Spanish techno giants Cristian Varela and DJ Pepo will team up again on November 22nd at Awakenings to close the event with a 2-hour set of Techno with Spanish flair.
Op vrijdag 28 november staat de Studio 80 in het teken van de allesbeslissende strijd tussen goed en kwaad. Om dit muzikale gevecht van een goed eind te kunnen voorzien zijn voor deze editie van Carnivale een aantal superheroes uitgenodigd.
The last 2 years we had Love Family Castle to close our summer. No LFC this year, but Cocoon decided to throw a swimming pool party in Obertshausen, the hometown of Sven Väth. Richie Hawtin, Sven Väth, Ricardo Villalobos, Steve Bug, a forrest and a swimming pool were enough reasons for us to travel to Germany and close our summer in style.
We arrived around 14:00 and the first thing we noticed was the beautiful setting. A few swimming pools (nobody was swimming though) surrounded by trees and grass. It wasn’t too crowded, in total about 4000 people with a capacity of 6000, so enough room to dance and chill. There were 2 areas, the main- and house floor. The main was a huge field with a high stage in front of it, and the house floor was a bit sloping, which made it more difficult to dance.
Even though it was not sold out (strange for a German party where Sven’s playing by the way) the people who were there, were there to dance and have a good time. I always dig the German crowd for their open mindedness.
On the main floor Hawtin was playing a very good set! In my opinion better than the last few times we heard him (excluding his set at 5 Days Off). He got the crowd dancing and shouting and was enjoying everything himself as well.
We had to check out the premises though, and got held up at the House Floor where Steve Bug was playing. This man plays some great music! It’s more of a clubby sound, but perfectly suiting this setting and time of day. In the meanwhile to sun broke through the clouds and the vibe was getting better and better.
At the Main Floor Germany’s number one favourite Sven Väth took place behind the decks for a 6 hour trip. This is absolutely the way you should hear this man play, a long set, in his own country. He seems to have records nobody else has and can build up to a peak in a way you just have to dance! From late 80’s electro to German style techno to ambient to big-beat he just played everything.
Our hero for the day though was Ricardo. The records, the vibe, the man, the people, the music, the joints, it was just awesome. Highlights of his set were Richie dancing in the crowd, eyes closed, to his own “Ping Pong” (Plastikman – Closer) and the moment the sound guy tried to convince Ricardo to stop playing, because it already was 22:30 but Ricardo kindly refused and put on another record.
It was a great day, too bad we were too tired to visit the after party at the U60. The swimming pool idea was cool, although next year I think I’d prefer a bit older and more industrial location. Thanks to the Cocoon-crew for making this possible!
