Germany

I am waiting for my train in warm Mannheim. I arrived here yesterday afternoon and have been staying with Oli. The grand scheme was to see Pedro Del Mar, Roger Shah, and Ferry Tayle playing in Karlsruhe on the Mellomania Train of Sound, which we did last night.

When I arrived, Oli showed me around Mannheim a little bit and we undertook the arduous task of eating ice creams in the heat. In the evening we drove to Karlsruhe in search of a train filled with sounds. We found a strassen-bahn that had an unusually bassy sound and embarked.

The Train of Sound event runs multiple times a year and is held in Karlsruhe on one of the city’s trams. It’s run by the Shah brothers (Roger Shah, and “Pedro Del Mar”). The two DJs play trance music usually along-side another invited DJ. Here’s what the website says about the latest train of sound.

“The legendary Mellomania Train Of Sound event series returns with the last edition of the popular event series before the summer break. The Mellomania Train Of Sound is probably one of the worlds most exclusive event series. This time live on the decks Ferry Tayle, Pedro Del Mar and the worlds number 21 Roger Shah” – http://www.shahmusic.com

Well, well, well.

It was funny to see the people who were there for the event. They looked like they were all teenagers when trance was at its most popular between perhaps 1998 – 2000. It’s at least 10 years since then and the age demographic showed that.

I had an enjoyable evening listening to delicious trance tunes with Oli and his mum Andrea, who is into the music too. Here are a few photos and video.

Above left: Oli, Andrea, and Cris before the Train of Sound event. Above right: Oli boards the “train”.

Above: Cris, “Pedro Del Mar”, and Oli at the Mellomania Train of Sound in Karlsruhe. Pedro seemed pleased that his show was reaching an “international audience”.

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