- Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Cafe Moskau hosted a party celebrating the history of clubbing in Berlin. It's been an important venue for establishing careers and building the city's culture; this party was its first after a recent renovation. Located underground a vintage glass building, its black walls and hidden mirrors create a maze-like interior that centers around a spacious dance floor.
In terms of music on the night, the artists seemed to have been chosen pretty randomly: It's unlikely that any Matt John or Marc Houle fan would be excited to see Fairmont, let alone the progressive house DJ S.I.D., but those four plus Heidi and Tigerskin made up the bill. As the party opened at 10 PM, the club was already filling up with a diverse mix of people, suited businessmen and bikini-clad girls included. It was early for Berlin—a likely result of erroneous posters and online information that listed the running order backwards. (This annoyance was somewhat offset by the free jumbo pretzels that were given out.)
Fairmont's live PA was experimental and exciting, with sweeping synth combinations and live vocals sung into effects. Poor scheduling struck again, though, as the crowd simply wasn't ready for his energy-charged mix so early in the night. Matt John seemed to like it though, and the sight of him feeling the Border Community vibe was a welcome change from the often cliquey Berlin club scene.
The Bar 25 veteran shifted gears with his set, working in sounds from the most unexpected of places. Samples like Mr. Pink from Reservoir Dogs and The Doors' "Break on Through" made the quirky mix one of the best parts of the night. Unfortunately, the visuals in Cafe Moskau were a bit of a letdown. With such a big area to work with, hopefully they will add something more inspiring than a basic strobe and moving spotlights.
Tigerskin's live PA was OK, but his repetitive tech house got boring after a while. Next up was the Get Physical DJ Heidi. After recently hearing her state on her radio show that she was "sick of hearing so many house vocals,'' I was surprised to hear so many in her set, but either way it was a good mix. Last up was Marc Houle, who modulated some of his trademark loops in a great PA full of sweeping delays and spot-on drops. Highlights came from his upcoming Salamandarin EP.
Considering the occasion, it was unfortunate that the party felt like just another solid Berlin event rather than a really special celebration. That said, props are due to the promoters for throwing back-to-back events (E Werk the following night) at such interesting locations.