Unscene Berlin

Above: A gabba float with smoke machine goes by at the Fuck Parade Because I am blogging on the move this week, my entry may have assumed a rather jumbled look - apologies in advance. Unfortunately, my home internet is down so I am currently writing my blog in the library, next to a one of those lovely people who talks to herself in the absence of a hands-free set. Anyway, on with the weekend review... Was it the sunny weather? The looming end-of-summer holidays deadline? The raft of almost-cancelled outdoor events which went ahead at the last moment? Or a fortuitous combination of all of the above? Whatever the cause, last weekend in Berlin there was an outpouring of dance euphoria unlike any I've seen this summer. Everywhere you went, be it the streets, clubs, or the beaches, people were peeling layers of warm clothing off of glittering flesh and twisting away extravagant stupors, bare feet kissed by earth.   Above: Mixmaster Morris playing acid house @ Suicide Circus Augu...

I had nearly four hours to spare when I set out for a 'secret' open air party on Saturday... but in the end, I only managed to spend about half an hour there. I guess you could say I got a bit sidetracked along the way. I set out for the party by bike at around 4:00 p.m., wanting to catch some exercise and sun en route to Koepenick. About 15 minutes into the bike ride, the concrete  plattenbauten  magically turned into an endless field of countryside bliss. Bushy trees nestled under hills and one of the 3000 Berliner lakes glimmered modestly in the centre of a hidden valley. I told myself that I'd just stop for a minute to appreciate the shade of the waterside trees but lost track of time. Easily done when there's no one around and just another pretty vista around another mysterious bend to pull you forward.  It was quiet enough by the lake side that when I spotted a newly-minted toad clambering through the grass, it wasn't the least bit freaked out by th...

Saturday. Last weekend began - and ended - with me going to Sisyphos with Sandra and Andreas, for Spieglein Spieglein An Der Wand . The weather was perfect for a club with its own lake, and the music was great in both rooms. The smaller room was playing an electronic funk fusion which gave Andreas ample opportunity to demonstrate his robot dance, while the main room tended towards late 90s techno, textured with enough modern beats to keep it fresh. More and more punters joined us throughout the night, and the atmosphere casually built to a dull roar. Sandra and I left before dawn, telling ourselves we'd be back - and we will, maybe next week. Spindler und Klatt. Weekday clubbing has become a bit tedious, what with the weather repelling me and everybody from leaving their homes. Thankfully, a new club like Fiese Remise opens now and then, giving us an excuse to go out and explore the city on a Tuesday night. In the street where Fiese Remise is located, every building looks l...

All this rain. Sigh. You can't do much except for look forward to better weather...  ...so, in that spirit, I am losing myself in daydreams of the Berlin parties that are coming up in the next four weeks. First in line is Hotze: Fuer Eine Handvoll Party at Salon Zur Wilden Renate happening next Thursday August 4th. All I can make out is that it involves comics and nerdcore music. Which is intriguing all on its own but, to be honest, I think I am more attracted by the colourful flyer, since it brightens up an otherwise cloudy day. But what could be brighter than a party at an abandoned GDR fairground, with Kollektiv Turmstrasse tunes in the background? At the Berlinier Luft und Liebe festival in the Plaenterwald next weekend, a fantastic line-up of DJ's will be playing with "Minimal, House, Techno, Jazz und Gipsy" sounds... and I will be dancing along! An official date for the Fuck Parade has not been posted for 2011, but last year's party cons...

The lakeside beach was striped with bars of light. Sculptures that had been erected earlier leaned sideways in the sand, like mystical relics of a cybernetic race of fairies. Projections played across the waterside trees. Stray lasers refracted off of the water's surface in glimmering eddies. The people sprawled on the hilly shoreline basked in the light-show’s midnight sun as louche young things twisted in a sandy dance pit below. Spliffs were passed around. People asked each other, “Where are you from?” and “What do you do?” and "Hey, do you wanna threesome?" while trying to retrace the steps they'd taken to arrive at this unified state… or maybe I should say, unified 'nation'. And then trace new paths to an even deeper union, it seemed.  The light show and the people were the two greatest things about Nation of Gondwana. Several images stick in mind: the guy lying next to the fire who managed to sleep on blissfully as a burning stick fell onto hi...

I was back at work this weekend but in between shifts, I managed to catch a burlesque show and a few great DJ sets at Rummelsburg Berlin. Everything looked and sounded sumptuous (special kudos goes to Luis Ondo, Lady Lou and DJ Emerson for that) but the place could have done with a much bigger audience. Did the promoters simply take the trend for all things 'minimal' a little bit too far and apply it to their advertising campaign, too? Never mind; I got right into the desert-island vibe, so the party was still a highlight in my weekend. I just couldn't help thinking that it could have used some more word-of-mouth to pull the crowds down to sunny Rummelsburg. After that we headed to Massimiliano Pagliara's record release party. The venue itself requires no further promotion from me since it long ago reached sell-out status. It was almost worth being in Wilden Renate though because of the crisp tech-y house of DJs like Baby G's . If only you could get...

While stranded in the party desert of London, where I have been for the past week, I have been keeping one beady eye trained on the Berlin party scene and building up a lather of anticipation in advance of my return. To this end, I've been earmarking ideal venues for celebrating one's reunion with her favourite city in the world in a suitably cheap and decadent style. I wanted to start by checking out Whiskey Tango Foxtrot at Renate this Thursday but it has doubled in price in the six weeks since I first went there, from 2 to 5 euros. For a single-floor affair with two DJs on the bill that's quite pricey, especially on a sunny afternoon with a range of excellent free, open air options to choose from in nearby Treptow Park and Rummelsburg. Speaking of which, the new beach venue of Rummelsburg Berlin sounds like it is really coming into its own with a promising two-floor Burlesque Musique & Style Rockets extravaganza planned for this Saturday the 16th. It starts at 12.0...