Unscene Berlin

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 g...

October 31st is a day when the underworld opens its gates and spirits are free to walk among the living. In order to keep those mischievous entities distracted so that they don't disturb the living, people don wacky outfits, dish out brightly-coloured goodies, play strange music and stay up really late. Come to think of it, Hallowe'en is not all that different from any other night in Berlin - but it does have a unique history and a damn cool name. In this city, that's more than enough cause for a celebration...