- Berlin has spent decades developing its unique musical identity. It has been at the forefront of countless cultural endeavours, many of which have gone on to become internationally celebrated movements. Pop-Kultur, a new festival held at the city's most famous club, Berghain, advocated "interdisciplinary exchange." Its intention was to celebrate the city's revered music scene, and shake things up a bit.
The three-day event presented itself more as a string of concerts than an uncut festival, with tickets available for single events. The first thing I saw on Wednesday was Andre De Ridder and Matthew Herbert discussing sponsorship and performance in Berghain's cloakroom. "Every show I play they're using my name to sell something," said Herbert, disgruntled.
This conversation had already given me a lot to think about, but in almost every corner of the venue there was something else going down. Pantha Du Prince and his band The Triad had set up in Berghain's astounding side space, Halle Am Berghain. The group donned silver masks that called to mind the dystopia of a Fritz Lang movie. Thrashing live drums, looped sequencers and low growls resulted in a surprisingly melodic performance, as blazing, faux-natural visuals played out in the background.
From about 10 PM each night, the action was mostly centered around Berghain and Panorama Bar. Performing live, Inga Copeland was one of the first acts scheduled upstairs on Wednesday. She navigated everything from rattling jungle to spoken word while strobes and green lights flashed across the floor. With nothing but a triangle, one turntable and a microphone, Copeland turned in the festival's best performance by far.
Generally, the focus was on live shows, but the event welcomed its fair share of DJs, too. It was mostly label owners invited to play—Mute founder Daniel Miller and Will Bankhead of The Trilogy Tapes were among those present. After a slow start, Bankhead eventually found his feet on Thursday night, moving between Terrence Parker’s "Love's Got Me High" and An-I's "Kino i (Dub)" with expert precision. Matthew Herbert’s DJ set was tighter still, mostly comprised of Dance Mania records and early '90s techno.
A lot of artists seemed to embrace the festival's anything-goes ethos. Kane West (in typically divisive PC Music fashion) played his entire set off of an iPad. Wooden Wisdom, AKA actor Elijah Wood and Zach Cowie, dropped Bhangra tracks to a sweaty floor, while Manchester's Levelz crew had the audience pushing and shoving to a lightening-fast brand of grime. Until Friday, I had never seen a mosh pit in Panorama Bar, but it could be exactly what this city needs.
Photo credit: Tonje Thilsen