Techno, Sex and Madness - Only in Berlin

The drive down to Berlin from the ‘dam was pleasant enough, a straight autobahn which took us right to the heart of Berlin.  Now when it comes to Berlin, you could say that I’m a little biased.  The reason for this is that I’ve been going there for one reason or another from an early age.  On most occasions it was for Tresor; the best club in the world ever; RIP.  Berlin, unlike any other city, is completely relaxed about nearly everything.  It’s clean, tidy, friendly, cheap, and most of all, completely insane…and here’s why:

We arrived at my friend’s house at 10pm.  He was busy running his net-radio show on Frequency Radio. After a few beers we set off for the club, Berghain/Panarama Bar where we would see Bodycode Live, and Jeff Mills.  It was about 3am when we joined the queue to get in, and there we hit a pretty big problem.  One of my friends brought a camera to the club.  We had to inform him that in most clubs in the west, you cannot take a camera in, he had two choices, leave the camera with the doorman, or go back to the car; he chose the latter.

Eventually, the head doorman recognized us and let us in, past the queue.  Indeed, the first question we were asked was if we had a camera. 

Now, the thing about Berghain is that it’s a very very big club; a very very big gay club.  However, due to the amazing line-ups they have there every week, everyone who is anyone goes there, men and women alike; you just need to keep an open mind, and remember that it’s not a good idea to go everywhere in the club if you are straight.  Nevertheless, now that Tresor is gone, there isn’t another club in Europe, possibly the world, like it.  It is truly amazing.  Dark, with limited lighting, with a very special sound system, you can’t help but feel great there.  It’s in what looks like an old factory or stately home. 

As you go inside, and up the stairs, you arrive at the 1500 strong floor of Berghain, the mainstage.  Also on that floor you will find a small chillout area, and darkrooms, which are certainly not for everyone, unless it is your thing.  You can’t really see much in there, but you can hear everything; the sounds of sex fill the room.

One floor up, you reach the panorama bar.  A room for about 700 people, where I got to hear some amazing electro, minimal, and around 10am Sunday morning, the whole room was jumping to some jacking Chicago beats.

Jeff Mills came on at 4am to the roar of the crowd.  A mixture of classic Axis, Purpose Maker, etc, was mixed in with new stuff which I’d never heard before.  It was amazing.  And not once did he play the Bells!  The atmosphere was electric.

Around 8am however, the music got beyond belief.  Bodycode came on to do his live set, and I’ve never heard minimal techno like it.  It was very dark and melodic, but surprisingly hard.  I loved every minute of it.

Next up was DJ Pete from Hardwax.  Hardwax, a very famous Berlin record shop, is a place where I could disappear for hours and end up spending a lot of money.  Hearing Pete play proved to me that not only is their record shop good, but so are their DJs.  Nice smooth minimal, mixed in with some Chicago sounds really got the mood pumping.

I don’t know who was DJing in the Panarama bar upstairs around 10am, but as I wrote earlier, the whole dance floor was jumping.  DJ Funk-style Chicago house style funk got me up and jumping, as it’s my favourite style.  For me, nothing comes close. 

My mate went missing around that time also, and as I had his mobile on me, it was impossible to find him.  As he was quite trashed, I had a strange feeling he might have fallen asleep in the toilets.  I went round them and considered knocking on the doors, however, I did not need to; the sounds which came from inside proved to me he was not there – the sounds of men moaning/having orgasms.  It turned out that he had gone home, as I found him at 1pm at his flat. 

When I left the club, just after half-past 12 on Sunday afternoon, a new DJ was just arriving and the dance floor was still full.  I could go into more detail about how weird my night was, but heck, I’ll leave that to the imagination. 

Finally, based on this, you maybe thinking, “Oh my God, that place sounds awful!”  If you are, then don’t go, it’s not for you.  However, if you have any sort of open mind, you are not going to judge people, and you want to experience the best dance music experience you will ever have, then go, it is the place for you.  I will be back there soon, next month at the latest.

Line-up for the night:

Berghain Stage:
Bodecode Live (Spectral)
Jeff Mills (Axis)
Pete (Hard wax)
Ben Klock (Ostgut ton/memo)

Panarama Bar:
Golden Days Live (Television rec.)
Maral Salmassi (Television rec.)
Khan (Playhouse)
Cassy (Perlon/Ostgut ton)
Carsten Klemann (Playhouse)

For more info, go to www.berghain.de
Flyer for September: http://www.berghain.de/berghain/flyer/data/berghain_06_09.pdf