π
2024-06-15 01:01
in Clubbing, Festivals
Transmission Elysium Prague 2024 was simply outstanding again, and even topped my "this was the best show I've seen, ever" from Transmission Prague 2019 (and with that ending from Kobi Blastoyz I will simply never forget, that was hard to top).
While, I did miss the psytrance ending this time around, the show itself was amazing on so many levels, all the way to guide wire led fireworks shot above the crowd and towards VIP/golden VIP (above our heads) during the storyline rocket scenes.the lighting looked similar enough, stellar for both
lasers were similarly stellar for both
the between DJ transitions and storyline was equally epic for both
2024 had wire guided pyro rockets that shot just above the crowd, simulating rockets in the storyline, sweet!
golden VIP still has no better viewing than 2019 (VIP was better), see below for more details
both lineups were really enjoyable, although this year used 2 DJ duos maybe to get more names in for the fixed amount of time?
transmix was much longer in 2024 and OMG was it pure joy. Seriously that transmix was fire!
So let's start with the pictures, arrived bright and early, unfortunately tixbase, one of the ticket providers, completely failed and no one was able to get in for over 30mn, which was super disappointing. I'm a bit surprised that no one in the staff said "f'it", and didn't just let people get in with barcodes that couldn't be scanned, that part kind of sucked:
So I did put this event in the festival category, but given that it's a single day, single stage event, I'm not sure if it truly qualifies for the festival definition. And yet, I don't actually care, transmission prague is so good that I'm happy to put it in that bucket.
At this point, I do not travel across the world for a single day festival. It just doesn't make sense for me to spend more time travelling across the world than time spent at the festival itself (and that's not even counting about cost). In the case of transmission Bangkok, it was technically a single day eent I flew for, but it was really a 4 day festival with the pre pre, pre and post parties. It's true that Transmission Prague was a bit light on pre/post parties that were trance related, there was techmission the day before. but AV-wise it was nowhere close to transmission itself. I would say it's totally worth going to Prague just to also visit Prague as it's truly a beautiful city that you can visit for multiple days, and in my case I simply enjoyed transmission in 2019 so much that I was happy to brake my own rule and come back for transmission only this year again. That's a lot of words to say the event is definitely unique.
Security was more than reasonable
Bars took regular money (credit cards/phones), no fake festival money wristband BS. Thank you! (transmission BKK required fake money and whatever you loaded was non refundable, which sucked. Also tap water was not drinkable there so you were kind of forced to use the wristband money which makes me unhappy).
You could refill drinkable water in the restrooms if you wished
I found out too late after asking in way too many places that there was a boat pre-party the day before (with trance), but it was not announced on time, left too early in the afternoon and before my flight arrived that afternoon (long ass trip from san francisco), so I didn't make it. Still, there was techmission, but understandably, for a trance lover, it's not quite the same.
I heard others saying they had issues getting in the past due to ticketing failures, don't have details on this, but tixbase totally failed this year. This is obviously not transmission's direct fault, except an opportunity to choose more reliable ticketing platforms and have heavy fines in the contract if they fail to work the day of. And if they do fail, just let people in without scanning the barcodes that can't be scanned. It's simply not ok to have people wait and miss the show while waiting outside in the sun if they showed up early to be there at the beginning set.
I bought golden VIP instead of VIP last time, and while the food and drinks were great, the vantage point was very disappointing. What happened then and still happened this time around is that some uber uber VIPs had tables taking all the platform space, and you pretty much ogt no middle view, had to stand in the stairs or chairs on the side, after paying all that money. You are not allowed to go to the VIP platform with golden VIP tickets :(
So this year I only bought VIP tickets, and honestly it felt like a much better choice, the viewing platform was great and people with tables did not block our view. I'd have happily paid more for golden though if transmission offers a guaranteed good view from the top or access to the VIP platform.
Definitely have at least a pre-party in a local club the day before and maybe a post party the day after, like Bangkok. By that I mean with trance music (techmission didn't really count). Of course, I'd love for transmission to be a 2 night event, but that's maybe asking too much?
As per the prior point, the visuals are the best I've seen in any indoor show anywhere in the world. I do believe transmission prague has better visuals than all other editions. I'm told the Dutch one was good but not quite on par, and the one I saw in Bangkok, at the end of the day was a very good show in one room of a convention center, the lineup was great, but the AV was simply "Good". Visuals in Prague were "outstanding". As I'm writing this and asking others for their thoughts, I just heard back that transmission did officially post they had more lights in the NL show, but the venue was a lot bigger, so that's why it felt more impressive in Prague. That makes sense and I'll take "impressive" because it was :)
Part of me is sad that all this AV firepower that likely took days to setup, was really used just one night (most was not used during techmission), and that transmission is a single day event.
I personally enjoyed the lineup. Of course some DJs were more to my liking than others, but the show was so good that honestly even music I didn't love as much, still felt great.
The driftmoon transmix was 1H long and pure joy!
The Sci-Fi story shown as transitions between DJs, was still a lot of fun and unique to this event. If you want to see the preview to the show:
Here is my video Summary:
bestof pictures are here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/a3WwtGPSKaheRTo19
and summary of IG stories from that night: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/18008728796525779
or concatenated here:
While, I did miss the psytrance ending this time around, the show itself was amazing on so many levels, all the way to guide wire led fireworks shot above the crowd and towards VIP/golden VIP (above our heads) during the storyline rocket scenes.
the poor VIP ladies were stuck smiling at us while we were stuck outside, mssing the first DJ :-/
the AV guys didn't wait long before pushing all the buttons :)
Transmission Prague: The best visuals I've seen on this planet, bar none!
So, you tell me where else you've seen this:
the light columns are one of my favorites
let's mix in a few lasers for good measure
Should you go? Would I go Back?
Suggestions for improvement
Conclusions and other thoughts
See more images for My 2nd Transmission at Prague's O2 Arena