After getting back to my hotel in Trenčianske Teplice at 7am, taking shower and sleeping for a bit, it was finally time to eat…I didn’t think about food at all due to my excitement during the night, but with so many calories burnt, I was hungry like the wolf after waking up.
And look at this lovely breakfast – it was totally worth of all that waiting and not eating any fast food in the night!
Honestly this was only one portion. I had four. :DD
It would be a sin to not to discover everything what hotel offers the visitors (not talking about the laaarge range of thingymajiggies for breakfast). So I headed to the wellness right afterwards.
And it was amazing!!
I mean, I really tried to enjoy the town, but I felt really fatigued after the lunch (in the local pizzeria again), so I headed back to my bed for a few hours…
Waking up at 7pm realizing I freaking missed 3 alarms was the worst feeling ever!
Getting up, sanitation and packing was reaally fast and already at 7:08 I was standing at the bus stop. Fortunately it was located right underneath the hotel!
It was freezing cold the night before, so when leading to the Expo Center, a.s. where the event took place, I bought myself another hoodie…as you can see, the colour match with the bracelet was ingenious…had to hide it the whole time :’D but you know, buying your whole dinner, something to warm you up and a sac (didn’t get one the previous night because last year with a backpack full of goodies on my back it was horrible – obviously turned out I needed one because I didn’t like carrying necessaries in my hands and pockets) in 15 minutes…I’m glad I actually managed to get everything I needed, including quite proper portion of food.
The lineup for today was as following:
Quite a number of big names, I was so looking forward for everyone!
When it comes to waiting in lines, the second day was gorgeous. Huge amount of people, but the service was perfect!
The first one to come was…oh, well, Hugo Spritz.
And the married Czech duo nFiX & Candice. Although they do not have many own songs, their mixing skills are great and I really really liked it.
I headed right to the trance stage right after nFiX & Candice finished their set. And I came right on time to catch the fabulous outro of Dutch phenomenom Estiva! You may know him, and basically all other later mentioned artists from the Dutch radio show and a sequence of concerts all around the world ASOT – A State Of Trance directed by the brilliant songmaker Armin van Buuren. I’ve been on his show last year and let me tell you…wow, I’ve never seen such a good soul in my life.
The next artist, also Dutch trance DJ and producer David Gravell, presented himself in a very good light. I expected much, but not AS much. He was excellent & energic and the crows was literally fascinated…it felt like a family. As if I knew all these people dancing all around me for long years. I loved this feeling. And I loved his set. One of the best performances for me.
Ben Nicky is a trance-psytrance DJ and producer from United Kingdom. I didn’t know what to expect although I’ve read only good references on him, but 2 seconds were enough for me to realize, that this is gonna be probably the best hour of my life. He began with the Tiesto’s legendary Lethal Industry and continued in a really fast pace. The visuals were unreal considering the fact we were in a temporary tent. That energy, effort and love he put into his music were just wow. Around the middle of his performance was the tent so full, that there was absolutely no space left, even for a needle. Many people were also standing outside. He was thoroughly great.
The next one on a list was the British Standerwick. I spent only half an hour on him, but he was literally transcendental! He chose some old and eargasmic trance tunes everyone knows from the German radio shows around 2005-2007 and it felt so nostalgic and magical! You know those long car journeys back in 00s…and the change of the stations around 3am (talking about Europe) to arouse the drivers a little bit…and that’s the kind of tunes I was talking about. It just felt great, I loved it and I’m sure everyone else loved it, too.
The American duo Breathe Carolina threw one hell of a party under the mainstage. It was really great and you could feel those amounts of effort they put into that, but it wasn’t so emotional as the previous trance performances on another stage or Axwell & Ingrosso the day before. It was Smash-the-house kind of thing and as for me, I prefer soulful performances with own music.
Okay, Timmy Trumpet…I bet everyone recognizes name of this Australian party-maker thanks to his worldwide known songs like Freaks, Punjabi, Party Till We Die, Oracle, Psy Or Die…I could name many more and you would definitely know them, too. This was…well, unbelievable is too faint word for what was happening down there. The crowd was literally crazy, everyone was jumping and screaming…he met my expectations. Although I didn’t like the extra basses that definitely weren’t needed, it was only good for one thing – a headache…but otherwise it was amazing!
To be honest I didn’t know who to choose – the fabuloud Portuguese Kura from my favourite label the mainstage or Rank1 on the trance stage. I spent half there and half there and I still couldn’t choose which one to write about first when creating this article. But because the first half hour I spent on Kura…well, let’s start with him. You might know him for his residence by Hardwell’s side in Revealed Recordings and his songs like Calavera, Tora, Fuego or Kubano…all frequently play on major music festivals. He has his individual style of playing and mixing and I really enjoyed it 🙂
Rank1 on the trance stage was epic. So epic. Rank1 is a Dutch trance duo formed back in 90s and very closely associated with Armin van Buuren till today. There was only 1/2 of the group (maybe they’ve changed in the half, a few minutes before I came), but he played it amazing anyways! He played old legendary tunes, such as Traffic from Tiesto or In And Out Of Love from Armin, it felt so nice to hear it again!
As the next act came the British Jordan Suckley. Well, the music was great, but he didn’t say a word during whole 60 minutes what felt a bit strange…but maybe it’s just his nature, his set was a smasher anyways. 🙂
Exis…what a show! Perfect for the dawn hours he had and for pumping up the crowd! Exis is an Asian artist, in other parts of the world mostly known for his title Count used in mashups created by numerous other artists all around the globe…he used it, naturally, in his set too and let me tell you, I’ve always wanted to experience that sit-down counting “thing” major DJs and producers sometimes do in bigger venues, and he’s done it! It was terrific.
Manene is the only Czech-Slovak DJ I’ve always wanted to see live…and he really met my expectations! His set was a banger, perfect choice for closing the festival mainstage. Loved it!
After about half of his performance was already time to go for me, unfortunately…but first things first, I need to do this!
Yep, just like every other too overexcited fan of electro music, I had to take a photo of myself with these “EDMANIA” letters. Then I had to run to catch my bus. But although those cans underneath me (and basically everywhere around), it was definitely worth it!
Leaving the areal around five forty…but let me tell you the last thing, the last praise for this festival…if you’re from around Slovakia and you’re interested in this kind of music, definitely visit it. Maybe it hasn’t got effects and visuals as Tomorrowland or Ultra, but for that little amount of money (considering the price in “early bird” phase)…it was 1000% worth it. The organizers are really trying so hard to make it perfect for the visitors, you can feel it everywhere…EDMANIA is not about marketing, it’s a festival with love 🙂 And I’m definitely attending the next year, too 🙂 This year Axwell & Ingrosso (those two actually got my heart already in 00s, but that’s a long story) and Ben Nicky were those, who totally got my heart, next year it may be even more interesting! We’ll see 😉
After two hours of sleep and another delicious breakfast was time to leave this venue that gave me so many beautiful memories…
By the way!
There’s a little restaurant right next to the train station, and even though it may look a bit poor, the cuisine is just amazing and well worth of the money (it’s really cheap actually!). Also the patio is very nice, it’s better to wait here for your train/bus than in the station building for sure, because on the station you won’t find even a bench…while here you’ll be able to buy fresh warm soup, fine coffee and some meal. As for me, is this an unambiguous choice.
Well, goodbye, Trenčín…you’ll be much missed…
Have a great day!
Asequibles 