Preview: Free Thrills and Chills

Last weekend, I was disappointed to find that a new Revaler Strasse venue, WYSIWYG, had already closed its doors for the night by the time I arrived there. Okay so it was after 7:00 a.m. on Sunday morning when I got there, which might have had something to do with the place being closed. But wasn't the party supposed to go on until midday? I guess nobody really wants to party for 12 hours straight on a freezing cold winter night. Imagine that!

This weekend's temperatures will continue to be cold, so no change there, but fortunately the boon of free parties will also continue. On Friday night, some of my fellow Canadians will be spinning with assorted other colonial DJs at Transplant .002 in Friedrichshain. Kudos to their PR guy, whose write-up for the night is chock full of the sort of witty ripostes that most people would pay to keep out of their promotional materials! Here's a sample:

"D.J. NEOTERIC:
Possibly the worst DJ name since DJ Rap. You had to google it to find out what it means. Or you could read his websites instead (which are plentiful) and learn Neurotic might have been a more apt moniker."

"D.J. RILLY GUILTY
We've honestly never met this guy. What if he murders us? I told my roomate that we were meeting him off the internet and she will call the Polezi if we are not home by 8am. I think their number is NEIN-EIN-EIN."

...and so on. A disclaimer at the bottom of the page warns the reader that "we will not be this funny in person." Hey, if their parties are as fun in person as this write up is on paper, then I think it'll still be a pretty wicked night.

Speaking of crazy-but-fun things that one can do in Berlin, the organizers of Wohnzimmer Meets Kyson at Die Wohngemeinschaft seem to have cornered the market by advertising their Saturday night house party on an international website. An Australian singer-songwriter will be playing in the WG's living room, which will be opened to the public for the venerable goal of "showcasing DJs and electronic musicians and spreading the love of music." It sounds quite chilled so I've decided not to publish the address in the hope it will stay that way (house parties with an open-door policy have a way of attracting hundreds or thousands of people). For more information, click the link above and you'll be taken to the listing.

On Saturday night, there is a free opening party for Crack Bellmer, which is a nocturnal thingamajig in Simon Dach Strasse. The listing didn't specify if Crack Bellmer is a club, a bar or a cafe but so long as it's not an actual crack den, I think I will be content to give their line-up a listen. So far it consists of the JahofYork, a DJ and "other performances". Yey for free culture!

Speaking of free culture, there will be a 2 & 3d Exhibition Opening and After Party at Backyard in Kreuzberg. Artists Suzan Rinow & Jan Bourquin will be exhibiting there. Again, I'm not totally clear on what they will be exhibiting but I do like to keep an open mind... and a closed wallet... so I will probably go there to find out!