Cast your mind back to the early days of the pandemic. The scene started having discussions which aren’t normally had – mostly because there was nothing else to do. Talk soon turned to the enormous fees being demanded by the higher echelon of DJs – and I’m probably not the only one who noticed this was a debate in which those very highly paid DJs stayed conspicuously quiet,

There was a reason why. Namely that they’ve come to enjoy being paid big money – $40,000, maybe $50,000 per appearance. More in some cases and with the right agent negotiating on your behalf, a six figure fee was a distinct possibility.  Not bad for a few hours work.

There was talk by some about there being some kind of “reset” within the scene – where the aforementioned big bucks DJs would apparently reduce their fees to something more sensible. But not surprisingly, the DJs in question never agreed to drop their financial demands.

Evidence of this arrived in my inbox last night, courtesy of one of this blog’s wonderful readers. Time Warp USA is taking place from two nights, starting on November 19th. It’s happening in New York City, in a currently undisclosed location. Which makes booking a hotel a bit awkward, because you could end up in entirely the wrong part of town – but hey, why consider the needs of people actually paying for the tickets, eh?

The lineup is even more business techno than Amnesia Ibiza’s offering this weekend. If you’re looking for hours of droning, mostly tuneless tech-house which makes your ears hurt, this could be the perfect opportunity for you. There are even a limited number of tables, allowing your painful ears to be accompanied by an arse numb with boredom.

However, in order to accommodate the massive fees for the DJs – which are second in size only to their egos – you’re going to need deep pockets. When you first visit the DICE website to pay for tickets, it tells you it’ll cost you $107.47. When you click the “Buy Now” button, however, the price suddenly jumps up to £201.19 for a ticket that covers both days.

The $107.47 price refers to general admission on the Friday under Tier 1. And in a twist which just screams of wanting to take all your money, you can also buy access to the backstage area. It’s $232 for either Friday or Saturday, or $366 if you want access on both days.

They don’t even try to mask their desperation to make money these days…