- New Years Day has traditionally been an interesting night for a party. On one side, people are still shaking off the previous night's debauchery. On the other, they're often looking for one more chance to celebrate before the inevitable January detox. This can create an awkward tension, one only intensified when Cafe d'Anvers booked someone like Seth Troxler.
It was expected, in a way. With a history that covers more than twenty years, the venue is regarded as one of the defining venues in Belgium. And in the past 12 months, they've booked names such as Laurent Garnier, Sven Vath, Dominik Eulberg, Ben Klock, Marco Carola and Luciano, maintaining their position as one of the country's finest clubs.
That's why it was somehow no surprise to find upon arriving that the club would be filled without a problem. No New Years hangovers here. As the public trickled in, upcoming Belgian talent Massimo Girardi gradually intensified the musical backdrop. His set was smooth and easy-going at first, but eventually featured more and more highlights towards the end—an ideal opening set. Hands went up in the air several times during his last hour, especially when Art Department's "Without You" was played.
Photo credit: Steven Lemmens
The Berlin-based American started around three, and it was obvious that he was still somewhat tired from his two gigs the previous night in England. He even screwed up one of his first mixes. But after those initial moments, Troxler delivered a solid stream of splendid records with long elaborated breaks in between, which the crowd at that point seemed to love completely. After a memorable hour of fine house, Troxler went his own way musically. Troxler's deep and subtle tunes—a signature—seemed to lose a crowd that was more than ready to party.
Luckily, when everybody thought he was about to end his performance by putting on one more great, blasting record, the instance of joy was prolonged for another hour in which the young DJ played more uplifting and several more familiar tunes. He truly ended in style, with two remarkable tracks on the Visionquest label, the last being an over-emotional, downtempo vocal song that left everybody begging for more.
It was time for veteran Tofke to take over, however. Tofke has a track record at least as long as the club Cafe d'Anvers itself, but he still has a feel for contemporary club music. As soon as he started, the refinement was gone but the party atmosphere was now completely back in its place. He kept things going for a while, but around 8 AM the place emptied noticeably. Not only had the New Year arrived, fatigue had crept in as well. But not before 2011 started memorably once again at Cafe d'Anvers.