- When I think about clubbing in Munich, the first thing that comes to mind is Harry Klein. When I think about the name Bob Beamon, I think of the long jumper. However, those two imprints have now been erased after attending a night at the Bob Beamon club in Munich.
The club recently played host to a weekend-long party called the Smile Festival, which kicked off on a Friday evening and ran right through until midday the following Monday. Although exceptionally long clubbing sessions are the norm in places like Berlin, it was an unusual feat for this Bavarian city. The weekend's lineups were strong, with an Ostgut Ton night on Friday with Bob Beamon resident Roland Appel, Efdemin, Ryan Elliott and Nick Höppner on the bill. Saturday continued on with the likes of Inxec and Cesare vs Disorder, and, for the marathon ravers, Sunday ended with Guy Gerber and a Visionquest showcase.
With only one evening in town, I arrived at the club around 1 AM to the sounds of Roland Appel easing the club into the weekend. The club itself is essentially a small rectangular room, which the owner informed me was designed around the DJ booth, contrary to the traditional mindset of "build the club and stick the booth in the corner" aesthetic. The DJ booth is of a good size, and well-stocked with three turntables, three CDJ 2000s and a Crest Performance rotary mixer. The set-up reminded me of the old Centro-Fly in NYC, the likes of which I have not seen in a club in a long time. Having spent plenty of time there, Appel had obviously mastered and had full control over the warm analog Morris Audio system.
After arriving, I surveyed the room and found very little seating, which made the dance floor the space's focal point. The biggest problem, I soon realized, was the smoking patio. It was quite a large area outside, which everyone had to go out to get their nicotine fix. This is a wonderful thing for non-smokers, but absolutely horrendous for the DJs, as the whole night was plagued by people continually leaving the dance floor in order to go outside to smoke. Or just hang out. Or to do anything other than dance.
That being said, the DJs made do with the awkward situation. Appel played a varied selection of house, which the early crowd enjoyed. Efdemin was the next to step up, and slotted right in, spinning a set that reflected his Dial-esque stylings. Save for the lighting girl bashing off the needle on one of his records, he delivered a solid set, really finding his groove at the end of his slot. Next up was Ryan Elliott, who ping-ponged through two hours of his usual upfront material, classic cuts and edits. By 6 AM the crowd had thinned out quite a bit, but Höppner kept those still in attendance raving as the grey skies filled with rain. When he closed his set out at 8 AM, and the next batch of DJs subsequently stepping up to keep things rolling, I had had enough.
The night had moved by quickly, a testament to the music—the tempo was kept in a nice place and played to the strengths of the club and system—a feat now lost on many a DJ. More importantly, I will never think of clubbing in Munich the same way. If only people would learn to stay for the music a bit more, and smoke a bit less.