Favorites:

Awakenings Festival
Electric Deluxe party at ADE and ADE as a whole
Sonus Festival
Nature One
Ibiza as a whole

Honorable Mentions:

SUN Festival
VOLTT Festival
Structured Party ADE
Reaktor/Droid Behavior ADE

Disappointments:
BPM
The majority of club nights in LA

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Originally posted by iLLiE586 Favorites: Electric Deluxe party at ADE

where was that last year, Melkweg again?

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Nature One

deets here please:
still the same drug-gestapo at entrance, dog-car searches, mobile color X-ray scanners, mobile gas-chromo analyzers, strip-searches?

Festi, yow if course!

this year, do SonneMondSterne too!
lineup:
http://www.sonnemondsterne.de/line-up/
(I know, some iffy headliners, but not a problem, esp. with the showcases )

quote:

The majority of club nights in LA

it's amazing how lamo the second US city is in this regard...
excepting droid of course!

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Originally posted by CarS where was that last year, Melkweg again?

Gashouder this year.

quote:

deets here please: still the same drug-gestapo at entrance, dog-car searches, mobile color X-ray scanners, mobile gas-chromo analyzers, strip-searches?

I seen cops here and there in the camping area, but nothing out of the ordinary for a major festival. Don't recall having anything memorable with door security either. I know a lot of people were butt hurt about camping requiring a festival ticket this year, but I'm glad they did as the camping area was full, and completely filled with crazy Germans going nuts start to finish. I can't imagine if it didn't require a festival ticket like previous years.

Jonathan Peters Classics at Pacha.....

nothing even came close....

Hernan b2b Guy J @ Verboten was hands down some of the best music I have ever heard.

Marco Halloween Night @ Cipriani

Coyu @ Verboten

Bart Skils B2B Adam Beyer @ Pacha, Drumcode Island After Party

Jamie Jones @ Verboten

The Magician @ EZOO lol

quote:

Originally posted by iLLiE586 I seen cops here and there in the camping area, but nothing out of the ordinary for a major festival. Don't recall having anything memorable with door security either.

Sounds good, maybe they' ve finally stopped this stuff a bit.

Check out the hardware in vids below.
(not English for the most part alas)
Here's a short about 2013:


longer one about 2010:
there were piss tests, strip search, x-ray,
The last guy got caught with alc, 500 Eur. fine, 1 month suspended license, all for being at 0.058 when lim is 0.05, fun start...


this one shows a bunch of warez, and has some festi pics as well, 2009:
the perspiration analyzer in the beginning is interesting

Last edited by CarS on Feb-11-2015 at 19:18

Best party of 2014 Hands-Down was Innervisions at BPM Festival. Mano, Ame and Dixon absolutely destroyed that dope ass hut on the beach

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Luminosity 2014 was the best for me. First European festival and it didn't disappoint. Airwave and Scot Project took the cake for me on classics day.

Honorable mentions
Paul Van Dyk @ Hammerstein
Mental Asylum Night @ Chrystie 141
Mysteryland Bethel Woods
Timewarp NYC

Last edited by cr24 on Feb-18-2015 at 02:10

Highlights

Movement weekend, Detroit: always a highlight

Sonar, Barcelona: I'll just group everything together on this one cause depending on preference, one could mention.....
-By Day, with its outdoor vibe, workshops, and varied performances...
-By night, with such an impressive large scale event production that just blew me away. Or...
-Off parties, which were all top notch including an Innervisions party which built the energy in the most masterful way imaginable.

Hernan & Guy J, Verboten: great music start to finish

El Row Singer Morning, Space Ibiza: circus-like spectacle

BlkMarket NYE, Output: got there in the AM, so technically 2014...and I think Tini b2b Bill Patrick held strong the entire year as my fav set.

Cox solo, Space Ibiza: Insert Cox pun here - like...deep and hard for 10 hours

So many more that are just not coming to mind right now, especially many nights at Output with great music and friends. Also must mention a three night stretch that included my first times at Watergate, Tresor, and Berghain. None of the parties were mind blowing or anything, but the clubs, vibe, and experience were unbeatable.


Slightly Disappointing
(I still had a lot of fun at these events, but felt like something was missing to take them to another level)

Awakenings Festival, Amsterdam: more just a matter of preference, I guess, as such a massive outdoor event is the antithesis of a dark club at 4am. I thought it was run well, with good people, and a great lineup. Still, I don't remember anything that really stood out, especially music wise.

TimeWarp, NYC: again, had a really good time but the vision I had when it was first announced was not realized. The venue change and lineup announcement contributed, but it might just be more due to what I know of the Mannheim edition..... and the impossibility that it would ever stack up here.

Luminosity Beach Festival: some good music, especially some of the classics sets which really created nostalgic moments. Main issue for me is the venue, which is just a glorified bar with two patios. Sound/production weren't exactly "festival" quality either. I know it's out of their control, but the weather didn't help matters at all. One of my biggest regrets is never making it to Trance Energy back in the day. Luminosity is ok as a party but, for a cynic, could serve as a cold reminder of how far trance has fallen. The people I met were nice, butI found it very strange to be at a genre's staple event and not see an influx of youth. It makes for a chill vibe, but definitely says something about the future when the average age at an event is so high. With all that said, if I'm in the neighborhood (Europe) again this year, I'd consider dropping by Lumi again to hang out with friends ...but maybe only for the classics day, which nearly had my weak-ass in tears, lol.

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Last edited by DPetey81 on Feb-18-2015 at 02:05

quote:

Originally posted by DPetey81 Luminosity Beach Festival: some good music, especially some of the classics sets which really created nostalgic moments. Main issue for me is the venue, which is just a glorified bar with two patios. Sound/production weren't exactly "festival" quality either. I know it's out of their control, but the weather didn't help matters at all. One of my biggest regrets is never making it to Trance Energy back in the day. Luminosity is ok as a party but, for a cynic, could serve as a cold reminder of how far trance has fallen. The people I met were nice, butI found it very strange to be at a genre's staple event and not see an influx of youth. It makes for a chill vibe, but definitely says something about the future when the average age at an event is so high. With all that said, if I'm in the neighborhood (Europe) again this year, I'd consider dropping by Lumi again to hang out with friends, but maybe only for the classics day, which nearly had my weak-ass in tears, lol.

I thought the older crowd was a breath of fresh air in contrast to the stateside club nights/festivals, but I'm only 27 :P

Maybe it was better for me because of the concentration of quality acts in one place. I didn't start going to shows/clubs/festivals until 07 (and at that point I had no idea who the true trance talents were) so I missed out on a lot of good trance shows towards the end of the hey-day of trance.

I didn't personally didn't mind the setup at all, but I wasn't expecting a "festival" atmosphere.

I also was in a magical place it being my first time in Europe period, that I must admit.

To each his/her own I suppose.

quote:

Originally posted by cr24 I thought the older crowd was a breath of fresh air in contrast to the stateside club nights/festivals, but I'm only 27 :P I didn't personally didn't mind the setup at all, but I wasn't expecting a "festival" atmosphere.

Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, I will always choose an older crowd, and the lack of the typical festival atmosphere usually brought by kids was, indeed, refreshing. There was just something strange about it, but that may be due in part to a number of 30, 40, and 50-somethings who appeared to have transported directly from the 90s. I admit to getting slightly irritated at today's candy and "rage" culture, but I find it mostly funny. When yester-year's candy and "rave" culture make an appearance in the form of people my age (and older), I can't help but find it a little odd. But, like you said, to each their own, which is a motto I try to live by. I guess I was mainly expressing my sadness in the state of trance. You were probably in the "younger" category at Luminosity, which doesn't bode well for a genre which has historically thrived among new and energetic party goers. I still had a lot of fun, though. Music was good with moments of excellence, and the bar service was the best I experienced in my two months in Europe. Everybody I met was extremely nice, too...... might've even have been you, haha. Sorry if I don't remember.... I was inebriated for a large portion of the summer.

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I noticed at Lumi just a bunch of the "older" crowd just standing around on the dance floor doing absolutely nothing, just standing right in front of the DJ booth sipping beer. That's cool and everything but if you're not going to at least dance a little, go stand to the side or in the back. I think overall the crowd was just really weak. The only time it really seemed to go off properly were a few moments like when Super8 & Tab played Satellite.

The music was also very subpar IMO. It felt like just a bunch of generic trance sets that I'd expect to see at Exchange LA, but it just lasted 10 hours or however long Lumi is. The only real standouts for me were a couple of the classic sets like Mario Piu and The Thrillseekers, and then Ronny K's uplifting set. The Super8 & Tab Anjuna classic set was a huge disappointment for me.

The venue overall was a complete pile of junk. It's nothing more than an old beach club that has long since seen its heydays. The sound was so bad you could literally talk at a normal level to someone standing front and center on the dance floor and be fine with hearing each other. Then they charged you to use the bathroom, which is unbelievable when you're paying for a full three day festival ticket. I understand they do that in the clubs there, and this is more of a club event than a festival, but still, I think it's ridiculous. Then at night they closed the outside stages and crammed everyone into the little main room in the center and had Indecent Noise play in there and it was stupid hot. I think they even shut the event down early every night, but I can be too certain on exact times.

I did quite a few events over the summer in Europe, and Lumi was definitely one of the most underwhelming. I would never recommend someone investing a lot of money just to go to Lumi, because It doesn't even compare to what you can experience when partying in Europe. It's sad to say, but trance is really not popular at all in Europe when compared to other forms of dance music.

Overall I had fun though, it's not often you can get trance events with that many names, so it has its worth. Planning on attending again this year, but just for Friday, other festival to attend the remainder of the weekend.

Last edited by iLLiE586 on Feb-18-2015 at 08:32