DJs go shopping for World Club Dome Escalator Edition
Yet another innovative socially distanced concert solution made its debut over the weekend, courtesy of German EDM promoter and nightlife brand BigCityBeats.
The company – whose flagship World Club Dome event, like nearly all European festivals, is not going ahead this year – on Saturday 4 July staged World Club Dome Escalator Edition, which saw DJs playing on the roof of, and later on escalators in, the MyZeil shopping centre in Frankfurt.
The event was livestreamed on YouTube, and featured performers including Vize and Le Shuuk, who played seats from mobile DJ booths situated on the MyZeil’s 42m (138’) escalators. Fans who arrived together were situated across five storeys of the shopping precinct, at a safe distance from the other groups.
World Club Dome Escalator Edition brought to a close BigCityBeats’ ‘Roof Sessions’, which have been held on the roof of the company’s Frankfurt headquarters since the coronavirus lockdown began.
Watch Le Shuuk’s escalator set below:
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German venues to turn red to protest shutdown
Music venues and significant historical buildings in Germany will be illuminated red on 22 June as part of the Night Of Light 2020 campaign, as the events industry protests against the continuation of its shutdown.
Launched by Essen-based live and brand communication company LK-AG, the campaign follows the decision by the German government to extend the current ban on large-scale live events until the end of October. No concerts, festivals or events have taken place in Germany since the country entered lockdown in March. The government recently dedicated a €150 million funding package to help revive the sector.
The Night of Light campaign will also feature a virtual event from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m., hosted by promoter and campaign streaming partner BigCityBeats, with DJs performing across three floors in futuristic event venue the Adam Hall Group Experience Centre in Frankfurt.
“With this appeal we are addressing each individual politician in the country to finally wake up”
DJs performing at the event include Gestört aber GeiL, Le Shuuk, Milk & Sugar, Musti Nero, Paul Van Dyk, Simina Grigoriu, DJ Teddy-O and ASK:ME.
“The event industry will not survive the next 100 days,” comments LK-AG CEO Tom Koperek. “The current requirements and restrictions make the economic implementation of events practically impossible.”
“With this appeal we are addressing each individual politician in the country to finally wake up,” adds BigCityBeats founder Bernd Breiter.
The Winter edition of BigCityBeats World Club Dome festival will take place in Dusseldorf in January 2021.
The event will be streamed live across all BigCityBeats social media channels, on the official Night of Light website and on various other partner channels. Viewers are encouraged to post pictures and videos from their illuminated cities under the hashtag #NightOfLight2020.
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BigCityBeats to put on drive-in festival in Germany
Acts including Armin van Buuren, David Guetta and Steve Aoki will feature in the BigCityBeats World Club Dome (WCD) festival in June, with a live, drive-in show in the carpark of the Mannheim Maimarkthallen nightclub and a series of virtual events.
The three-day, Las Vegas-themed festival was originally due to take place at Frankfurt’s 51,500-capacity Commerzbank Arena from 5 to 7 June, but organiser BigCityBeats had to change its plans due to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
Having previously put on drive-in shows in other venues in Germany, BigCityBeats is using the format in combination with virtual events to ensure the festival goes ahead.
A virtual, livestreamed record release party will kick off the first day of the festival on 5 June, with BigCityBeats World Club Dome Vol 32 played as part of a livestream on BigCityBeats.FM.
The next day will see 1,000 fans in 600 cars descend on the Mannheim Maimarkthallen for a live show complete with pyrotechnics and CO2 canons, dubbed by organisers as “Germany’s largest drive-in festival”.
BigCityBeats is using the drive-in format in combination with virtual events to ensure the festival goes ahead
DJs Gestšrt aber GeiL and Le Shuuk will perform live on stage with other EDM artists joining remotely.
On the closing day of the “festival”, the WCD Pool Sessions will be broadcast from the the Frankfurt Stadium Pool, with a selection of DJ sets. Following the sessions, there wil be a virtual main stage takeover.
Pre-registration for the drive-in can be made here, with pre-sale opening shortly.
Read more about the world of drive-in concerts here.
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