- It's not easy to please Turkish party people. Some of the biggest names have tried and failed. Maxi Priest, for instance, played a sold-out night in Indigo and the unsatisfied crowd left the premises after only 30 minutes. Most of the people here tend to go to parties where the DJ is playing what the crowd knows. And they're only pleased when they get what they expect. I wonder if John Fritz & Suzan knew this before they came here?
You'd think so: Suzan was born in Germany, but has lived in Turkey for most of her life. In 2003, she moved to France to further develop her DJing skills. There she met John Fritz. Soon after, in December 2006, they had their first night in Strasbourg ("This Is Only A Test") and, in July 2007, they started the Game Over Association to bring their love for underground house and minimal techno to a broader audience.
Enter Dirty. This rather clean—and hip—club was packed, with a long queue of people trying to catch a glimpse of the young DJ duo. 7-Erhan, a regular in the Istanbul scene and considered one of the most talented Turkish DJs at the moment, was on warm-up duty and got the audience ready for the main attraction. And then, there they were: John Fritz & Susan. (You could even hear some faint clapping welcoming them to the stage.)
But, at the beginning of their set, something happened. People began to look at one another with faces that asked, "I wonder where this is going?" And, for most, it apparently didn't go where they wanted it to go. The duo's set started off with some nice classic-sounding house with deep beats, but when they switched over to their underground style, it proved too overwhelming. Fritz & Suzan weren't blind, of course, so they tried a bit of minimal techno to get the crowd back on their side. It didn't work. After only a half-hour, Dirty had lost half of its initial crowd. Most of the people that stayed seemed to really appreciate the duo's mix of house and minimal techno. It was a set that inspired local DJs and gave the diehard house and minimal lovers exactly what they wanted. The rest of their two-hour set went by with a small but pleased crowd.
By the time they were done, there were only 12 audiophiles left. But it wasn't that John Fritz & Suzan made mistakes, mixed terribly, or choose poorly from their crate, it was simply the crowd not being ready. Call it bad marketing. Call it unfortunate programming. Call it whatever you like. To me, it was just another international DJ act feeling the coldheartedness of the Istanbul dance crowd. Welcome to Turkey!