I'd just like to add my comments on ILT6. We too also went in 2000 and were absolutely knocked out : the trouble then was that there were so many artists and every one was playing for half-an-hour/45minutes - that you were all over the place like a yoyo!! The venue is massive - you've never seen anything like it. At first we thought the huge cavernous main room was it and each corner (which had its own colour) were the room areas. Little did we realise at first that when we got to that 'area' that the room was then off to the side.
35,000 people were at each event. In 2000 we got there around 10pm and there were huge queues for the coatroom and bar tickets, although I have to say we walked straight in the main doors with little delay. This year we got there at 8.30 to avoid those q's and it worked. The big difference this year also was that there were much fewer DJs playing and nearly everyone had 2hr sets. We immediately headed to hear UMEK who for me I thought it was the set of the night. We stayed on to listen to Bandalu (who disappointed me and obviously many others, cause the room completely emptied). I'm not really too much of a Dark Cave fan, but my m8s r so that was next on our agenda. Towards the end of his set the room was really hot and I made my way to the Cocoon room to see the end of Chris Liebing and Richie who has long been my 'God'. Richie played from 2-4. I wanted to hear DJ Rush who was starting at 3.45 in another room. I really enjoyed Richie's set but around 3.30ish I realised how hot I was. I tried to get to the bar/Rushs room. It took me about 20 minutes to make the Bar. The next thing I knew it was 5.00am - I was still in the Cocoon Room, Sven was playing ... I don't remember him starting or Richie finishing ... the whole interim is a black hole in my memory. OK I love music, I love partying, I dont drink, but I consume. Too often, we've looked forward to great nights, made bigged plans, got totally boshed and remembered nothing. I didnt want that to happen here and yet it did. I have to blame the heat. Its always when the heat is excessive that the blackouts happen. But I think that is what happened because of the smaller line up - too many people tried to get into one room at one time. [Incidentally I have to agree with Dennis, in 2000 Speedy J was the set of the night - and if you read his tour diarys on Plus8 site, even Richie agreed with that!] "I Love Techno" is an experience definately not to be missed. But, isnt it really a matter of personal opinion: in 2000 I found the crowd really wonderful, friendly people .. my m8s came home bitching about 'bloody belgians' - this year, I didnt find anything outstanding about the crowd, yet my belgian basher m8s came home saying how friendly and enthusiastic everyone was and how they must have been wrong first time around about those beautiful belges! But, at the end of the day, I normally dont go to these big festival events. As a promoter, I'm very anti running more than one room. You can only see one artist at a time, and I think its an insult to the DJ to have people running off half-way through his set to try to catch the start of someone else. What's the point of a DJ trying to take people on a journey, when the passengers arent going to be there for the whole ride. As a promoter, my DJs worked as a team to build the night continually - and so no way did the DJ playing the opening set ever "bang-it". The tempo just upped and upped through the night and the peak of the night was at the end of the night. People went away on a real 'high'. Too often now I continually see DJs competing against other rooms and a 12-2am DJ banging the fu(k out of it - that halfway through the next DJs set everyone is on their way home, exhausted ..... I remember in the v early 90s going to huge warehouse raves in Holland where they would have 12/15000 people all in one room: they were mind blowing. One at an Ice Arena in the far north did have two rooms but the stages were at the opposite end of one arena with the bar and concessions in the middle. The way the speakers were arranged, it actually worked. When you were in the South Side you heard the South Side even at the Bar and when you were in the North Side you heard the North Stage (that's why we originally thought in 2000 [odd that it seemed] that each corner of the cavernous main room was that particular coloured area). I Love Techno, is something not to be missed - the crowd are really up for it and enthusiastic : but as I said in one of my other posts the crowd age started at 16 going upwards and u have to have young people to get an enthusiastic crowd. [It might explain why i thought the crowd this year were less enthusiastic that maybe there were less 16 yos - the event sold out and teenagers, im experience arent normally the ones to be advance buying tickets with their non-existant credit cards!]. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dennis Donohue" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <313@hyperreal.org> Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2001 02:57 Subject: [313] I Love techno 6 review [LONG] > > > I will start by stating that I've read in a few places that this was the > > fifth installment, but I Distinctly remember the theme for I Love techno > > 2000 being "5 years 5 rooms" and I even have a shirt from last year that > > says that, so I'm going to refer to I Love Techno 2001 as the sixth > version. > My first impressions of this year's event were severe > disappointment, > and utter frustration - as the two MAIN reasons I came back to I love > techno > were opposite spectrum this year. One of the best things about last > year's > party (besides the amazing line-up) was the collection of people who > came to > see the talent, and the way that they appeared to be enjoying the music > much > more than coming just because its a huge party and they wanted to get > messed > up. This year's endeavor was a complete flip-flop, with extremely > messed up > people everywhere and lots of (American reminiscent) Candy-raver types > with > their glowsticks, plastic beads, and shiny clothes. Perhaps I just had > a > different view last year, or I managed to miss all the action, but I > didn't > pull that sort of reaction, and the people seemed to be there for > support, > rather than for drugs or anything else (albeit they still got down!). > The > second dissapointment was immediatley apparent and was the thing that > kept > reappearing all night - the organization and planning for all the people > was > poor. Last year, my wife and I left the Flanders Expo feeling like > there > were only 1500 people in there, when there were really 30,000+. The > lines > to get in last year were non-existant, the bathrooms took mere seconds > to > get into, the main room was only filled about 1/4 at any one time, - and > the > only time I felt like there were a ton of people in the place, was when > only > one superstar DJ was playing, and all of the people mobbed into one > room. > This year, they had awful planning, and I think it was partially because > the > organizers or promoters wanted to be really tight with the police or > governing authorities. Last year, the doors had somewhat lax security > and > no cattle lanes which kept the line moving at all times, and it took us > no > more than 5 minutes to get in and check our coats. For I Love Techno > 2001, > it took us almost 2 hours to do the same thing, and they had > cumbersomely > placed movable barracades everywhere where there was a flock of people > (front door, coat check, bathrooms) which only made things horribly > worse. > Fortunately, I'm not going to wank on about how horrid this party was > > compared to last year, and as a matter of fact, I'm going to tell you > how > itblew last year out of the water, in terms of Artist participation > (does > that make sense?) and overall feel. First, let me describe the size of > the > space. The Flanders Expo (at least the portioins they were using), has > a > gigantic Warehouse feel to it, with six enormous rooms flanked on to it > three on each side of the rectangular "chill" area which had no music in > it, > just concessions and merchandise - and a VIP entry area. The main area > was > much larger than any warehouse I have ever been in, let alone any rave > or > party I've ever attended. Each room that branched off, was easily the > largest party I'd ever attended being (in my sometimes distorted > perception) > at least larger than an american Football field for the people to dance > and > congregrate (but it felt like everyone in the building was dancing like > mad > - at all times, compared ot last year's crowd that [while severly > entertained] mainly just smiled and bopped their heads). Getting from > the > front of one room back into the "main" area, and then on to the front > (or > stage) area of another room took around 30 minutes at one point in the > evening - but was not too cumbersome that it was frustrating. > > On to the talent - > I will try my best to explain what I was feeling objectively, but it's > very > hard to do so. There are so many things that go into a really good set > or > performance or even one of the rooms that they had built, and someone at > the > same party could have been in different rooms the entire time and > possibly > had a completely different experience than I had. That said, I didn't > travel to Europe to have a crappy night, and I was destined to have fun > - > but my expectations were shattered. > > We arrived in time to catch Umek, but with the lines and coat check > taking 2 > hours - completely missed his set (much to my dismay). We headed first > into > the "yellow" room (each of the five performance rooms were dubbed a > color, > and the sixth room was were the coat check, EMS and other functional > things > such as the exit vestibule were setup). When we entered, it seemd like > people were leaving, and Bandulu had just stopped playing a live song. > Bandulu (at least two of them - I'd heard that there were 3 > originally???) > were just stopping in between songs, and we were able to catch 20 - 30 > minutes of their set, which was really nice sounding - but the sound > quality > in that room wasn't the best. They played 5-6 unrecognized songs, but > they > were all harder and dryer than the stuff that I know from Bandulu - but > very > nice, and the gents were REALLY getting down. They were tweaking so > hard > and sweating like crazy all the while smiling and it seemed as if they > were > in awe of everything like most of the crowd.after Bandulu we made a long > > treck to the "Orange" room to see Chris Liebing. I have NEVER seen a > happier guy while spinning records (save Derrick May a long time ago). > Chris was not only hamming it up into the cameras that were placed on > the > turntables very close to the arms, but he was doing some really nice > mixing > with what appeared to be three tables, and he was changing the tempo of > the > entire mix at one point with both tables at the same time (I was > dumbfounded). He also had some effects that I had never seen before, > that > were making crazy nosies and drum rolls (which I now find, are something > > like the new Pioneer DJM3000 will have). He played a really great mix > of > electro sounding techno and went into a real New Wave portion that > included, > Jori Hulkkonen's remix of Corey Heart's "sunglasses at night" that just > made > the occasion. He played the Umek remix of "I feel Loved", and really > milked > the crowd for energy. About 1/2 or 3/4 into his set, one needle started > > going, and they didn't seem to have one handy - and it skipped really > bad > about six or seven times on consecutive records on that table, and then > about 10 to 15 minutes later another started going, and they didn't > replace > that one until about an hour and a half later During Hawtin (read: > later). > Through the smiling and laughing and jumping around behind the decks, > everyone in the whole place was so enthralled and in disbelief - I had > many > people just keep coming up to me and talking about how well Chris was > playing, and how much fun they were having - I even had a guy come up > and > pound his fist and scream out of enthusiasm and tell me, "I came all the > way > from Beirut just to see this party!!!..... ... where are you from?". > When > I answered Chicago, he inquired, "you're American??". On my nod he just > > stopped talking and turned away and walked off, going back to his > energetic > hooting and hollering. > After Liebing, we were off to the "Red" room to see Christian Varela do > a > live set, of which I was very interested to see what he would do. Let > me > preface his act by saying that we saw Speedy J at I Love Techno last > year, > and it was hands down the best live show I'd ever seen! (better than > some > rare Rob Hood shows, Laurent Garnier and his band, and even Richie as > Plastikman). I truely think that Speedy J is a musical genious the way > he > stroked the crowd and really held us all in his faders as he played > classics > and dancfloor stompers. With that in thought, I had no clue that > Christian > Varela would redifine live sets, with his impromptu set and the way he > and > his colleagues kept going off. The "Red" room was situated so that > immediately after you walked into the room, you were walking underneath > a > huge stage that made like a bridge and pointed away from the main area > of > the expo (unlike the rest of the rooms, whose stages were at the far end > of > the rooms pointing at the entrance). The stage was facing away from the > > door, and after walking under it there was a HUGE crowd awaiting Varela > as > Dave Clarke was finishing up by Tearing up some old electro. This room > was > not only full, it was about 90 degrees F, and completely soaked due to > the > amount of people dancing. After Clarke stopped, there were several > miscues > with Varela and some other guys standing at different points on the > bridge > on the right hand side. It kind of came down to the floor in ten foot > "steps" and there was about ten feet of room between where each "step" > droped out. there were three of them, and then the main stage on top. > Varela was located on the first step down with a huge mixing consloe and > > what appeared to be (from my bad angle) a bunch of midi controllers and > midi > effects controllers. On top of the stage (or bridge) was a guy with the > > most elaborate drum pad setup, I've ever seen used for techno. he had > about > 12 pads in front of him, an 8 or ten pad kit on his right, and another 4 > or > six pad box on his left and two intense controllers, one of which was > the > alesis air effects, with that drum roll effect. on the third step down > was > another guy, with a fully mic-ed acoustic Bongo. A fourth musicain > stood > next to the guy with bongos, and had a limited drum pad and an air > effects. > The lights went out, and the guy on top (who was a hell of a drummer - I > > might add) just started going to town with some really killer beats and > some > really nice tribal patches on his drum pads. He went on for about a > minute > or so, and just when people were starting to get into his groove, the > lights > flashed around, and varela and the other guys started pounding away, and > the > Kick punched in! The sound wasn't as good as the orange room, but it > didn't > need to be. The very crisp drum kits and absolutely amazing riffs were > lifting everyone off of their feet. At one point, my wife commented on > how > you culd feel the community in the room, drawn together by the beat of > the > drums. The Bongo player was also extremely gifted, his hands flying > faster > than my eyes could keep time with. The breakdown were simply amazing, > with > Varela controlling the gate on the drums and pulling some waning synths > in > and out of the set for about fourty minutes. It was one of those sets > that > you just danced so hard and think about later, while slack-jawed. It > was SO > impressive. I still can't figure out why Varela was wearing Dark > sunglasses > in the extremely dark room (must have been inspired by Jori Hulkkonen's > remix ;) > After Varela, we headed were headed to see Slam live (who only > played > for 30 minutes) but by the time we met our friends from Chicago, we had > missed the performance. We set off to the Orange room to see Richie > Hawtin, > (who I've seen some 30-40 times and about 10 in the last few months). > Let's > just say I wasn't SUPER excited to see him, but he always plays much > funkier > (if Hawtin can ever be Funky ;) overseas. He'd already been playing for > > about 30 minutes when we caught him, and he was playing exactly what I > was > expecting, having seen him a month or so before - playing a very "closer > to > the edit" heavy mix with Two Tables and a Laptop running FinalScratch. > The > finalScratch was very noticable from teh rear of the room (the sound of > it > anyways - the mp3s) or so I thought. Once we got close, it was very > hard to > tell - either that, or his quality of mp3s was different after we were > closer to the stage. People really go crazy for Hwatin over there, and > as > the people were really starting to get rowdy, and jump around, Hawtin > opened > up like I've rarely seen. He started getting a bit housy, playing some > tunes with House oriented drumkits, and then went full-on playing Mojito > by > C. Smith, and Compressed (Drum Code 2) by Beyer (which is rare for > Hawtin - > IMO) - and then just started playing the coolest tracks off the laptop, > songs that had amazing basslines and really nice almost off pattern > synth > stabs and lines. At this point, there was a guy standing right in front > of > the stage with a huge poster pointed at richie. for about fifteen > minutes > Richie didn't see it. The guy turned around a little bit, and we could > see > that it was a blown up picture of the guy with Richie, in a picture that > > appeared to be taken by himself with his arm outstretched. It was > incredibly hilarious, the blank look richie had, and the crazy smile the > > other guy had. About five minutes later, Richie spyed the poster, and > not > only SMILED, but started laughing. I kid you not. The man with the > iron > glance was full on laughing. ( I think its the first time I have ever > seen > him laughing during a set). At the same time as this was going on, the > needle on one of the tables was getting so bad, that it was skipping > every > time Richie put it on a record. Instead of getting pissed and throwing > something or yelling at someone he just took the needl off and played on > the > laptop until someone came with a replacement. All this time he was > still > laughing, and joking with the guy he asked for a needle, and the track > selection became impeccable. Perfect. He was playing tunes I'd never > heard, and probably won't hear ever again - and they absolutely fit the > moment. He played the "happiest" set I've ever seen him play. > After catching our wind after Richie's longer set, we headed over to see > > Stanny Franssen, of whom we are acquantiances, and we continued to be > blown > away. Stanny was doing all sorts of beat matching tricks, like matching > a > half or quarter beat, and cuttin in and out all crazy and making it > sound SO > good. We talked a bit to his wife, and danced like mad to his set. > After > his set we met with our friends and called it a night, as we were > severely > wiped out from flying and from playing the night before. > > I hope you all have a chance to see something like this, as it is > something > I'll have a really hard time forgetting. > > Cheers all, > Dennis > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
