Not many brands can live up to the hype of an anticipated comeback the way one of the world’s leading techno festivals just did this past weekend in New York City. To close out its 25th anniversary year, the renowned German techno festival Time Warp made its return to the US with guns blazing for a proper all-night warehouse rager on November 22 & 23. A couple thousand underground revelers flocked to the New York Expo Center in the Bronx, where sounds from local favorites to the most elite artists in the industry flooded the wall-to-wall cement asylum from 10pm until well past 7am the next morning. While Brooklyn has had its fair share of top-notch techno players touch down on its grounds for varying events, the looks on the faces in the crowd made it clear that it’s been awhile since they’ve attended an underground festival of this caliber.
Time Warp festival made its stateside debut in New York City back in 2014, a time when big room sounds ruled the masses and it was still quite a treat to see a European techno artist play on city grounds. With a lineup that boasted some of the best in the genre and a stamp of approval from US goers, the festival returned once again in 2015 with an even larger and heavier lineup that included Chris Liebing, Len Faki, Tale of US, Joseph Capriati, Peggy Gou, Sven Vath, and a rare appearance by Ricardo Villalobos. Although its success led many to believe that the festival would undoubtedly return for a third year, it would be four long years until the brand decided it was the right time to do it in America once more.
Fast forward to 2019 and the 25th celebratory year of the company’s existence — Time Warp made the announcement in the Spring that its hiatus from the US would finally come to an end, and we were all more than ready for it.
Equipped with as much energy and excitement that one could muster up, we danced for what felt like a full 48 hours from Friday night until the early hours of Sunday morning. Here’s a look at all of the madness that ensued at Time Warp US 2019.
Location, Leather & Light Shows
When it comes to executing any sort of major music festival, location is everything. This may have been one of the reasons why Time Warp made the decision to not return so quickly to New York after its two-year stint. The company prides itself in their unrelenting commitment to producing the most bold, contemporary, and immersive musical environments that touch down throughout all parts of the world every year. While the 2014 & 2015 US editions were beyond impressive and memorable, they weren’t built without major issues. Both events were forced to relocate spaces last minute due to unforeseen permit and residential complaints, which can cause significant stressors when properly execute an event of this stature. This year, Time Warp joined forces with NYC’s leading event brand Teksupport to lock down the New York City Expo Center. With no known issues reported prior to the event, the companies were able to proceed as they pleased with no disruptions.
Settled within a cluster of warehouses on the East River, the New York City Expo Center stands enormously tall and hollow, emitting an intimidating yet alluring appeal to all it looms over. With not a soul but the prisoners at the distant Rikers Island jail to make a peep and a bare-as-bones space to manipulate, this warehouse proved to be the ideal location for a sundown to sunrise techno festival to come to fruition.
The first room of the warehouse hosted Floor 1, where the immaculate, immersive ceiling designs that the festival is known for came to life and took our breath away. It featured large clusters of inflatable, illuminated spheres hanging over the dance floor, combined with a flashing light show that was meant to be reminiscent of an artificial thunderstorm. The second room hosted Floor 2 that although was much more intimate, dazzled with a custom-made LED design light show that engulfed our sense and every inch of the dancefloor.
And then there was the crowd. A sea of revelers dressed in their New York uniform — all black everything — flooded the entirety of the warehouse. There was mesh, leather, harness straps, and combat boots, with hints of glitter and neon weaving in and out. It was a pure sight of the underground with a touch of New York spunk.
Night 1
The first night might stand to be our favorite of the two because of a few unexpected happenings thrown at us. All night long, the warehouse was rumbling with the sounds of players like Mind Against, Pan-Pot, Richie Hawtin, Enzo Siragusa, Sonja Moonear and Jospeh Capriati. Our favorite set came from an artist who didn’t make the cut on our original schedule – Reinier Zonneveld. It took only a few pounds to our chest to be locked into his dance floor. By the end of his set and about a dozen failed Shazam moments later, we were left exasperated and completely blown away. The Netherlands native caught our attention with a stunning concoction of heavy and heart-pounding sounds that included one of his most popular tracks “Eating Concrete.”
Floor 2 was dominated by the three-hour performance of Ricardo Villalobos. The legend captured the insanely packed house of spectators with his vinyl minimal techno selections and 28-minute produced tracks in full on action. Fans flocked to twitter to describe the phenomenon they had witnessed in those early morning hours, calling Ricardo not a DJ, but a true magician on the decks.
We closed out night 1 with almighty the Amelie Lens, whose infectious energy and agonizing set was the only thing that could inspire our wobbling legs to keep dancing until 7am. Our ears were buzzing with the sounds of “In Silence,” “Stay With Me,” and all of her heart-wrenching fan-favorite track IDs.
Night 2
The second night boasted a plethora of Berlin stars, New York favorites, and industry veterans dominating both dancefloors. Floor 1 wreaked havoc with the sounds of MINK, Denis Sulta, Sven Vath, Maceo Plex, and Loco Dice, while Floor 2 threw down with the rumbling, wild, and eccentric mixes of Avision, Tijana T, Peggy Gou, and Nina Kraviz.
This was the night we tried our very best to catch as many sets as possible. Not surprisingly, it proved to be a difficult feat as each artist brought their A-game with fantastic showings. All of the big wigs like Sven Vath, Maceo Plex, Loco Dice, and Nina Kraviz delivered no frills, classic sets that commanded the crowd and left not one reveler disappointed. But the unrivaled queen of the night was undoubtedly Peggy Gou. The Berlin-based Korean artist impressed with her hypnotic and pulsating house and techno mixes that sent dancers into a frenzy and the internet buzzing with set clips, track IDs, and major praises to Queen P.
Check out our favorite photos from the unforgettable two-night return of Time Warp US to New York City.
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