Time Warp Germany 2015 – Back in Mannheim
Following on from the big 20 Year Tour with stops in Buenos Aires, New York City und Utrecht, Time Warp entered the new decade on Easter Sunday. The starting point was once again the Mannheim Maimarkthalle! Yet again, it was quite clear that the Time Warp was up there with the top international festivals: it was completely sold out days before the event. A total of 17.000 guests from around the world followed the music to Mannheim.
4 countries, 2 continents, a total of over 75 000 visitors – 2014 was a year of superlatives for the
Time Warp organisers. Guest expectations were therefore high in the run-up to the first event of 2015: 17 000 visitors from 5 continents made their way to the Rhine-Neckar delta for a first-hand experience of the legendary “Time Warp”. They had to act quickly – tickets were sold out days before the event. Tickets sold at astronomical prices on eBay. The music press was also unusually exuberant: numerous international magazines such as Beatport, Resident Advisor and Pulseradio listed the Time Warp as the number one in their global festival rankings.
The rush for tickets was clearly down to the usual strong line-up: over 50 acts – more than at the anniversary party – played on a total of 6 floors. Alongside the international top acts, such as Sven
Väth, Richie Hawtin, Carl Cox, Laurent Garnier, Luciano and Ricardo Villalobos, the German premiere of Dubfire:live Hybrid turned out to be a magnet for the public. The American Grammywinner producer and DJ came up trumps with his avant-garde stage design and multitude of new tracks.
It wasn’t only Dubfire who placed a large focus on design. Extraordinarily – “Cave 2.0” from the previous year found their way back onto the main floor. “We normally don’t use our designs for longer than a year. However, the response to Cave was so overwhelming that we decided to make an exception” said the Event Organizer Michael Hock. “The decision was made very simple by the hundreds of emails and letters which we received from our fans”. The production team let off steam on the second main floor, where a huge number of LED panels merged together to form a zeppelinlike hollow body – offering enough space for the precisely orchestrated light and video show. “It’s just wicked! The line-up is already amazing but it’s sick stuff like this that takes Time Warp to another level” commented a visitor who had travelled from London.
A complete sell-out, happy guests, no incidents – it is no wonder, that the event organisers also gave a positive summary of events. “We couldn’t have wished for a better start to our 21st year. We were a little nervous following on from our anniversary tour. The brand name is growing, but also the guest expectations” said the Organizer Michael Hock. “With hindsight, it is an indescribably good feeling to know that everything went well. Special thanks go to the operators of the Maimarkt site, to the city of Mannheim and to the responsible authorities. The great cooperation and collaborative relationship are an enormous contribution to the success of the event.”
Despite the 20 hour Time Warp marathon, the team will have to wait patiently for a rest bite: it’s not even 2 weeks to the next event in Buenos Aires (17 & 18 April). The Argentinian public are eagerly awaiting the sequel to the Mannheim export hit.
