Ok, so I like electronic dance music, more specifically Trance. When I started in the 1990's, the US was a bit behind in that department.
Still, with San Francisco and San Jose nearby, I've had some opportunities to see some great EDM/Trance DJs. Back in the early 2000's, they sadly played club music in the US that was nowhere close to the hits they had composed and were known for, but over the years, as Trance started becoming more popular, those DJs finally started playing their good tunes in the US too, and maybe from 2004 on, it's only been getting better. Popsicle Halloween 2004 was really the beginning of great music parties in the San Francisco Area, and thankfully things have gotten even better since then
As a matter of fact, after another 10 years (2015 and beyond) the good news is that Trance has grown quite a following in the US, and places like the SF Bay Area, and while Trance has been declared dead a few times in the last 10 years, it's still going strong here.
Trance Family SF is definitely strong in the area, we've been getting more big trance parties every year, including many top DJs that come visit us what feels like every other week now (as of 2018-2019), and through those events, I made many friends in Trance Family SF. Thanks to you all.
Over those years, I got the chance to meet a few of my favourite DJs, including Armin more than once, and my last hobby has been to work on lights for my shirt and pants (version 3) and (version 4)
I had only done one Transmission so far, and it was Transmission Prague 2019 in O2 Arena. I was beyond Epic!, so that set the bar high because it literally was the best indoor show I had ever seen.
The location felt a bit weird, inside a convention center, and at first, I was going to go to the wrong room with another show:
wrong place :)
After walking around the building, got to the right place. The show started at 15:00, but since it was indoors, it was dark enough for me:
swee lineup
Security was fairly thorough, and very intent on taking your unopened water so that you were forced to buy theirs inside, which is annoying to say the least. And not just that, but they also used some stpuid fake money rechargeable wristband system and they kept all the unused credits at the end. I honestly find that petty and insulting :(
WTF, guys, please stop this fake money BS
Thankfully they were not worried about my outfit, and I was able to secure a special wristband, just in case :)
Another local thing I saw in Thailand was VIP is for peasants. They have Very VIP, and Super Very VIP :)
Glad to run into friends and make new ones as always:
thanks Marie for getting me to come here
Anthony was surprised to hear my voice on this side of the world :)
And the best for last, Blastoyz!
The show production value was very good for what was otherwise a big empty room. Not to the level of the O2 Arena hat was much better equipped for this, but still about as good as you can make a show within such a space.
lots of phones were watching the show :)
The show started with Jonny B, a local who played nice trance at all the events I went to:
Daxon was next, I met him at Untold, and he did great for both shows:
Next Xijaro and Pitch played another great set with lovely remixes:
Stoneface & Terminal came next:
Cosmic Gate also did a nice set, different from their usual one:
After that, we got Ferry Corsten as SystemF, a great trip back in memory lane:
Marlo Tech Energy was a fun set, zero fucks given, and nice back and forth journey between Trance and Techno:
look at all the phones :)
did we have enough lasers? :)
nice fan club :)
After that, was Will Atkinson:
going to the front was challenging, but went from time to time
And saving the best for last, Blastoyz got to finish the show, just last transmission Prague, and we got to enjoy his high energy beats and triplets. So much fun as always:
And that was it, 9 hours, 15:00 to 00:00, lots of fun again.
Video Summary:
Should you go? Would I go Back?
Transmission is festival that is single day and single room, so in that respect it doesn't compare with bigger festivals. Single room can actually be a plus in my book if it's packed with the best artists you can get, and that you like them. I sure loved their selection, so I didn't need more rooms full of conflicts and something ridiculous like ASOT Utrecht with 5 or 6 rooms where you are missing great stuff every hour.
As for single day, if you could the pre and after parties, you could almost say it's 3 days, so that makes the trip more worth it. That said, is it really worth flying across the world, for (over 24H of flying for me)? I'd say probably not unless you have another reason to travel here, and that's easy to fix, I'm going diving nearby afterwards :)
Back to transmission:
the room setup, lighting, and lasers were top notch
the story and transition between artists, was very enjoyable this time again
Security was "thorough", both because they worry about muslim terrorists apparently (over 6000 people killed by them in Thailand :( ), and are intent on making sure you don't bring water :( (tap water is not drinkable in Thailand)
I realize that too many countries in Asia do not have drinkable tap water and the culture is to use an endless amount of non recyclable plastic bottles that aren't recyclable and mostly end up in the great ocean plastic garbage pile, but offering water to refill from big water containers, would be super nice
I'm really annoyed by the fake money wristband BS, it's a waste of time, it's petty and just vexing, especially when they make it clear that they will keep left over money you didn't use. Charge what you need to charge at the entrance, and stop playing games, please.
All is all, it was a good show and worth going to if you can fly there reasonably easily, but Transmission Prague was a much nicer arena (vs a room in a connention center)
Conclusion
This was my first festival in Asia, so that made it special. It was interesting to see different kinds of crowds, but at the end of the day, we're all trance lovers, and this unites us. Even though I was far from home, I felt right at home. Thank you.
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