- It's 2 AM in the backroom of Factory 010, Rotterdam. Local man about town Tapirus, AKA Charlton from Mord, is causally drip-feeding the crowd acid. In the main hall, Japan's Ryuji Takeuchi is about to settle in for the next 90 minutes. It's a short set by, say, Berlin standards, but he makes the most of it, sculpting tension as though it were clay with a look of sheer serenity on his face—he couldn't be more at ease. As much as I want to, I can't stay for long: acid is calling so I head back for another dose of Tapirus. His isn't a purist set—that'll come later with Klankman and his banging live show—but the tweets and gurgles are mounting. The ceiling is much lower here and the atmosphere is intense and exhilarating, exacerbated by blinding strobes and a crowd that just wants to get down. It's old school, it's rave, it's great.
Factory 010 and its warren-like neighbour Maassilo have been called the Berghain(s) of Rotterdam, but aside from some structural resonance they don't have much in common. You're not running the gauntlet to get in for a start—all are welcome here. And there's no real music policy per se either, with both spaces openly available for hire. This means that parties can vary wildly—everything from pop to hardcore has been played at the place. That said, Factory 010 has established itself as a solid spot for techno in the city, and it's easy to see why. The main hall is hugely impressive, with mezzanine viewing platforms, bits of machinery, pillars and twists of iron staircases dotted about. Viewed from above it looks cavernous, but from the ground it feels compact and weirdly intimate.
For a year now, the club has been home to Strobe. Since the team's inaugural edition at Perron with A. Paul and Ritzi Lee, they have been steadily expanding their efforts and growing their fan base. Rising from humble basement roots as Rotterdam Ondergronds Talent (ROT), its three residents—Allard Drijfhout, Justin Patti and Rachid Prins (Patti and Prins also team up as Patriarch Conflicts)—have steadily polished their party model with lineups that pay equal homage to techno future and past. Young underground talents share the stage with headliners, and the music is always mixed.
Oliver Ho turned in one of my favourite records last year as Broken English Club and tonight he's landed the peak-time slot. After hearing his latest EP, Multi, with Danny Passarella, I wasn't sure what to expect. Headless Horseman's performance just before only further fanned the mystery. I feel like the usual club setting is fine for the Horseman—the majority of his music is club-ready after all—but he's better experienced at a festival like Berlin's Atonal, with a full light show in tow. What we got instead was something in between, a solid performance positioned somewhere between a concert hall and the dance floor. It was killer when he went off piste, but by that point all the room wanted was to rave.
Ho followed and naturally delivered, but the real stars of the night were Patti and Prins. I had seen both residents play separately before when Strobe went head-to-head with Bas Mooy's Strictly Techno crew back in October. Patti normally likes it hard and fast, while Prins plays more across the board. Working the graveyard shift as Patriarch Conflicts, the duo took things in a mean, industrial direction. Suddenly it was 8:15 AM; the house lights were up and it was time to go home. I felt like I'd just gotten started. Note for next time: arrive early—six hours just isn't long enough.