When everything seemed to be getting in the way, …

… competitors were folding, events were being canceled or postponed left and right, and the universe was not easing up, the Anomaly team, led by Rick Ford, persevered and made it happen. The 2-day event took place on a beautiful farm in the gorgeous Clent Hills just outside of Birmingham on August 12^th – 13^th.  And by farm, I mean a farm.  There were animals off to the side and some of the most beautiful landscape you could think of. With no neighbors or buildings in site, you found yourself in the middle of nowhere listening to the best music on earth, trance.

The venue was incredible. The large field allowed for ample room to get from place to place. Porta potties were located throughout the venue with nice ones on the top. There were two amusement park rides, a food vender and a shaded bar area. The two smaller stages were in tents that help shade from the blazing sun, and the mainstage was gated with a single entrance that made it seem you were walking through a threshold that only brings happiness, because everywhere I turned it was smiles. The signed entrance looked to be a social media influencers dream, as patrons everywhere were filming their journeys into the main stage, myself included.

Because of all the global crises, shortages and doubts, it made for an intimate event with ample room to dance as it saw just under 500 patrons for Friday and around 800 on Saturday. It was so easy to find friends and at the same time to get lost in the music without distraction. The weekend weather was perfection, well for me it was. Being from California, I am used to those temperatures but for others it may have been on the warmer side.

Heat or no heat, people were dancing under the cloudless sky to some of the best names in trance across three stages. Everyone came to bring their A-game to the festival. Like every event with multiple stages, it was completed to decide who to see but I spent most of my time between the main stage and the trance anthem room though I missed some amazing sets, but fortunately the ones I saw were top notch. A few of my favorites from Friday were Nitrous Oxide who dropped an Anjuna classic set, Signum who dropped a classic set with some of my favorite tracks, and Shugz who closed out the night going ham as always.

Just when I thought Friday could not be topped but I was wrong. Saturday came the heavy weights and Brian Kearney, Sean Tyas, John Askew and the rest did not disappoint, however, Richard Durand took the title for best sets for the weekend, yes plural because he did two. His first set consisted of classic tracks that we were not just trendy but also played classics which I forgot all about. Like when he dropped Tiesto’s in Search of Sunrise remix of Hide and Seek. I have not heard this track in years, and even so longer live. Then he played a main stage set where he dropped his gem The Air I Breathe; it made me smile as I was transported back to Luminosity 2018 where I first heard him drop this track. It is amazing how music can do that.

Overall, for the first time Anomaly did a 2-day event which turned out to be a success. Yes, there are some learning curves and changes that will need to be made if they come back and I really hope they come back. Quicker bar lines, some benches to rest, but really it was a great event.

Since I have returned, people keep asking me if the journey was worth the event, and honestly it was. It took me over 25 hours of travel that included 6 planes, 3 trains, a 2-hour uber, 2 flight changes, complaining about no AC in the Airbnb and I would do all again in a heartbeat.

Can’t wait for my next trance destination, which is October for Rong, but I see Malta calling my name.

-Danielle Sanders