The Futurist

Most of the time here has been spent on getting well, putting all money on records (I now have 8 euros) and waiting for the weekend. Omar-S at Tape and Planetary Assault Systems album release on Berghain, at the same weekend, was really something great.

Even though having trouble with both turntables and the FF-6000 mixer at Tape, Omar-S seemed to some extent enjoy spinning records while looking indifferent. I got the impression that he would play his own material all the way through, but he put in a quite wide range of house and techno.

The main imputs were both very classic tracks such as ‘Can U Dance’, but also very rough sounding stuff that sounded good on the Funktion One. I don’t think the crowd enjoyed his set though, and hand over heart, he didn’t mix as good as you think he could. Technical difficulties or not …

On the Saturday, Planetary Assault System played live for an hour at Berghain, just after Pfirter played ‘Guttering’. The live set was very good, he sure knows what he is doing! There was a visual as well on the wall which in my opinion just made things a bit unfocused (and it really lit up the entire dancefloor).

The live feel was really present, as PAS changed from very drum intensive and quite hard techno into atmospheric excursions. Everything seemed to be very thought out in a good way. When he dropped ‘Mark Me’ and continued over to ‘Sticker Men’, the crowd showed their appreciation.

One thing that felt really strange for being Berghain, is that I was one out of 10 people who danced (except in the darker areas), being eye-balled by a crowd which I guess we’re not used to going there. I guess some people forget that they are in fact at a club and dancing might occour.

10 days later, my bitterness has grown into great porporsions, but I also feel very content that the feeling of never knowing what to expect in Germany’s capital is still here.

On friday I arrived to Berlin, with the outset to feel how it might be to actually live here, rather than being here for 48 hours (and being at Berghain for around 30 of those hours). After grasping most of the first impressions after being here for about 10 hours, I felt that it was very different from when I was here before. First of all, I know my way around a bit better than usual, having some idea which U-Bahn lines that go where.

On friday I was at my friends place, which was very nice since I haven’t seen them since January. I didn’t really feel to go out, the only attraction was really Mike Huckaby at Panoramabar. Unfortunately I fell asleep at home so I missed him!

The day after both Marcel Dettmann and Levon Vincent was on at Berghain, which was actually one of the main reasons I chose to go here at these dates. Marcel played a set that felt as he was back home, very aware and punching. After building for about 3 or 4 hours, straight out of nowhere he pulled out really crazy tracks which started off with Scuba’s ‘Hundreds & Thousands’, continuing onto ‘Temporary Suspension’ by PAS and then further down to the unidentifiable ones. The vibe of the crowd was very different than before. I talked to some friends and other people who live here, blaiming it on all the tourists – which is probably true …

Levon Vincent started off with some of his own material, which was exactly as good as his previous tracks. Pounding, raw and sounding very fresh, he held the vibe up for the three hours he played. One of the best sets I’ve heard actually.