In 2019 cosmic gate will mark a milestone with Cosmic Gate – 20 Years: Forward Ever, Backward Never. Twenty successive years of music-making union. It's a period that has given rise to dozens of club classics, genre-shaping hits & outright anthems, 50+ career remixes and 8 (soon to be 9) albums. Regularly reminded of this approaching moment by fans, Nic & Bossi looked at not a way to salute the career landmark, but the way. Fresh off the back of their first Grammy nomination (more info below), what they'll arrive with in the New Year won't so much rewrite the ‘greatest hits' rulebook, as leave it for dust.
“What Bossi & I didn't want says Cosmic Gate's Nic Chagall, was something that focussed exclusively on our last 20 studio years – a straight up 'greatest hits of Cosmic Gate or whatever. More, we were looking for something that was a broader echo of what we've experienced as DJs, with – further – an as-strong emphasis on the future”.
Released in the spring 2019, 'Cosmic Gate – 20 Years: Forward Ever, Backward Never' is a music album project, apparently without precedent. “This will take us closer to the 360 of who we are, where we've been and – as much – where we're going, feels Bossi”. Approaching the release from four distinct points, the album will comprise new Cosmic Gate productions, and collabs with artists who have accompanied their career. It'll also feature reworks of tracks that have been of particular inspiration, as well as new takes from others on classic Cosmic moments. “Where these four avenues meet on the album will be the sign-off for our last 20 and mark the start of our next.”
It could be argued though that it is in fact five avenues: Cosmic Gate's celebrations will also encompass the liveliest-of-live aspects through their 20-20-20 tour.
Commencing in Australia on the very eve of their 20th year, 01.01.19 will see the group embark on a tour of 20 cities & clubs, all of which have played notable/remarkable roles in the development of their career. Each handpicked by Nic & Bossi, over the course of the nights' three-hour sets, the group's ‘future x present x past' will be thrillingly recognised, bringing its music electrically to life, Details/dates of the first phase of shows are below, tickets for which are on sale from today here (https://cosmic-gate.de/tour-dates/).
With them comes the chance to see one of the most enduring, groundbreaking and critic-delighting names in trance mark their once-in-a-lifetime milestone.
'Cosmic Gate – 20 Years: Forward Ever, Backward Never' Tour – phase one details:
Dec 31 – Sydney Metro Theatre
Jan 01 – Melbourne Shed 14
Jan 04 – Adelaide HQ
Feb 08 – Toronto, ON Rebel
Feb 09 – Montreal QC New City Gas
Feb 16 – St Petersburg Trancemission
Feb 23 – Utrecht ASOT 900
Mar 01 – Seattle, WA Showbox
Mar 02 – Vancouver, BC Harbour Event Centre
Mar 08 – Denver, CO Gothic Theatre
Mar 09 – San Francisco, CA The Regency
Mar 15 – Chicago, IL Concord
Mar 16 – St Louis, MO RYSE
Mar 22 – Houston, TX Stereo Live
Mar 23 – Dallas, TX Stereo Live
Apr 05 – Los Angeles, CA Palladium
Apr 21 – Cologne Bootshaus
Apr 27 – Singapore Zouk
With this month's announcement of its nominations, Cosmic Gate were delighted to receive their first nod in the GRAMMY awards. Amongst the five remixes judged by the institution's illustrious panel to be the best of the last twelve months was Cosmic Gate's expansion of gabriel & dresden's ‘Only Road'. Released back in February, the remix's appeal ran long throughout the summer, where it was still a regular feature in DJs sets come the end of the Ibiza season. Dubbed (in their “9/10” Single of the Month review) “masterful” by DJ Mag, the publication went on to praise the remix for its “embracing of darker tones”, “wily sound design” and “alchemic sequencing”. The GRAMMYS take place on February 10th, 2019.