Preview: Three's A Charm

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This weekend I'll be revisiting Tacheles to perform a raindance for its continued survival. Of course, there were parties like that last weekend too, immediately after the courts handed down their verdict that the art squat's most recent eviction was illegal. But the line up at this Saturday's Industrial Berlin party is right up my dark, dingy, glass-strewn, beer-spattered alley. With Tacheles' latest, illegal closure barely a week old, it seems like a good time to be reliving the acid-industrial parties that helped to put squats like this on the map.

On a less-tangibly-political tangent is the Beats against Corruption party at Mein Haus Am See this Wednesday. This 'benefit party' will be in aid of Transparency International. What is Transparency International, you ask? The answer to that question is not as transparent as you might think, ironically enough. After a little bit of digging around online, all I can say for sure about Transparency Intl. is that it compiles statistics about levels of corruption in the world's governments. Kinda like being a drug-sniffing dog in a meth lab, innit?

I didn't dredge up any of those statistics during my short trawl of the digital waters, but I did find out from a blogger called Dave the Dystopian that the [privately-and-publicly-funded] charity has given the UK government a score of 'relatively uncorrupt'. I beg to differ! At any rate, Mein Haus Am See is a pretty mellow backpacker hangout... always good for a coffee and a surf, if not so much for a laugh as it tends to be quite self-conscious. And do be sure to ask where your cash is going before putting it in that collection box because I'm not entirely sure!

If you haven't yet checked out Panke, here is your opportuntiy to. Panke's a chilled out, DIY haven on the canal at Gerichtstrass (just around the corner from Stattbad Wedding). From the urban wilderness they've carved out a menagerie of site, sight and sound and this Saturday all three will come together at Cross Senses. It'll be a cross section of art exhibit, saxophones and live funk and hip-hop sessions. The brains behind this operation are very down to earth and party-hardy... be sure to tell them Club Alien sent you!

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