Day 2 started with a little Josh Wink action. Learning from our previous night’s mistake to check our coats, we bypassed the line straight to the side stage where Josh Wink was setting the mood right and hypnotic. Unfortunately, with the overlap of time slots we couldn’t catch the whole set, but I thank Josh Wink for making me feel some kinda way before Sven Väth took us away on a 3-hour techno trip of epic proportions.
The warehouse venue was a perfect fit for Time Warp’s infamous “Cave Stage.” The crowd was thick, eager and ready for Mr. Väth to make us party like it’s 1999.
The set started off on a slow foot with tracks like Josh Wink’s “Talking To You.” Slowly but surely, however, the beats got louder, the dancing got faster and the crowd was certainly in for it.
**flashback circa March, 2012: The last time I saw Sven Väth I was a highly impressionable nineteen-year-old, bouncing around my first Ultra Music Festival. I had just gotten my mind blown by Justice at the Main Stage before being lead into the foggy techno cave that is the Carl Cox Stage. I remember thinking to myself, “Wait, there’s more?” Jesus, I had no idea what was just about to happen to me. Ain’t a damn thing changed.**
The techno mogul kept the party going for three hours strong, lifting records up above his head like a true OG and grinning out at the massive crowd while his classic fog cannons blasted off. He dropped a remix of Moderat’s “Bad Kingdom” and I swear I’ve never seen a crowd more hyphy.
Fast forward to 4 am…Sven hands it over to Richie Hawtin and as far as the crowd was concerned, the night was very far from over.
In classic Richie style, he played out a near 3-hour set that not only made you move, but also made you think. He would build up the momentum, drop it, then take it away before you could even figure out what hit you. Just ask the girl on stage whom experienced a little run in with the speaker –I bet she didn’t see that one coming.
All jokes aside, Richie played an amazingly hypnotic set, and while I can’t blame the girl for wanting to capture such an epic moment on film, people have to understand how enormously distracting their cameras can be during a show–not only for the performer, but for the audience, too. Richie may not have handled the situation in the most respectable manner, but his intentions were on point: put your damn phone away and enjoy what’s going on around you. I promise it looks better than what’s going on through your iPhone screen.
Photo courtesy of Silversquares on Facebook
Richie ended the night by quickly switching to his alter-ego Plastikman, and letting the mesmerizing and extremely suitable “Exhale” ride until the lights came on. All in all, Time Warp succeeded, even after some last minute venue changes and coat check mishaps, in bringing a bomb ass international event to the States. The turnout was amazing, the music was even better, and it gives me a little smidgen of hope that maybe we (Americans) too, can get down just as well as the other side of the pond. (A girl can dream, right?)
-Kate
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