- A peculiar phenomenon in Belgium's dance scene is the abundance of so-called retro parties. It's not hard to see why: The country has known two periods of time when club culture was extremely well-developed and internationally recognized. The first was during the latter half of the '80s when new beat challenged US house and UK rave music. The second, which directly followed, was the rise of Belgian trance and techno in the early '90s which brought influential labels such as R&S, Bonzai and Music Man to the world stage. Retro parties are educational celebrations aimed at these particular episodes of dance history, with an emphasis on what was locally produced and played.
In Antwerp, Cafe Capital has taken a somewhat different approach to all of this. Lately, they've been organising parties that conceptually revolve around a chosen year. DJs are invited to investigate what sounds you were likely to hear in discotheques back then. On this night, we were in 1989, when the aforementioned new beat genre exploded and established itself in the mainstream—just as it was starting to be exploited commercially and subsequently faded away.
Cafe Capital itself is a rather small modernist venue, centrally located in the heart of the city's main park. During the summer, a terrace looking out on the lush greenery adds to the general cosiness. It attracts an older crowd, often with lots of people from Antwerp's lively cultural world and fashion industry. It's also a place where you can rely on the festivities only really breaking loose around 3 AM.
One of the first DJs to play was Nikolai, a long-time regular from the local scene who had some affinity with the theme year, since his parents used to run the record store USA Import where the country's most important jocks gathered to buy the freshest vinyl at the time. He played a typical set with a coherent flow, which the superb sound system pumped out ably.
By 3 AM the crowd had not only doubled in numbers, but in enthusiasm as well. It was the moment when bruxellois Geoffroy, also known under his weirdly sounding moniker Mugwump, took over. Geoffroy is still best remembered as a resident of Food Club where he mostly played freaked-out deep house in the '90s. More recently, he has been producing steadily for Permanent Vacation, the revived R&S and Kompakt. The mood and tempo were immediately changed. In fact, the man played at a pace that would hardly have been possible in 1989. He threw in lots of acid house in the broadest sense—be it true Chicago acid, ravey stuff or melodious tracks larded with vocals—as well as a decent dose of hip-house and Italo.
The atmosphere remained convivial, but dancing was limited to those too drunk to give a hoot about their image. This lasted well into the morning hours, with Geoffroy often pulling records out of his bag that were way beyond the scope of the 1989 premise. But there wasn't a single soul in the dancing audience that nagged. We couldn't think of a reason to either.