- The vibrant queer party settles into a new home at Trauma Bar Und Kino.
- When it comes to building community via dance music, the Berlin party Room 4 Resistance shows what's possible. You can tell just by walking through the door. The crowd skews female and gender nonconforming. There are—sadly rare for Berlin dance floors—a fair amount of people of color. These dancers come together because Room 4 Resistance has heart. As a queer and female-forward collective, they're passionately vocal about creating safer spaces, pushing for refugee assimilation and supporting underrepresented artists. In their own words: "We, Room 4 Resistance, are here to bring politics back to the dance floor."
Then, in September, politics diverted the party's future. Over the past two years, R4R has hosted its vibrant club nights at ://about blank, another politically active space within Berlin's nightlife community. But the two clashed over the recent #DJsForPalestine campaign and, in the end, parted ways. (R4R stands with Palestine.)
The collective's next chapter began last Saturday at Trauma Bar Und Kino, a new hybrid space in Mitte for parties, fashion events and video and performance art. On paper, this gives promoters the opportunity to create experiences far beyond your standard club night. While R4R is just the kind of fantasy-wielding promoter to pull this off, the sheer size of the venue was a challenge on opening night. In addition to the dance floor, which feels exposed in the middle of an open warehouse, there was a cinema, a small loft space, a sunken side room and—though I never stumbled upon it—an area R4R used as a dark room.
Sex, however, is not the impression the venue gives off. With its white walls and well-lit bar areas, it needs a bit of breaking in to feel less "industry mixer" and more "all-night rave." Especially in Berlin, where grimy venues fuel the anything-goes atmosphere, milling around Trauma Bar Und Kino's professional layout carried with it an air of hesitation. I'd feel weird for spilling a drink on the floor, let alone taking my top off.
Still, R4R did their best to make this house a home. As usual, the collective's colourful and bountiful decorations adorned the dance floor, with neon slinkys, unicorn balloons and a glowing rainbow puff. In the cinema, which served as the chill out space, a VJ named WAF filled the screen with geometric psychedelia, while sound was controlled from a table on the floor—spacey jungle from Ciarra Black, an improvised live set from resident rRoxymore and embryonic downtempo from SCAARLET.
On the dance floor, the crowd got down to a jumble of high-energy sounds. R4R's booking policy prioritizes female and queer artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, which gives the lineups a fresh sense of perspective. Though you'll still hear seasoned techno acts—Karen Gwyer played on Saturday—the party also surfaces lesser-known artists who seem ready to turn the institution upside down. After Gwyer, the R4R resident Deena Abdelwahed started off with gqom before zigzagging her way into bassy, broken techno. Chicago's Ariel Zetina was an even wilder ride. She slammed between house, hip-hop and even some gabber, which turned the dance floor into a zany electric mess. At one point, I thought I recognized an incoming acid track, but I was mistaken—it would've been too tame. Turns out it was a raunchy banger, as Shazam soon corrected me, by Boy Pussy called "Suck Me Off."