For the past 12 years, people from all over Europe and even around the world would gather in Berlin, Germany to follow floats blasting various styles of dance music as they walked along a street. The parade stopped at the Central Park but the music did not stop. Millions of people came to the parade to share and spread, peace, loves and beats.

2 years ago the government of Berlin pulled the plug on the parade since the cost of the cleanup, and staff to secure the place became too much for the city to handle. But in our scene the music never stops, so organizers and promoters got together and brought the Love Parade to beautiful San Francisco!

Friday started as a normal Friday. I got up, got ready for work, and started packing my bags for the 6 hour drive up north. Work was going ok but as my luck would have it we got behind on everything, and my planned 3pm clock out time became almost 4! I could not believe it! All the anticipation and excitement that has been building up inside me for the last month and I was stuck in hell! AHHHGGG

After 4 it was time to run to take care of some last minute errands and then head home to wait for Mike, Kris, Evan, and Alisha to come over. They all showed up right when I got there. As I finished packing, my friends took some White, Yellow, Red and Blue Windshield paint and decked the windows out with our board names and destination. The TA-Mobile was born but something was missing. I took the paint and added the names of the 2 men of the weekend (well at least for me) Markus and Ferry to the right rear side. With all the bags in the back it was time to start our journey.

With Trance Music in the background our first stop was gas and Jack in the Box; my first meal of the day. Back in the TA- Mobile and Nap land I go. When I woke up we were almost in San Francisco! (WHOO HOOO)

In San Francisco we all stayed at the Comfort Inn with our Friend John. 6 people in 1 small room and 2 beds. But our hotel was pretty much a place to store our stuff and to get ready. Friday night was the LoveLee pre-party. The Hard-core party animal I am¡K I opted not to go. I wanted to save all I had for The Love Parade the next day. So I took the time to add final Details to the TA sign my friend printed for me from his work, cut out 50 red paper harts, and put the finishing touches on my outfit for the Spundae after party.

I was in bed with the hardest pillow ever by 2am and up again by 8am!

Once I was up it was time to get ready. My Friend Kris crafted out red fury short shirts, got Love Parade tank-tops made, and even made go-go boot covers, hair ties, and arm bands to match, Our Outfits looked so amazing!

With everyone ready, we were out the door by 10:50 and to the Meteron Park by 11am. At 12:30 it was time to walk over to 2nd and Market, the start of the parade. I wanted to find the Spundae float and walk with them the whole time. After all, I do promote for them here in LA, it is the best club, and they where having the best DJs (all imo btw)

The Spundae float was all the way at the end of the line, so we stood there and danced to the music that was already playing. Once it started moving I took out the huge red poster heart I had previously cut out, held it above my head, and started to scream as loud as I could.

All of a Sudden a guy came up to Kris and I and told us that we could ride on the float! I could not believe it!! I was hoping to get on it but not counting on it. Once we got on the float we where placed in front of the huge subwoofers and the ears got pounded with music. It hurt so bad!!!! Thank god my friend bought a box of ear plugs. A life saver to all the dancers! The Float seemed to take forever to get going, and the followers we had soon wandered away when the parade did start. Once the float got going, we got going. I almost lost my balance a few times. You can not believe how hard it is to dance on a flat bed truck in go go boots!

At the Parade the float got more followers. And soon as we turned a corner there were so many people! I have never seen that many people in one area. There were people dressed-up, dressed-down, in leather and fur. There were old people, young people, hippies, burners, tourists and candy kids. As I was dancing I held up the red heart, and the Spundae Los Angeles sign I made! So much fun! The energy coming from everyone was so great! Seeing the looks on people faces that had no idea what was going on was classic.

The parade ended at the Civic center park and the Spundae float was conveniently parked in font of the Bill Gram Civic Center, also the spot for the after party.

On the Parade route Kris and I got to dance to amazing sets from Local Talent. ( ) KvA also threw down an amazing set as well. While they were playing they were tossing out their new CD to lucky persons in the crowd. Above and Beyond were on next, throwing down an amazing epic Trace set. When they played "No One On Earth" everyone started singing to it. Picture this: at least 5,000 people (well it looked like that many anyway), with their hands in the air, singing to the track. Simply amazing!

After their set my friend Mike got on and threw out some amazing classics. The crowd was eating it up. But by this time Kris and I were the only dancers still left on the float! It was hard to get off when the music was that good but at 4pm I needed a break; right when I was about to get off I see Markus hanging out on the street behind the float. He was talking to someone but once I saw him I gave a little wave and a smile, then I went back to get my things. I also got a peak at the set times, and saw that Markus was going to be on at 5:00 giving my feet an hour to rest.

During our break we ran into Markus again. This was the time I got the opportunity to talk to him and thank him for mentioning my name in his new album. Kris and I also got a few pictures. A funny thing was a guy from Eventvibe got pictures as well, and asked Markus to take one! LOL LOL I do not think he knew who he was asking!

It was 4:40 so it was time to get back on the float and get my spot. This time I wanted to be on the right side closest to the DJ. (hehe) Markus got on right at 5 and threw down an amazing set. While he was playing I got out the Markus Schulz sign and held it up high. I also took out the huge red heart and held that up too! Seeing this huge crowd gocCrazy when he played "Without You Near" and the mashup he did with "Find" was simply amazing!

Smiling faces, people jumping dancing and singing.

Markus only got to play for a half hour and after that I really needed a float break and BBB doesn't cut it for me. So I took this time to wander a bit and chill with Friends on the grass. However Kris stayed on the float and I do not know how she did it!!!

As I was wandering I ran into a whole bunch of my friends. I did not dance for Dj Dan¡¦s set and missed most of Cox¡'s 20 min set. I did get back on the float for Cox¡'s set but it was too packed to dance in the front. So I stuck to the back and got some amazing pictures. Even though Cox¡'s set was 20 mints he was amazing! This man has so much energy and can control the crowd.

After Cox My friends and I decided that it would be best to run back to the hotel and get ready and be back before Ferry Got on. The walk back to the hotel was at least 5-10 minutes long..

Giving me oh¡K less than 40 minutes to get changed into my new outfit and get my hair right. After fighting with my hair it was time to make a mad dash back to the Spundae float. It was all ready after 8. I was blown away by the amount of people that packed near the float, there was a Sea of people. My Friends and I went to the back of the float and there was No way that Kris and I were not going get to the front. There where too many people. So we stood in the back behind Ferry. I took the huge red heart out and Gave Kris the Ferry Corsten sign I made. Once again we held them up high for everyone to see!

More people wanted to get on the float so Kris and I ended up right by Ferry! He put a CD in, saw who we were, and said hello! WHOOO HOOO! Ferry Played for 1 hour. When he played "Rock Your Body, Rock" the crowd went nuts! Not a single person was standing still. So many people jumping, and singing along! Simply amazing. After Ferry's set the Spundae people wanted Ferry to tell every one to go to the After party right behind the float. Ferry did not say it and there was really no need to. By then every one had to know about the After Party.

We got off the float and I tried to go find a place to eat my cold KFC. That was not happing anywhere. There no tables and I was not about to sit on the sidewalk. So I ate my dinner right out of the box. But I could not handle the cold food. Nasty! So I went back to wait in the VIP/Artist line. Well we were in the wrong line so we played dumb and the security guard lets us cut through to the Groovetickets line and then cut back.

From the looks of it, the VIP and GA line got put in one long line together. So much for the separate line VIP was going to get. We got our wrist bands and went inside. Right when Kris and I were about to get our bags checked, the lady asked us if we were dancers. LOL! We said yes and we got to walk right in NO searching! NICE!

I ran into Peter and we chatted for at bit. I then went inside to check out the main room! WOW! That is all I can really say. The lights were beautiful and there were Huge screens projecting crazy visuals that went well with the music. There was also a yellow and Green Laser. Carl Cox was the opening DJ of the night, and he was thowing down some sick beats. At least his set was longer than 20 minutes.

I also went to check out the Trancaddict room. The DJ with the Dreadlocks was on (I totally forgot who that was) He was throwing down some harder trance with classics. But his set was almost exactly the same from what I heard on the float. So Kris and I went to check out the VIP area and to get on stage to see the action. As we tried to get on stage, we where denied. We needed a white Wrist band! I bought VIP because it said right on the groovetickets description that we could go back stage, and hang out with the DJs. The VIP area was just a few chairs in to the side where you could not see anything!

I went to go find Peter to see what was up.. but no luck getting a white wrist band. I saw people go in and out of an area that had a black Curtin but it looked like you needed a white wrist band for that too! GRRR GRR.! So Kris and I walked around and went back to the front.

VIP also granted us to hang out with the Dj¡¦s which was nearly impossible since you had no idea what time they were going to get there. I was lucky enough to find out what time Markus was going to get there (at 12:30). So at 12:30, Kris and I made our way back to VIP and said hello, chatted for a bit, and went to get out spot in the front. I do not care for BBB at all so waiting until Markus came on was touchier!

All though I was drained from the long day... when Markus came on I got my 5th wind and got so much energy back. When Markus gets behind the decks something amazing always happens. The energy in the room went way up, hands and hearts in the air and just an over all feeling of love and happiness! Markus played for a solid hour. Within that hour he played, "Without You Near", "Without You¨, "Open Your Eyes" and I have a hunch he played a new track from his upcoming album right before 2am. Beautiful!

After Markus it was Ferry! The front got uber packed all of a sudden, so I stepped away. Ferry's track dragged me out on the dance floor. Just to let you know I am so bad with IDs even though I heard the track many times before. It was one of those tracks that puts a huge smile on your face so epic!

When Ferry played "Lately" I went nuts. Then "Who's Knocking". There is something about this track I can not get enough of. It was a driving, pump you up, bassline. As I was holding up one of the small paper hearts I made, a guy in a blue suite got my attention. He wanted for me to go upstage. I looked around and looked at him to make sure he was actually pointing at me. Indeed he was. So I grabbed Kris, walked through a few puddles and he led us up stage!!! WHOOOOO HOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Once we got up stairs this guy wanted to introduce us to Ferry. Seeing the reaction from Ferry was PRICELESS! LOL. We just both laughed. So Kris and I were on stage holding the hearts and having the best time! Ferry Took a heart from me and actually held one over his head! WHOOO HOOO!!

Ferry's 2 hour set was out of this world. So much energy and beautiful tracks! When Ferry played Punk every on the dance floor, and the bleachers jumped up and down singing! Such a great sight to see! Ferry¡¦s last track of the night was Aldigo for Stings his remix. It sent chills down my whole body. It was now 4 am. My knees where about to buckle and a sharp pain went down my shins. It was time to go. Kris and I said good bye to Ferry and went out side.

As we where walking back to our hotel room Kris called my name and said Ferry! Sure enough Ferry got his driver to park near us so we went to go talk to him about the parade, upcoming residency and setting up a Tranceaddict meet-up for one of the shows he will have here in the US.

Such a wonderful, amazing, beautiful, fun weekend. Spending time with Friends and dancing to the music I love was the best.


Reviewed By : sweetcandy girl

meet with ferry sounds great. it'd be a good time. I just got back from miami from WMC and ferry rocked crobar . it was awesome show. But I kinda dissapointed that I don't get to see real love Parade In Berlin Weel may be Sf will do for me, but it's not hte same. ULTRA was the best festival for me.