- On the eve of Chilean National Day festivities, few knew that Earthdance International were holding events in 160 cities around the world on that same night. Saturday, September 17th saw only the most avid of trance enthusiasts bear a cold chilly night on the harbour and turn up to enjoy the vibe of the Israeli duo that everyone is buzzing about, Infected Mushroom.
Particularly with Psy and Goa trance, Infected Mushroom sure did know what surprise to pull up, a quite timid crowd at first pretty much conformed with an ongoing monotonous familiarised set of tunes by local performers.
It was clear that everybody wanted to play part of the live act, as watches ticked by every minute, reaching 2am, the desperation could be felt, whistling and jeering were the order of the moment.
The local crowd are conscious of the geographical factor, that is, distance and remoteness. However, this makes producers more hungry bringing a string of world-class acts to Chilean shores. Still behind in many factors to neighbouring Argentina, each year seems to be getting better and better.
It is hard to destroy strong traditional tendencies from latin sounds like salsa, merengue and latin rock and each day there is more experimentation amongst musiclovers exploring the whole different scene of dance/electronic. Now, each and every one seems to feel and enjoy at their own style and pace. Definitely, trance is the style on this side of the Pacific.
Not even a mini half-hour power surge impeded turntables and keyboards as improvisation by bass guitarist Amit Duvdevani as reflecting melodies of classic tunes were replayed to the crowd's delight. A strong presence of the Jewish community too made it something to remember. "Cities of the Future" confirmed itself as the cream ignition to its followers.
I truly felt at home, perhaps not at Darling Harbour nor in the CBD but with that same nocturnal breeze and lights of progressive beats by the hills of such an artistic and colonial port city.