Awakenings is a large Techno festival
held in Amsterdam every year...
The weather forecast said that it was
going to be a very hot day. And it was, not only because of
the nice weather, but also because of the environment.
Awakening Festival
Review...
The 6th edition of the Awakenings Festival started for us
at noon when we entered the festival site. Without taking
time to acclimatize, we immediately decided to check out Wouter
de Moor in Area 002. Nice summerish sounding tech house attracted
quite some people. Unfortunately his set was almost finished.
After checking out the festival site we decided to sit down
under a tree and enjoy the smooth and groovy minimal sounds
of Labeij & Lauhaus at the main stage. More and more people
gathered in front of the open stage as Labeij & Lauhaus
kept the crowd dancing. Shinedoe, who took over, quickly delivered
a bit more energy with tribal influences, but in a modest
way.
In the meantime Geigercounting's live act was interesting
as weird sounds filled the Area 003 tent. At the same time
Marko Nastic started to rock Area 001. I was surprised to
hear him play a remix of the classic trance anthem Universal
Nation from Push. The crowd didn't seem to bother at all.
When Umek took over the tent was completely filled.
"Lots of expectations, but after more than an hour most
people were disappointed as Richie failed to build up his
set."
At the same time 'pretty' Gayle San started in Area 002.
Starting tough, but mixing flawless as always. Something Valentino
Kanzyani didn't have under control this day.
At 14.30 PM Canadian and Minus label honcho Richie Hawtin
started with his three hour set at the main stage. Lots of
expectations, but after more than an hour most people were
disappointed as Richie failed to build up his set. Almost
every track had a break and as if this was not enough he closed
his set with an almost 10 minute long beatless outro.
It was a big relief when I entered the minimal tent to see
Aril Brikha doing his live act. Mr. Brikha was discovered
by Derrick May in the late 90's and released his classic Groove
La Chord on the infamous Transmat label. Aril Brikha rocked
and made the crowd cheer with his typical mix of Detroit and
Basic Channel like sounds. After one hour Karotte took over
his place and did what he had to do. Just like last year:
playing pumping minimal and attracting more crowds to fill
up the tent.
In the meantime Ricardo Villalobos brought some more tempo
to the main stage, which was really necessary after three
boring hours of Richie Hawtin. In my opinion Ricardo's set
was not really special, but what he did worked out fine. All
of the crowd's enthusiasm was back again when Paul Kalkbrenner
started his live act. Amazing synth sounds and techno rhythms
brought the energy to peak level. This was what everybody
had been waiting for. People were screaming and jumping and
went absolutely mental.
"Aril Brikha rocked and made the crowd cheer with his
typical mix of Detroit and Basic Channel like sounds."
After this electronic experience we decided to check out
Magda in the minimal tent. It was not an easy task to keep
the spirit by taking over Karotte, but fortunately she managed
pretty well with her distinguished minimal flavours.
Simultaneously DJ Rush was banging the roof off Area 001.
Taking over, Miss Djax brought everybody in the right mood
with New Order's Blue Monday. People were even waiting outside
of the tent for a place to get in.
Eventually we decided to end our day with a visit to legend
Joey Beltram. The closing acts on the other areas were also
good, but as we saw Joey for the last time on Dance Valley
1997 we didn't want to miss this opportunity. With almost
only playing his own stuff and mixing as flawless as possible
he managed to explode Area 002. The heat was overwhelming,
but he didn't seem to bother as he dropped one bomb after
the other.
Tired but satisfied we left the festival site. The weather
was nice, the crowd was friendly and enthusiastic, the organization
was excellent, and the food and drinks were tasteful. Last
but not least, the music and the DJ's were awesome. Highpoint
for me was without doubt Swedish Aril Brikha. I can't wait
to go to next year's Awakenings Festival.
Festival Web Links
Awakenings Festival
Richie Hawtin @ Awakenings Festival
in Holland
Adam Beyer @ Awakenings Festival
in Holland
Plastikman @ Awakenings Festival
in Holland
DJ Rush @ Awakenings Festival
in Holland
Sven Vath @ Awakenings Festival
in Holland
Adam Beyer @ Awakenings Festival
2009 in Holland
Awakenings Festival 2008 in
Gashoulder, Holland
| Techno Festival Compilations :: Awakenings
Techno Festival
