Rohit Barker, Pearl, and Nikhil Chinapa at Trance Around The World
Rohit Barker, Pearl, and Nikhil Chinapa at Trance Around The World

Trance Around the World, the global radio show by Above and Beyond, had their culminating episode in Bangalore earlier this month. Above and Beyond, who founded the radio show, took the opportunity to close out their 450th episode of Trance Around The World (TATW) and rebranded this as Above and Beyond Group Therapy (ABGT). With over 5,000 fans stomping the grass on the lawns of Jayamahal Palace Hotel in Bangalore, Above and Beyond and their legion of followers will never forget this historic occasion on 10.11.12. For any of you who didn’t make it, here are the top 10 things that made it so special.

photo courtesy | @amanjayne
photo courtesy | @amanjayne

1) Hosted in Bangalore

Being the city where I grew up, and first listened to dance music, it was great to give something back to Bangalore. And the city is certainly deserving of such a festival as Bangalore has largely been responsible for carrying the EDM movement for several decades.

5,000+ fans attend Trance Around the World in Banglore
5,000+ fans attend Trance Around the World in Bangalore

2) The venue – Jayamahal Palace Hotel

As far as we know, Trance Around The World Bangalore was the first major dance music festival to be held at a Heritage Hotel… the grandeur did wonderful justice to the festival and the fans who attended!

Jayamahal Palace Hotel
Jayamahal Palace Hotel

3) Support from local authorities

The police were an amazing help to TATW in Bangalore. They gave very helpful advice, and acted as they were part of the team that just wanted to put on a fun, safe festival for people to enjoy.

Police oversee the crowd
Police oversee the crowd

4) The audience

Part of the reason the police were so great (and so impressed), was that the audience in Bangalore was amazing. Aside from their infectous energy and enthusiasm, they remained respectful, and the police reported no incidents among the 5,000+ dancing fans… that’s pretty damn cool!

The audience at Trance Around the World
The audience at Trance Around the World
Confetti falls on the crowd
Confetti falls on the crowd

5) The music

All the participating artists were amazing, as evidenced by the physically and vocally exhausted fans who screamed and danced throughout every set. Though the live broadcast didn’t start until 4pm, there were already thousands of fans feeling their groove thanks to the opening acts of Praveen Achary and Pearl.

Praveen Achary at Trance Around The World
Praveen Achary at Trance Around The World
Pearl performs at Trance Around The World Bangalore
Pearl performs at Trance Around The World Bangalore
Mat Zo at Trance Around The World
Mat Zo at Trance Around The World
Norin and Rad performing at Trance Around The World
Norin and Rad performing at Trance Around The World
Above and Beyond perform at Trance Around The World
Trance Around The World
Jody Wisternoff at Trance Around The World
Jody Wisternoff at Trance Around The World

6) The production

From the LED screens, to the lights, to the sets, everything looked fanatastic. And more impressively, everything ran on time without delays! No IST at TATW!

Lasers at TATW Bangalore
TATW Bangalore

7) Birth of a new baby

The Bangalore festival was the last of 450 episodes of Trance Around the World, and at the same time it was episode 001 of Above and Beyond Group Therapy (ABGT). With such an amazing start (including global audio broadcast to 32 million people on aboveandbeyond.nu), we couldn’t be more excited for this new property to grown.

Hermit Sethi and Nauheed Cyrusi at Trance Around The World
Hermit Sethi and Nauheed Cyrusi at ABGT

8) Group Therapy umbrellas

Even though there was no rain or heavy sun, one of our favorite fixtures throughout the festival were the dozens of Group therapy umbrellas that were handed out.

Fans with Group Therapy umbrellas
Fans with Group Therapy umbrellas
Fans with Group Therapy umbrellas
Fans with Group Therapy umbrellas

9) Above and Beyond fan connection

You could see them strung throughout the crowd shaking hands and hugging their fans. The love was felt by the DJs as well, as many of them just stopped to soak it all in… you can always tell when everyone is on the same page that something truly special was accomplished.

Above and Beyond

10) The Submerge Family

Early on in the planning of this festival the Submerge family knew this could be a very memorable and special event. Team members from all across India came in to Bangalore to help, and the results speak for themselves. Special shout-out to one of our amazing fans, Rupesh, who came in a day early and lent us his awesome lasers to use.

All Photos Courtesy: #10yearsofSubmerge

Follow: @Submergemusic and @NikhilChinapa