Last week, some friends from Melbourne - Thankyou City and Uone - were in town to play a few gigs and have a good time... which all made sense to me.
The place they were at was a plush apartment in Friedrichshain. Kitted out with decks, a mixer, an encompassing sound-system and some very comfortable couches, it was the perfect environment to kick off the evening. What's more, they were keeping the company of two fun German guys - who proved to be a barrel of laughs.
Wednesday, and on the cards was another trip to Watergate (this time skipping the line, and the cover-charge - thanks to our German friends)... Progressively, the evening turned into a thoroughly-wasted experience for all, including the evening's two headline DJs. I'm not sure if it's worth going into details on who they were, but by sunrise, every mix was sounding like a train-wreck... it was embarrassing and unprofessional...
There's a time and a place for partying. But if you're booked to play a gig - and it's a proper paid-gig (as this would have surely been) - you've got some kind of responsibility - towards your audience and your reputation - to ensure you can actually play a set...
despite this, we had a ball... (like I said, we got in free and were having fun... plus, it's not as though the tunes were bad - it's just that the mixing was off...)
Come Saturday night, it was time for Uone and Thankyou City to take the stage... The venue was Ritter Butzke, in Kreuzberg. A neat place with a friendly crowd.
Having got there early and checked out the different rooms, it was clear that a house and deep-disco flavour was in full force... Uone kept this vibe for his set, but with his own - much-appreciated - twist on the sound.
As numbers for the evening were a little lower than what was hoped for, some juggling of set-times was done and Thankyou City were moved to the main-room... A good move. Punchy kicks and shorter basslines ruled the beginning of their set. And on the bigger system, the more epic, cinematic part of their sound engulfed the listener.
The set started off with some newer material I didn't recognise - dark, progressive techno (but not too fast, and definitely with the Continuum/ThankYou City sound). As it progressed, we ended up in familiar territory; neat, fun techno.
* * *
Around 8am and the next stop was KalterHoltzig. Though Uone's second set for the weekend wasn't until later that afternoon, it seemed like a good idea to go and get familiar with the venue... Plus I'd never been.
Recently, someone had mentioned that sun-soaked Sundays - like the one we were experiencing, right then and there - were the best days to see KaterHolzing. Set against the Spree, with the sun shining and plenty of the venue being spread outdoors... it's clear to see why the good weather could change the anything-goes, Neverland kind of vibe it has (Neverland, as in Peter Pan).
I found myself groove-locked in a wooden bunker of general madness, all cruising by at approximately 126bpm... a lil slower at times...groovier at others.. but in general, time flew by... All of a sudden - some time early afternoon - and it was Uone's turn to take control of the groove. He took us down a bass-heavy, twisted kind of tech-house pathway, with some deep dubby sections and tribal meanderings, just for good measure. Ending up at a clear-favourite of his, Mark Henning's 'Breakfast Club'.
Having done an 8am-4pm stint at KaterHolzig (which was preceded by an evening at Ritter Butzke), it was time to call it a day for this sun-soaked being... Having said that, once I was safely back in the apartment, I immediately felt a slight pang of regret, knowing that the party was carrying-on... And indeed it was! Later in the week, I discovered that a friend had done a virtual tag-team with me, having arrived at the party around 6 that evening... only to leave 10am, the following Monday morning... it must've been fun catching a sunset and a sunrise ;)
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