So, Berghain NYE. Or as a friend of mine that has been going for many years put it 'always an adventure'. And with up to four floors and extra space there was a lot to explore. One thing I really enjoy about it is that the regulars all try their hardest to ignore any outside responsibilities for two/three days and party like it's their job which always results in a great vibe. What really surprised me was the lack of new years tourists this year, not necessarily because of the door policy but because they just didn't show up. Apparently the queue was negligible even on the new years night and only become huge for a few hours on the evening of the first of january. With the lack of 'newbies' and huge crowds there was a less 'epic' vibe than last year but also more space to dance and a bit more intimate vibe.

My highlight this year certainly was the ambient/chill out floor. They opened even more space than before including a 'beer garden' with a food truck, chairs and a garden fence deep in the building. Which was as surreal as it sounds but it was lovingly decorated and a wonderful place to chill out while listening to the soothing ambient from above. ACR played a great extended set, even though I only heard around three hours. Hearing some B12 and classic 90s ambient in that space made me very happy.

I hardly spend any time in Panoramabar because of the timetable and the fact that it closed relatively 'early'. The 'Lab' certainly had the best vibe of all the floors, as you'd expect from gays in a sex dungeon going nuts to disco but my lack of love for disco and the usual overwhelming stench stopped me from spending too much time there. Although Discodromo played a 12hour set in there which got great feedback from everyone and a friend of mine said they played some killer house as well.

As usual I spent most of my time on the Berghain floor and musically, it was a bit all over the place with no utterly terrible, but no amazing-from-start-to-finish sets either. I really enjoyed the start of Marcel Fengler although he went in bland bigroom mode later on. Kobosil played a killer second half with mostly stripped down, focussed tracks but he has a thing for playing risky and/or PLUR tracks in the right places to lift things up. What I heard of DJ Pete also was amazing but I only managed to hear the very end. Fiedel played the type of tool-ish modern techno I enjoy but I wasn't really in state to dance around much anymore. The rest (DVS1, Efdemin, Parasole, Dettmann) all had some good moments but overall I don't remember too much about them. Overall still a very enjoyable party but I was missing that absolutely killer set to really take things to the next level. Which is because I probably missed the really good ones (Pete, Blind Observatory, Function) but you never can hear everything so it comes down to intuition and luck.

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June 2018 mix

Just came back after spending 11 intense days in Berlin. A true war zone on NYE to say the least.

Tresor - The locals seem to call it a "Brandenburger Dorfdisco" (redneck village disco) which is
partly true. You get the big annoying groups of backpacking tourists and shouting englishmen but
they do book great acts pretty much every week. They just reopened after having some improvements
to the sound, which is very welcome. I've been there about 10 times before, but this time you didn't
have to shout to have a conversation. For some reason they decided to remove the merchandise section
as well as the old man making terrible ketchup sandwiches and odd "meat salad". Spanish acts
Christian Wunsch, Lewis Fautzi and Adriana Lopez delivered some pretty heavy techno.

Ritter Butzke - Terrible. Went to Butzke before heading to Tresor. It was pretty much like standing
in line to a swedish afterski party. Extremely strange door policy which i couldn't figure out. One group
of Sternburg drunk tourists would get in, but not the next group. Same level of drunk, same age, same
clothes. Made no sense. Stayed for about 10 minutes after paying about 20 euros to go in. Plodding
tech-house, overly crowded and no place to sit. Might be good in the summer, but terrible in the winter.

Stattbad Wedding - Been here a few times for Henning Baer's Grounded Theory parties. This time for some
pretty boring drumcode techno from Dustin Zahn. Seems to be free from the standard easyjet tourists.
Luckily, there was no Boiler Room recordings on this evening, so you won't see me standing awkwardly
fiddling with my phone in the background. Wish i had stayed on the Boiler floor instead, since the
locals put down some very banging acid towards the end.

Berghain/Panorama Bar/Lab.Oratory - I've never been to lab.oratory before because of obvious reasons.
But as they decided to open the doors connecting Berghain with the lab, I had to sneak in. It was pretty
much what I had expected. Piles of insanely well-shaped men performing "acrobatics" in all corners.
As Woony described, the stench was terrible but the music was good. It's pretty much a more extreme version
of that gay bar in the Police Academy movies.

Went for the last klubnacht of the year (27/12) and heard Oscar Mulero play a nice set. Joseph Capriati
followed, so I went home to sleep instead.

Also went for the NYE party. I expected a huge line on NYE, but we got in after just a couple of minutes
in the queue. Managed to listen to the sets from Blind Observatory, Ben Klock, Function and Norman Nodge.

Arenaclub - A quote from Woony or someone he knew.. "When Ibiza Came to Berlin". Huge names, lots
of people and pre-sale tickets. Went to the night where Chris Liebing headlined. Not to hear him, but
for Terrence Fixmer and Alex.Do playing in the smaller room. Overall great place, but the dancefloor is
a bit small.

About Blank - Absolutely great in the summer. Good in the winter. Went twice. The first time they
had a red tent on the outdoor area playing circus jazz, library music and cartoon theme songs. I don't know
if this place really existed, or if it was something my mind made up after too many bottles of Club Mate.

Edit Select chose to close his set with Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You. Someone in the crowd
booed for the duration of the whole track, which was kind of odd.

Do they have popper/drug vending machines in Berghain? Does the club make any money off selling substances other than alcohol?

Honestly curious.

lol no. They still have to conform to the local authorities. I heard they go undercover every once in a while to check things out. If you are stupid about using drugs, you'll get kicked out. I doubt they really care but they aren't stupid enough to risk anything with the law over some random guy's speed.

They do sell tasty ice cream though. And very reasonably priced (80 cents). I'm always amazed. At any other 'mega club', you'd be paying out of your ass. Drinks are reasonably priced as well, they just make a lot of money because people stay so long that they have a looot of drinks over time. Like, i'm a stingy mother****** when it comes to drinks and i'll still have 3-4 when you stay for 8-12+ hours on a sunday.

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June 2018 mix

Interesting, I'd love to get ice cream in Berghain lol. The whole concept of it sounds so otherworldly to me. I've never really been inside a club I've actually liked much. Usually I'm sick of it after a few hours unless I'm really into what's being played (not very likely where I live) or I'm just slamming drinks or WEEEEEEEED.

I really need to travel before I'm too old to go clubbing at all.

quote:

Originally posted by SYSTEM-J Sigh. Why is this argument always wheeled out against me whenever I don't like someone's favourite DJ? I can barely even remember the last time I heard any progressive house in a club. I go to house nights, techno nights, drum 'n bass nights, cosmic/nu disco nights, breaks nights, even the occasional psy event, and yet apparently I just live in "the world of prog".

I've seen him club hours and outdoors during the day by the water, perfect music for that type of setting.. the up and down energy set works for me when Im drinking.. after hours at 5am I'll admit I do want more consistency with track selection and programming.

I guess I'm just a huge fan of the records he plays, both times I've seen him he drops one of my favorite old records I've never heard played out. Different strokes I guess.

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Corjay - Spring Funk '14 [Downtempo Funk / Jazz / Disco / Deep House]

Miami DC prefer Versace.

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Freak Out Tóng Zhì

quote:

Originally posted by enydo Do they have popper/drug vending machines in Berghain? Does the club make any money off selling substances other than alcohol? Honestly curious.

people buy and take their drugs around in the bathroom stalls. you can smoke weed wherever you want, though. they will confiscate whatever they find on you upon entry, but they don't care afterwards. i've seen the guards approach smokers to check what they have in their pipes. weed's fine, but if you plan to smoke rocks of crack they'll have you thrown out.

also, i've never seen sven in the area itself. he's probably not welcome inside the premise

Sven is the gatekeeper. He has to fulfill his destiny.

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June 2018 mix

I saw Henry Saiz and King Unique in Manchester on Saturday. Fuck me. Saiz smashed it to absolute pieces, one of the best sets I've ever heard. It was just a procession of monstrous basslines one after the other, no downtime whatsoever. I hardly even realised he was mixing most of the time. Not sure I've ever seen a DJ pack in so much explosive - for three hours straight! King Unique wasn't half bad either on the warm-up set. The club was a grimy basement, full all night, sweat literally dripping off the ceiling. One of those hallowed nights you pray for every time you go out.

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Mixes:
> Back To Deep [Deep Trippy House]
> Terra Nova [Modern Progressive Trance]
> Rough & Ready [Modern Trance]
>A Different Energy [Good Modern Trance]
> The Edale Mix [Panoramic Beats]

I looked up Henry Saiz's RA and it seems like people like him known for a proggy sound only ever get booked in countries with a strong prog history.

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June 2018 mix