The 30th anniversary edition of the Time Warp festival is a historic occasion that was well worth celebration, and boy did its home city of Mannheim in Germany do that across the weekend of April 5th and 6th. Unusually for this time of year in this region, the sun even decided to make an appearance and beam down which led to extra happiness in the air as well as a real sense of birthday fun.
Few parties in the world can match Time Warp not only for its history, but for the line-ups. This year it brought together tens more of the biggest names in the techno scene, from new school firestarters to old school legends. There was a fine mix of names who played the first event and many in between as well as those who are fresher talents starting to make their mark on the scene, all of which were enjoyed by an estimated 30,000 or so ravers spread across six rooms. The production included some mind blowing visuals and lasers that mapped out made shapes on the walls around us, some cray stones, hanging structures from the ceiling and generally a futuristic feel throughout.
One early standout which set a high standard from the off and soon got people locked was the back-to-back set by no frills techno selectors Hector Oaks and Anfisa Letyago on Friday. They captivated the crowd with energetic beats and dark grooves, and unsurprisingly the enduring legend that is Sven Väth turned in a performance on Saturday that got people talking, dancing and smiling with all his vast knowledge coming to the fore.
With temperatures reaching up to 28 degrees Celsius on Sunday, the festival sure did heat up both outside and in during back-to-back sessions with Marco Carola, Seth Troxler, Stevie Martinez, and Jamie Jones, as well as Solomun and Marcel Dettmann, all of whom found some fine common ground in their collections and kept people locked. In addition, the day timetables offered a plethora of acts across multiple floors each with their own vibe, their own sounds, their own crowds. Well-known names like Chris Liebing, Nina Kraviz, Ricardo Villalobos, and many more all dropped some signature sets that embodied Time Warp’s true underground magic.
Always keen to be welcoming to all, inclusive and diverse, Time Warp had an unofficial LGBT floor with acts like DJ Gigola, Patrick Mason, Clara Cuvé, and Sara Landry all coming correct, while on Floor 3 house lovers had plenty to get excited about with Jamie Jones, Marco Carola, Seth Troxler, and Stevie Martinez provided an unforgettable night that ended with an epic B2B set.
Overall, the 30th edition of the Time Warp Festival was an unforgettable experience for proper techno heads. It is of course mostly about the quality line ups, but the impressive attention to detail on everything else, not least the production and diversity of the soundtrack, really make this a Time Warp to remember. Here’s to the next 30 years.
Tickets available for Time Warp’s ‘Two Days / Two Stages’ event in October can be found here