[Event Review] Time Warp US Returns to NYC for 25th Anniversary

This past weekend, Time Warp US returned to NYC for its 25th anniversary celebration hosted by Teksupport. This year, the 2-day festival took place in the Bronx at the New York Expo Center. When the festival was last in NYC 4 years ago, it took place in Brooklyn. I didn’t go last time around, but this new space was the perfect location to hold a massive techno festival. The Bronx warehouse space was huge and in the middle of an industrial area.

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Thousands of up-all-night techno fans danced and smiled the nights away. The crowd was interesting and diverse, but everyone came with the mission to dance and party from the minute they arrived around 10pm until the party shut down at 7am both nights.

New York Expo Center had two floors, really two separate rooms or warehouses, that unfortunately weren’t connected on the inside. This led to a just a few logistical issues. In order to access the other floor, you were required to go around the porta-potties set up outside. This led to a longer walk, which meant additional time outside. Considering this has been one of the coldest Novembers in quite a few years, many festival goers complained about the cold and the rain on night 2… especially since most checked their coats when they first arrived at floor 1.

Some of the glaring logistics aside, this was by far one of the best festivals I’ve attended. Not only was the lineup amazing, the production was top notch. Teksupport transformed these two warehouse spaces into an underground paradise. Floor 1 had large balls with a reflective material that had lasers in-between. As floor 1 was the main floor, it had some best production of the festival. Particularly recall during Pan-Pot, Amelie Lens and Loco Dice‘s sets. Floor 2 had light beams set up across the ceiling, which had awesome gradient effects and lasers in-between.

Day One:

Ricardo Villalobos is a techno legend and a DJ I’ve always wanted to see. His set was amazing. He was one of two DJs at the festival that spun vinyl (other was Sven Vath on Day 2). Watching him dig through crates of records to figure out what he was going to play next was cool to see. You can tell he had tracks coming to mind and his set was completely off the cuff.

I was able to catch Joseph Capriati this summer in Ibiza and his set at Time Warp US was even better. Often he has B2B sets with Carl Cox and other major techno DJs, but to catch this techno legend for one of his sets is always a treat.

Heavy hitters Pan-Pot impressed the Time Warp US crowd with some of the craziest production of the festival. This duo played pretty heavy techno tracks from Red Tram & Radio Slave. Additionally, their visuals were really on-point.

Amelie Lens is by far one of my favorite Techno DJs and this was the first time I was able to catch one of her sets. After Day 1 finished, I was convinced she was going to have the best set of the festival (spoiler alert, there was a close second).

Day Two:

Peggy Gou is one of the leading female DJs in the techno scene right now and her Time Warp US set did not disappoint. During her set, floor 2 was packed wall to wall with people that are huge fans and others that have never seen her live. Everyone was blown away by her track selections and great vibes.

Sven Vath is one of the originals in the techno scene and he isn’t called Papa Sven for no reason. He spins a mix of old + new vinyl records and comes up with his set list as he goes. He has a knack for reading his crowd and knowing what everyone wants to listen to.

Both Maceo Plex and Loco Dice blew away the crowd ending the festival with sets to kill. Maceo Plex up first took the crowd on a dance music journey playing some classics mixed in with present day hits. In my opinion, Loco Dice’s finale set was the most impressive. When he went on, the party really started. Dice closed out Time Warp US with a mix of genres and seamless transitions. His set ran a close second to Amelie’s night 1 finale set, but both were incredible.

All in all, the return of Time Warp US was a great success. Techno fans from all over the US and even many international visitors got their sunrise kick. Many of these techno legends don’t make their way over to NYC or even the US very often and it was really special to have them all here for this iconic 2-day festival. As soon as the festival ended, Time Warp US confirmed it will return in 2020!