- Fifteen years after its conception, the indoor dance event I Love Techno, held in Flanders Expo, Ghent, is one of the biggest of its kind in Europe. Started by Peter Decuypere—who also founded Fuse, one of the best clubs in Brussels—it attracted around 700 aficionados in 1995. This year featured 35,000.
There's a lot to be said about that. And you can go on any message board to see whining, criticism and more. Live Nation, a spin-off of Clear Channel, bought the concept several years ago, streamlined the organization, opened up the scope of (sub-)genres featured in the line-up and commercialized the whole affair, thereby putting off a lot of diehard techno fans. So, yes, when the first names were made public, the same heated debates started again: Is the ticket price too expensive? Will the sound be decent this time in those huge halls? Does the festival feature too many of the same artists over and over again? And, most of all, why so much fidget and dubstep on a techno night? What happened to techno at I Love Techno?
Even the most virulent strains of techno fan had to admit that having Ellen Allien, Underworld, Ben Sims and even Boys Noize on the schedule as well as having one entire hall out of five in the venue curated by Dave Clarke with Optimo, Chris Liebing, Robert Hood, Technasia and DJ Hell was enough to justify the event's name.
Ironically, the halls where proper techno was being played were often the least crowded during the night. Others were packed and even full; entrance was denied at certain points in the evening elsewhere because of overcrowding. This was the case, for instance, when Caspa played in the Orange Room, followed by Sound Of Stereo who, as locals, had a thousand hysterical youngsters loving their set. Steve Aoki was up next, and he had a similar superstar DJ/fan dynamic. Music-wise, the set was mixed fine, but after a while the fidgety high-pitched sounds got nerve-wrecking.
Nonetheless, the vibe was positive and warm. This was a constant throughout the night in all spaces. In the Green room where Ellen Allien—flanked by Thomas Müller with whom she was on tour—didn't play the best set I've seen from her, but still got the crowd thoroughly excited. It was interesting to see that she didn't feel the need to play especially hard, something that artists often do at big festivals. She was also keen to admit having made a few mistakes and valued the fact that the audience seemed to forgive her. During the last half-hour of her set, the room was closed off. It wasn't for Allien, though. Underworld followed her, and the festival-experienced duo drove through a show that combined both new work and classic material, culminating in an electrifying finale of "Born Slippy."
Technasia presented his new album with a live set which featured plenty of house elements, and got his rather huge Belgian fanbase going berserk. The opposite, though, as true of Booka Shade, whose set seemed better suited to a cosy club than the cavernous hall. Something was missing from Ben Sims' set too; he played tracks one might expect, but the effects panel was broken—something Ellen Allien had been complaining about earlier as well. Luckily Sims had the skills to persevere, and eventually delivered a fabulous performance.
The Brussels-based veteran Pierre closed off the event. When he played Vapourspace's "Gravitational Arch of 10"—a track he introduced in the club Fuse, where he is still a resident after many years—everybody who still had a nervous system that was working properly put their arms up in the air. Techno, it seems, still has a place. Even at I Love Techno.