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Party pics by Tilllate.com
The Amsterdam Dance Event 2008 in retrospect
Crisis? What crisis? In the parallel universe where electronic beats rule all, we are more prosperous than ever. That is to say, if you take this year’s ADE as the yardstick. The thirteenth edition turned out to be the most successful one to date. And almost every delegate seems to be very excited about facing the challenges that the music industry currently is up against. Music is, or will at least provide the answer, that is an unshakable truth we all firmly believe in.
In 2007 the organisation was forced to move part of the conference program to the beautiful neighbouring Dylan Hotel due to mildew in some of the Felix Meritis rooms. One year later, the Dylan was used for the second time, now because the ADE has grown again and needed more room for panel discussions and for delegates to do their business.
The panels once more gave us an exclusive and very interesting insight into what the industry in 2008 is all about. Of course the piracy issue was discussed more than once, but it seems like the general attitude towards the illegal downloading monster has shifted from trying to defeat it to finding ways to housebreak and potty train it, for we all know it has become an integral part of our world. Moaning and feeling sorry for ourselves is not the way to cope with it, that’s for sure.
Looking back at all the parties it’s hard to pick a favourite. Maybe Armin van Buuren’s Armada night in Paradiso, that sold out weeks ago and showed the world’s number one in full glory. Or was it our good friend Dave Clarke’s night at The Melkweg the day after, when the skilful techno master showed he is still on top of his game? It might have been the Berlin Innervisions Imprint, doing its live show with an in-house all star team featuring Dixon, Marcus Worgull, Henrik Schwarz, and Âme, also at The Melkweg. Where else did we go? There was the Contakt show at The Sand of course, the Flamingo Records night at Paradiso, Buzzin’ Fly at K-Space and Supperclub, and loads of other parties, ranging from small underground gatherings to massive raves. We’re exhausted, but fully charged with inspiration at the same time. What a ride! See you all next year, the best of luck and don’t forget to enjoy all the amazing music that’s out there!
DAY FIVE: SUNDAY 26 OCTOBER 2008
this is little mountain rocks ade
Has it been five days (and nights!) already? Apparently, because we’re standing in front of the Melkweg to spend our last ADE night of 2008 with Sander Kleinenberg and Deadmau5, Josh Gabriel and other Little Mountain Recordings artists. There’s no queue at all. Go figure; it’s a Sunday night. People have to work tomorrow, the Fall break has ended, and all the ADE party people and delegates have had a very rough weekend…
As it turns out, everybody is inside already! The ‘Oude Zaal’ is full, and the Max is completely packed with people who seem to be in complete denial of the fact that Monday is upon us.
We can’t blame them: even though Sander Kleinenberg is Dutch, the amount of performances he does in his homeland is quite limited. The presence of Deadmau5 strongly adds to the flavour of the night, for he is currently one of the hottest producers on the planet. Joel Zimmerman (surprise, surprise, he is in fact NOT from Berlin, but from Canada) is Beatport’s best selling artist. And by appearing as a Japanese designer toy version of Mickey Mouse (not related, by the way) he is an original character on stage as well.
Right after Sander Kleinenberg’s stunning DVJ set, dozens of people hold up their cameras to capture Deadmau5’s entrance. From that moment on it’s nothing but mayhem on the floor, and Zimmerman naturally proves that there is more to his act than a funny costume.
Around 3.30, when Josh Gabriel is about to take over, it is time to go home. It has to end sometime, no matter how much we would love to stay a bit more. This memorable evening is without any doubt the ending this year’s record-breaking edition of the Amsterdam Dance Event deserves. Now it’s back to the lab again to figure out some kind of scheme to top this one… No matter what; we will see you guys next year and make it another few days to remember. Thanks again!
DAY FOUR: SATURDAY 25 OCTOBER 2008
A short tour through the centre
Did we mention that there is so much to do, and so little time? This year, more than ever, most parties boast a jam-packed house. Big line-ups all over the place, where to begin? The Supperclub turns out to be a good starting point. People are having desert, just getting ready to get off the comfy beds and try their luck on the dancefloor. No worries they, because the Buzzin’ Fly / Misco crew (Bent Watt, Justin Martin and Charles Webster) are about to do their deep house thing. Shortly before we leave the building, the party is on in both rooms.
Next stop, Paradiso: Flamingo Nights @ Paradise. Fedde le Grand’s Flamingo imprint is rapidly gaining popularity. It’s Fedde’s buddy Funkerman performing a dj set in the Main Room while the German funkateer Mousse T is in full control with his Peppermint crew. It’s a cold night, and people waiting in line to get in huddle up to stay warm. Just a couple more minutes before they enter the impressive venue, and lucky for them, the heat is on inside.
Unfortunately, we are on an ambitious schedule, and after a short trip to the west side of the centre, we are about to relight our fire at the Space Disco Inferno at the Westerunie / Westerliefde. We get our groove on with our Norwegian friends Prins Thomas and Todd Terje who are in charge of the ‘Diskomiks’, and everyone in the room seems to agree with their intentions to dance the night away. Charles Webster is the man for the last few ours, and in the other room it’s the All Is One posse, starring Andy Barlow (Lamb) amongst others. But after a quick peak we’re off to our final destination for tonight. Richie Hawtin’s Contakt show at the Sand…
Move over darling, Richie is here
Weird scenes outside K-Space, the K-Swiss store in downtown Amsterdam. A throng of party people crowds outside K-Space, oblivious to the rather chilly October breeze, and shake their bum. Inside, it’s mayhem. During ADE, the store hosts the K-Space Sessions, showcases by top dj’s and top labels. Thursday and Friday, Gilles Peterson and Âme, among others, were spinning. Today, Richie Hawtin is expected to drop by.
And more people have turned up than K-Space can negotiate. Far more people, so the pavement and street in front of the store are a moving mass of bodies, awaiting the arrival of dance’s biggest star. How will Richie Hawtin come to K-Space? By bike? By tram? Will he drop from the skies by chute?
He arrives by taxi and veritable rockstar scenes ensue. People trip. Flashlights flash. The excitement is palpable. Hawtin has just stepped out of his taxi and Krijn van Noordwijk offers him a copy of his book DJ, 140 portraits of djs. DJBroadcast head honcho Victor Bakhuis leads Hawtin inside, functioning as a human machete to clear a path. Inside, Hawtin is interviewed. Someone says: “Richie Hawtin is for dance what David Bowie was for glamrock.” Too f****ng right, man!
Contakt at The Sand
To the Dutch techno fans, Richie Hawtin might be the biggest dj in the world, one of the true icons of contemporary electronic music. It must be quite difficult to have the obligation to meet the insanely high expectations time and time again, but Mr Hawtin does not seem to be bothered by that. Barem and Ambivalent, two talented youngsters who have recently been added to the M-nus roster, are two of the guys who keep Richie Hawtin on his toes, and inspire him to come up with concepts that keep techno a futuristic dance music genre. The Contakt show is M-nus’ latest project, a show that has been on the road for a few months now.
Barem is rocking the booming Funktion One soundsystem to warm up the main room, before Richie Hawtin, Magda, Marc Houle, Troy Pierce and Jon Gaiser pump up the volume to the maximum extent. The result is a mind blowing techno jam in front of 2500 raving party animals. The last slot is for Barem, who is experiencing what international dj life is all about the hard way. His stripped down, housey techno beats do appeal to the diehards on the floor, who regret having to leave at six in the morning but feel fully satisfied anyway. Richie pulled it off once more, two thumps up for the man from Windsor.
Photo by Krijn van Noordwijk
DAY THREE: FRIDAY 24 OCTOBER 2008
K-Space Sessions: Innervisions & Compost
All ADE visitors are confronted with the daily bridging of the gap between the conference and the club programme. That’s when the specials prove themselves a worthy asset to these five days of madness in ‘The Dam’. The K-Space Sessions, for instance, provide the leftfield dance music lover with an exquisite daily line-up of artists and labels. Yesterday, Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood label and the Berlin Get Physical outfit attracted an enormous crowd. Today, two of the most popular deep house labels around take charge of the intimate space just behind Dam Square: Innervisions and Compost.
Marcus Worgull, originating from Wuppertal, represents Innervisions. After a tasteful dj set and a short interview, it’s up to Compost’s Sharokh to take over while more and more people are coming in to enjoy the music and a couple of drinks before heading off to the next party. The experienced Compost head honcho Michael Reinboth is next in line and last year’s breakthrough artist Jay Shepheard itakes care of the last slot for tonight by delivering one of his signature live sets. Tomorrow, it’s up to Richie Hawtin’s M-nus crew and the guys from Buzzin’ Fly to show what they are made of.
Resident Advisor and Innervisions present: A Critical Mass
Back in the Melkweg for the night that was pretty much the first one to sell out. Why? That’s easy: the ‘Oude Zaal’ is all about the best deep house you can currently find, with the Innervisions family performing their Critical Mass show only for the second time. And people have come for a mass all right; house music never died, but it has gained popularity over the past few years, and guys like Dixon, Henrik Schwarz, Marcus Worgull, and Âme have stolen the hearts of many clubbers in the Amsterdam scene.
The Oude Zaal is perfect for this gig. After a perfect warm-up by Marcus Worgull, it’s time for the long awaited live show of the Innervisions key players, and from the first moment on they drive the crowd absolutely mad, mashing up their classics Rej, Timbuktu and Where We At, as well as a load of other quality material. Innervisions label owner Dixon is up next with an astonishing dj set, while the atmosphere is downright euphoric. It’s one of those magical nights, where even the most stuck-up industry snob has no choice but to admit that house music can still be as fresh and exciting as it was in the old days. Germany: 10 points.
Dommelsch TWSTd DJ Contest
No matter how we try to convince the Escape bouncer that we are visiting the club for official business, there is no way he will let us in. “We just welcomed one hundred wrist bands, and my boss told me that’s it for tonight,” he says. Ok, forget about it, let’s see what else is going on. Across the square in Club Rain, the Swedish world class remixer Stonebridge is doing his thing. But after hanging out there for a bit, we decide to take our business elsewhere and pay the lovely TWSTd dj café a visit.
Tonight, it’s the monthly final of TWSTd’s dj contest, the biggest dj competition in the country.
Although the place is packed, we manage to find a spot in the back of this cosy place on the side of the Weteringscircuit to have a couple of drinks and see if we can spot some dj talent. We’re hearing some high quality stuff, that’s for sure. Keith Carnal, Robert Smoor, Remon-D, and Double Depths are giving everything the can to make it to the next round, and eventually become 2008’s major talent by winning the finals at the Melkweg. Tonght’s judge is the techno veteran Billy Nasty, and he has quite a job cut out for tonight, because once more it’s pointed out that there’s more than enough talented people in this strange little country…
DAY TWO: THURSDAY 23 OCTOBER 2008
Stella Polaris presents: Trentemoller
Back in Paradiso on the second night of the ADE Festival. This time, the old church on the side of the Leidseplein is invaded by a Danish armada after Armin’s massive showcase on Wednesday. Outside, fans of the more subtle side of techno queue up to be part of what we can safely say turns out to be one of the most exciting club night of this year’s ADE. Ever since Anders Trentemoller bridged the gap between techno and deep house we are aware of the fact that there is such a thing as a Danish scene.
The Stellar Polaris Soundsytem is responsible for the warm-up before the long awaited live Dutch live debut of the stunning Lulu Rouge outfit takes place, featuring Trentemøller‘s dear friend and former tour DJ Tom. Their album Bless You is one of 2008’s masterpieces, but on stage they don’t come across as rookies at all. They deliver a memorable performance in the manner we all got to know and love from their buddy Anders, taking the crowd on a surreal trip. Trentemøller finds himself in the end zone tonight and gives the fans more than value for their money. Did we mention that Copenhagen rocks?
klinch: Dave Clarke presents
While Francois K is drawing quite a crowd across the street at the Sugarfactory, we decide to go and see what’s going on with Dave Clarke and friends in the Melkweg. Maybe we should have called before paying the don from England a visit, because apparently he’s drastically refurnishing here tonight. The Melkweg boasts the best soundsystem in town and people clearly came to wreck some havoc on the floor in the mainroom with an exclusive performance by the prima donna of German techno, the one and only DJ Hell. The International DJ Gigolo’s label boss is not about to take any prisoners tonight and drops nasty grooves the way only he can.
Around 01.30 Dave Clarke has set up his equipment on the other side of the stage. It’s peaktime and that is when Clarke is at his best. He is not even bothered by the fact that the Melkweg technicians (great job guys, the sound is amazing) have to move the dj booth a couple of meters to the left while he’s playing, and after a ravey kickoff the ADE icon cranks it up a notch to give the bassthirsty crowd what they came for: Techno with a capital T….
DAY ONE: WEDNESDAY 22 OCTOBER 2008
An opening dance with the doctor
There’s no such thing as an official opening without a party, needless to say. You could hire a cocktail trio and a caterer for some finger food and put ‘black tie only’ on the invitations. Or… you could do it the ADE way at the renowned Melkweg or ‘Milky Way’ as the English say with Dr Lektroluv and his goons in the main room and the French Different crew in the other.
It’s a Wednesday night, but no one seems to care, because the people on the jam-packed floor are dancing their socks of like there is no tomorrow. On stage we see the loony threesome from Belgium called The Subs, preluding the glorious return of any electrohouse fan’s favourite medic, Dr Lektroluv. The Subs don’t show any mercy as they take the crowd to a point of no return until the doctor comes in to take care of business.
On the other side c’est le funk francais with Kiko, The Hacker and the multi talented Agoria. Even though these guys take it a bit slower, they pull of an excellent job by taking the people on a journey to a place where clocks don’t tick and subtle techno beats set the pace. Wow. Yes, the ADE is here all right…
An Armada in Paradiso
“No, you can’t come in. My boss just said it’s too crowded inside.” “But I work for the…” “No, sorry. Can’t let you in.” Luckily, the Paradiso bouncer’s boss steps up and grants us access to the Dutch ‘Temple of Pop’, the place where practically every (living) legend has performed over the past decades. This is a special night, even for the number one dj of the world, Mr Armin van Buuren. Would he be able to meet the insanely high expectations? Seconds after entering the majestic main room it becomes clear that Armin is completely in control, driving his fans absolutely mental with a series of bigroom tunes that is taking them higher and higher.
This must be the most polite and decent group of people ever. The unity on the floor is really endearing, there is a definite sense of sharing a unique experience with a group of peers. But that doesn’t mean we are dealing with a bunch of wallflowers here. On the contrary: the energy in front of the stage and on the balconies is mindblowing. And Armin clearly has the time of his life, which obviously means a lot in his case…
News
DJ: The Book for sale now
10-11-2008
ade 2008: facts & figures
29-10-2008
this is little mountain rocks ade
27-10-2008