- BOAR offers something fresh to the city's fetish scene, writes Ollie Zhang.
- While Berlin plays host to plenty of vibrant, adventurous parties, it's all too easy to get caught up in the mythos of Berghain, black leather and a queer scene dominated by gay men. On the same weekend that the men-only fetish party Snax descended upon Lab.oratory and Berghain, BOAR took over the relatively unknown Polygon Club in Friedrichshain to offer something else.
Presenting itself as an alternative to dominant fetish gatherings, BOAR programmes techno and house, but dips its toes into EDM, jungle and dubstep along the way. Importantly, it also explicitly welcomes people of all genders. For all the queer parties out there that profess to do so, it's rare to see that sentiment actually reflected back in the crowd. From fetish to streetwear, neon and gaudy getups to black leather harnesses, partygoers of all stripes are welcome. BOAR preaches multi-gender inclusivity and, refreshingly, lives up to that promise.
Polygon was outfitted with play areas, dark rooms, freaky films and kinky decor—everything any fetish event needs. Various artists were tasked with luring people from the club's nooks, crannies and hideaways and out onto its two dance floors. Room one headliners Femanyst (AKA Lady Blacktronika) and Russell E.L. Butler offered diverging takes on techno, with the former stomping through a relentless set that was every bit as hard as 2018's Post-Traumatic Rave Syndrome EP. Afterwards, Russell E.L. Butler broke up the heaviness in the air with swathes of euphoric, washed-out textures, tentatively treading into breaks, Jersey club, swampy electro and moody techno. Whitney Houston's "It's Not Right But It's Okay" also made an ecstatic appearance.
In room two, S Ruston adroitly built a gradual crescendo that carried dancers across jacking house (Inner City's "Good Life") and electro-tinged grooves, as heard on her own "High Street Fetish" from last year's Trashera compilation. LOFT, who closed the room, pushed the night into more adventurous territory. She opened with an edit of IC3PEAK'S "THIS WORLD IS SICK" (which featured on her Ell Oh Eff Tea Too Oh Won Ate assemblage of edits), before weaving together techno, dubstep, grime and even a bit of jungle for the heads. Delivering both unexpected gems and fetish party staples, BOAR's invigorating approach brought a vital energy to an often unnoticed venue. It felt valuable and urgent to create this space, if only for an evening.