Time Warp 2008

180 kilowatts of sound, 400 kilowatts of light, 120 kilometres of cable - these are just the dry technical facts of the Time Warp festival, held in early April in the small town of Mannheim not far from Frankfurt. Hundreds of French, Italians and Spaniards - these are the three most represented nationalities among the foreign visitors - flew to Germany for a single night, 5 April - the festival's closing party, on whose five dancefloors performed every possible star of the world techno scene. It's very easy to understand people's urge to dance that night - after all, the line-up for the night stirred the mind of any fan of the style: Carl Cox, Sven Vath, Richie Hawtin (a seven-hour set), Laurent Garnier (an eight-hour set), Ricardo Villalobos, Luciano, Loco Dice, Chris Liebing, Alter Ego, Marco Carola, Magda and many other no less interesting artists.

The festival is already 15 years old, and this explains the high technical level of its organisation. A comfortable space divided into five dancefloors and numerous cafes and chill-outs; bars not overloaded with customers; real, clean toilets (not the humiliating plastic boxes that Russian promoters bring to open-airs). In the press room you could see Russian journalists representing Billboard and FHM. It seemed a little strange that such major publications send their staff out with "point-and-shoots" - but it's not for us to judge.

The festival's technical equipment was, as one would expect, top-notch: excellent sound evenly rocking the huge dancefloors; good lighting; absolute adherence to the line-up. Unfortunately, there was no decoration whatsoever, and the only set to be graced with a nice dance show was that of the Time Warp resident, local star Sven Vath. On the whole, if you leave aside the line-up, that is the festival's musical component, then Time Warp is noticeably inferior to our "Forts". Thus, one should travel to the German festival only if one is a true lover of the genre, purely for the sake of the music, and by no means in search of a lavish club show.

The festival's audience was on the whole very pleasant. Young, tidy, positively disposed people aged roughly between 23 and 33. This is probably one of the biggest differences from the Russian young club scene, where at many festivals the teenage segment predominates. A mass survey of the visitors showed that most people had already attended the festival in the past. Evidently Time Warp acts like a drug - once you've been to the festival, you're compelled to fly to Germany every year. And it's worth it.

Let us turn to the musical aspects of the festival. First of all, I'd like to note Laurent Garnier's eight-hour set; he practically had his own separate, compact dancefloor. For some reason there was almost no press at this dancefloor. The Frenchman himself was undoubtedly present, and he was fresh and lively, as if he'd just stepped out of a morning shower. Laurent kept the visitors on a leash, as it were, for all eight hours of his set, deriving no less pleasure from the music than the public - now and then, closing his eyes, he would start dancing. Of course, there were many French people on the dancefloor, who are known the world over for their patriotism, which sometimes flows smoothly into nationalism. For an encore, Garnier played Prodigy - Outta Space, which is becoming something of a tradition - at other festivals in Europe he has already closed his performances with this classic. For a second encore there was a 15-minute mainstream drum&bass set. A third encore was not sanctioned by one of the festival's organisers.

Taking advantage of our tired legs, we decided to leave the dancefloor for a while and talk directly with the festival visitors, of whom there were plenty in the chill-out zone. Many had to sit on the floor, because no sofas or chairs had been provided by the organisers this year - only a few overcrowded benches next to the food stalls.

- Hi, guys! Do you speak English?
- Yes, hi!
- Where are you from?
- From France.
- Great. Tell me, which of the artists is the festival's headliner for you? Who did you come here for?
- Richie Hawtin! Yes, yes, Richie Hawtin!
- Did you go to his set at Robert Johnson yesterday?
- No, we only arrived in Germany today..
- Which of the dancefloors do you like best today?
- The third! (author's note: on the third dancefloor performed Ricardo Villalobos, Loco Dice, Luciano, Tiefschwarz, Karotte, Marco Carola, Magda, Raresh, Manon, Federico Molinari, Nekes).
- In your opinion, what are the shortcomings of this festival's organisation?
- Nowhere to sit in the chill-out! Last year was better!
- Thanks, guys! May we take your photo?

The next nice couple turned out to be from Germany; they had also come for Richie Hawtin's set, and had also missed the excellent party at Robert Johnson. Many of the visitors surveyed complained about the uncomfortable chill-out - all of them had had to sit on the floor. Thank God it was warm and, thank God, there was a carpet. One bald man of about 40 described his time at the festival like this: "I'm from Holland. My friends dragged me here - I don't know anything, I don't know what kind of party this is. I'm buzzing. The party's cool".

- Hi, guys! Do you speak English?
- Yes, yes!
- Where are you from?
- We're from Holland, from The Hague!
- Who's your favourite artist today, which dancefloor?
- Marco Carola! He's cool! And the dancefloor - the third.
- What flaws do you notice at the festival?
- Absolutely no decorations at all! Back home in Holland they decorate the parties!
- And didn't you go to the pre-party yesterday at Cocoon or Robert Johnson?
- No, we flew in at midday today.

The unshaven Richie Hawtin had to perform for the most steadfast festival-goers - he was allotted a slot in the line-up from seven in the morning until two in the afternoon. His big name, combined with his characteristic energetic selection of techno, didn't let the dancefloor thin out for a single minute of his allotted seven hours. Hawtin himself was lively and sober - he didn't drink alcohol, concentrating on his new DJ setup - a laptop with Native Instruments Traktor DJ Studio, which once again proves that the world of DJs is switching to a 100% computer format of performance. Those who don't keep up will be left behind. In terms of music, Hawtin's set didn't stand out much from his usual performances - uncompromising dance techno with a contrastingly brisk beat, plus constant use of flanger effects. Out of seven hours of steady selection, the only thing to stand out sharply was Michael Jackson - Billie Jean, played in the original. Nice.

The Chilean Ricardo Villalobos came to relieve his compatriot Luciano in a completely deranged state. One can only guess what he was doing before the set - probably celebrating his successful debut as a film composer; on 1 April, as part of this same festival, he re-scored the 1927 German film Die Sinfonie der Grossstadt. Ricardo decided not to stop at the condition he'd already achieved and brought along a bottle of Stolichnaya vodka, which he started drinking straight from the neck. For us - pride in the Russian product; for him - a blow to the liver. With his very first track the Chilean plunged the whole dancefloor (almost the whole of it) into a stupor - the absence of the customary "thump-thump" has a negative effect on most visitors. Nevertheless, both Hawtin and Villalobos aren't averse to double-checking this from time to time - it's enough to listen to their sets on Ibiza. Some people even complained after the festival about Ricardo's set, but one way or another, for the music lovers this was undoubtedly one of the best moments of the festival, because this artist played music that other artists would have been afraid to put on.

It would be unfair to overlook the two warm-up pre-parties held the day before, on 4 April in Frankfurt - the parties with Sven Vath and Loco Dice at Cocoon, and with Richie Hawtin, Magda and Heartthrob at Robert Johnson. Cocoon is a famous club, even the laziest person already knows about it, but the second little place is definitely worth telling about.

Robert Johnson is a small club (capacity around 200 people) in the Offenbach district of Frankfurt, which on principle doesn't publish its line-up (the club's owner, DJ Ata, says that the music and the atmosphere are more important than the names of the guests), but which nonetheless constantly hosts the best techno DJs on the planet within its walls. It's a great rarity - to have the chance to hear a DJ of world stature like Richie Hawtin in a small, comfortable club. The club is located right on the riverbank, so tired visitors can always step out onto the large balcony and enjoy the beautiful view and the fresh air. The artists and the public are on the same level, separated only by a small table with the equipment, which brings an element of a "house-gig" to the atmosphere. That night Richie Hawtin played five hours of sprightly techno without any standout moments, while Magda "finished off" the dancefloor all morning: