Written by Izzy Seddon
After a fantastic start to this week of openings at the Solomun + 1 party at Pacha, less than 12 hours later we were bundling ourselves back into a taxi for the next adventure, this time Circoloco at DC10. The old airplane hanger doesn’t usually kick off proceedings until the day after Space opens its doors, so this was an unexpected treat. With one of the most impressive line ups of the opening fiestas I was mega pumped to see what was going to be in store!! As we got down there early I was apprehensive about who would be on and when, taking a massive gamble that my personal favourite Damian Lazarus wouldn’t be on last – heartbroken when I got inside and saw the set times!
Something that I instantly realised was different was the police presence, the Policia questioned us before we’d even made it up the gravel drive way into the car park! At 7pm the music stopped in the main room and the lights went on while the police searched the DJ booth, totally killing the vibe and making us question whether the whole night was going to be cancelled. Luckily things were still kicking off outside in the garden, with Clive Henry absolutely bringing the tribal house vibes. There is something so special about DC10 when it’s day time and not too busy, seeing everyone all fresh faced and beautiful before they turn into absolute messes of the night.
Circoloco has always been an interesting mix of Italians, Spaniards, Germans and of course the West End Warriors and other heavily tattooed and pierced, techno uniformed Brits. It is almost as much of a pilgrimage for any techno fanatic as that of Berghain, and the Opening Party is almost certainly the most important party of the season for them. It’s a no nonsense vibe which is all about the music, minimal decor and no frills. I was in two minds about the formerly gravelled garden area now covered in wooden decking, mainly because I miss the teepees of my season 4 years ago but the space definitely gave you more of a chance of being able to move your elbows compared to previous years!
My experience of DC10 was always a mixture of pure pleasure from the perfect music and total frustration from how crowded it was! It was great to see that after 4 years of not being back they’d sorted out the outside toilets, no more portaloos made it so much more enjoyable! But the queues were still standardly lengthy and our favourite spot by the tree between the bar and the entrance was often the beginning of the queue! The addition of the incredible DJ booth dominating the back of the garden with its massive thumping speakers and the 2 bars which stretch the length of the garden either side makes a huge difference and I spent almost all of my time out there.
Dan Ghenacia B2B Dyed Soundorom, aka two thirds of French stalwarts were on total form and played an absolutely lush set of bouncy tech and acid house while the sun was going down and the sky turned a beautiful shade of purple. They were dropping some massive classic house tunes like DJ Sneak – “Love” and mixing it up to perfection with newer techno tunes like DJ Skull – “Fly”. The crowd came in full force and the whole place was completely rammed by the time the sun had gone down completely.
The sky changed to the all too familiar Circoloco red and the Circoloco veteran residents Tania Vulcano VS Cassy came on. They maintained the energy of the Apollonia guy’s set, with an immense mix of soulful techno, right the way through to when my favourite set of the night began, Seth Troxler VS The Martinez Brothers, their biggest track being when they dropped Ants resident Andrea Oliva’s massive tune “Vermona” complete with foghorns which really went off. Such a huge trio of techno heavy weights I was absolutely gagging for this since I saw the line up. The Martinez Brothers debuted Guti’s new tune and dropped plenty of their own material like massive new release “Stuff in the Trunk” feat. Miss Kittin.
The Berlin legend Ellen Allien was absolute fire, totally tearing the Main Room a new one. Her dark and deep techy set was gritty and her energy was infectious! When she dropped A001 – “Partheno” I got all tingly and spaced out, probably turning into one of those DC10 identikits for a brief moment of weirdness. I always find her a delight to watch with her pretty blonde locks and bouncy demeanor a stark contrast to the brazenly abrasive minimal and throbbing techno she drops.
Prince was definitely on the agenda – Seth and Martinez Bros had dropped Lets Go Crazy and then Matthias Tanzman David Squillace pulled Purple Rain and I Wanna Be Your Lover out of the bag, the lights were up everyone was dancing in a moment of sheer love. Speaking of love, one of the most beautiful moments of Circoloco was bumping into newly engaged couple Tobias Bromley and Zenith Deen. He proposed on the dance floor because they were such massive DC10 heads, the moment felt right. Proof that love and techno are basically the same thing.
