Marc's Blog: clubbing - Second Timescape near Cambridge, UK

Timescape this year was moved 2 weeks later, and whether it was luck or not, the rain from last year, was replaced with beautiful weather, not too warm, not too hot, it was just perfect. Of course, sunset was still a bit late given the northern latitude but the party went on until at least 02:00, so no complaints (apparently it actually went until 06:00 in some fashion on saturday night, after having started at 11:00). If that's not enough trance, I don't know what is ;) (and yes, there were 4 other stages of course, not all trance)

Rick, redbull powered troublemaker in chief

Just like last year, Rick Weekender, Adam and his crew who I've now confirmed are indeed powered by triple espressos and buckets of red bull, did a great job with the venue. It had some improvements in decors this year, more lights at night, better lasers, better tent. And there was a full psytrance tent a bit on the side, short walk but better to avoid sound bleed (there was no sound bleed, unlike at lumi where sometimes you could hear 3 sets at once).

Another big plus of this event was the limited costs. The ticket costs were very reasonable given what's offered, and you could camp onsite to save money. Given that costs are a concern for many, timescape did a great job keeping that in mind (interestingly multiple people I chatted with mentioned one of their main issues with lumi was the high and increasing costs).

Venue

beautiful weather and shade, so I didn't have to bathe in sunscreen. Not too hot, not too cold, awesome!

haha, a trinket swap box, awesome!

There were multiple vendors with the essentials for clubbers and campers:

the bar was also well stocked

The venue itself in otherwise kind of unknown Huntingdon, was conveniently 1h-ish from London by direct train, which was a huge plus. Small downside was that nearby Luton airport was not easily reachable by train, but about 1h via uber, not the end of the world.
For people like me who avoid camping if they can (especially with my gear that needs to be recharged nightly, and soemtimes also fixed ;) ), the nearby hotels in town were about 15mn away, and thankfully there were enough bolt/uber drivers to get us there and back without issues.

People

Of course these events are not just about the music, but the great fellow trance lovers, many I get to see around the world, chasing the same high ;)

friends!

another chief troublemaker :)

lovely outfits

And then this legend was back with the POV light sticks

Meeting Djs again to thank them for all the great tunes

Cold Blue did a wonderful melodic set

I had no idea that after 25 years, I would finally get to meet the legendary Ian van Dahl, who has done a lot lot more than just Castles ;)

Security

There was good perimeter security and at the same time, the security staff was nice and chill. They did their best to stop people from bringing lots of drinks instead of buying them from the bar, which is fair enough. For the rest, the attendees didn't give them much (or hopefully any) work to do, which is great:

this is the best scenario for security staff :)

I should add that thanks to a chat with Dave Clement, one of the co-organizers, who was so kind as to share some of the work they do and how they do it, including indeed ensuring that the security team does appropriate work for the crowd at hand (in this case mostly trance lovers). And this is exactly what Lumi fails terribly at due to total lack of clue from the organizer.

3 Days of Music

the lasers were great

Video Summary of the 3 days:

And I was thanfully a ble to record almost all of Ian Van Dahl's set:

After-After Parties

Timescape really offered much later hours this year. The die hards could go into the wee hours of the morning at the wellness ten, which had pretty cool lasers this year:

Conclusion

First, I'm told the attendance was 3 times higher this year, which is great news, and good proof that the event is doing well and people appreciate the uniqueness of Timescape and what it offers (seriously, where else do you see DJs from 20y+ ago that many like me have ever had the chance to ever see?).

The lineup had lots of trance, a full psytrance lineup for 3 days which is not that common for EU festivals, so big props for that, and 3 other stages. Plenty of music...
Now, I also need to say that just like Euphoria Malta, the lineup was "cheaper" as in fewer expensive DJs. That's of course not a problem at all, it's a chance to see plenty of other DJs that play lovely trance and don't get the cchance as often, while keeping pricing down and the whole event affordable. And then surprises like Ian Van Dahl, OMG, IvD, this is worth 10 big name festivals where I get to see those bigger name DJs, which I absolutely enjoy, but often see multiple times per year.

Just like last year, I'll repeat that I hope UK people realize how lucky they are to have these trance events, few countries have that many. Heroes like Rick, Dave and their crew of rockstars who make these parties happen, are what makes the UK unique and lucky. Let's thank Rick, Adam, Dave, and the many others who made it happen