Воскресенье 8 Май 2011, 10:38

Fri 6 May – 10 Years Ad Noiseam - Berlin / Berghain

You know you are dealing with Ad Noiseam when your high expectations are not disapointed. Yesterday's party at Berghain (yes, that-club-with-THE-sound-system) was no exception.

It started with Karsten Pflum, who brought out a more various set than i had expected. Moving from his glitchy dubstep to a faster paced IDM/breakcore, it was a perfect opener.

Hecq followed and proved us (again) what a great talent he has. The deep bass or high floating melodic layers of his genius compositions made the best out of Berghain's 4-way Funktion One. Intelligence at work, cross-cutting styles / escaping clear categorization.

Things got a tad heavier with Balkansky & Loop Stepwalker who deployed their artillery of evil bass gristling and skydiving drops, slaughtering a sample of idiotic Ibiza music here and there and having an obvious fun at it - like the audience.

Niveau Zero then took the mixer to deliver a surprise-less set for who knows his album. (S)he who likes it must have loved it. More melodic but still heavy, it also featured some bits that should have delighted the metal heads in the audience. Speaking of which, the dance-floor was nicely diverse with common clubbers, black clad industrial rivets and d'n'b enthusiasts. All provided for a good spirit and easy atmosphere, which is not automatic in such a constellation.

Then came Broken Note or, as usual these days, half of it. And from then on, no mistake: this was no party left, but an earthquake of historic proportion. I had seen Broken Note twice in the past. I have heard many other heavy acts. But what Tommy delivered on that night was by far the filthiest and meanest bass assault i can remember. And the well packed Berghain did not resist either. This was dubstep that gives you the FEAR. If you didn't dance, it WOULD eat you. It was also hilarious to witness how the poor sound technician of Berghain had to intervene several times to turn the volume down and then stayed closed to the mixer, crossed arms and skeptical looking.

After having our bowels reassembled and my shoes untied (!) by Broken Note's bass, what was left of our brains needed to be taken care of by professionals. Fortunately, two of them were in the house: Enduser and DJ Hidden. The first one, well-known ex-Berliner and long time Ad Noiseam headliner, played his subtle breaks with usual confidence and it came over pretty good. Also highly confident was DJ Hidden who used his four (4) desks to distribute his high precision breaks - and some other thingy too (i think i heard some Matta) - among the many remaining dancers. I heard he did last two hours (unfortunately, i did not).

All in all a very successful party for a music that does not deserve less than this sound system (at least once in a while). I can't think of anything negative, save for Berghain's watered down pseudo champagne. Also, nice to see many other usual suspects of "the scene" in the public. The party did not reflect the wide spectrum of what Ad Noiseam has released over those last ten years but it was also the starting blast of a serie of parties across Europe to celebrate, so don't miss the next one if you're near it! It won't be the same line up, but… read the first sentence again. :-)