We started our ADE on Thursday at Bordello Aperitivo, the cafe brother of the infamous record shop Bordello a Parigi. With marble bar tops, lush chandeliers and a lax vibe, this was the perfect place to get a first drink, socialize and listen to some music.
When the latter moved from Bordello’s trademark italo to obscurer electronics, we moved to our first club night at The Other Side. Being our new favourite club in town, Thursday saw a bit of a slow start with the Dskonnect agency showcase. All the ingredients were there: a crisp soundsystem (if you haven’t heard their superb L’acoustics speakers, please go and check them out) and heavyweights like Damon Jee and Mathew Jonson (live with Sebastian Mullaert) on the bill. But the party lacked a crowd, and things only got going in the second room of the venue, which is much smaller and was decorated ceiling to floor with tapestries for the occasion
How different were things at The Breakfast Club on Saturday. Same venue, same good omens, but completely sold out. We were new to the concept and were a little moody diving into the club at 10AM, fully drenched because of torrential rains coming down on Saturday morning. But the nice free breakfast (yes, that’s where the name comes from) was very nice and included some warming soup. Once we got to the dance floor, Alia and Tsepo were playing a near-perfect warm up set, treating the crowd to lush pads and percussive workouts. Tight mixing and a back to back of two dj’s who really found each other musically: just really good stuff.
The main attraction of the party started at 12, with Ben UFO and Helena Hauff going back to back for three hours. The pair got off to a slow start, hindered by technical problems. These continued to haunt them throughout the set. It forced them to play like a divorced couple, playing a few tracks a time each with the other waiting behind the booth for their turn. The set in general was a bit all or nothing: the good tracks were insane, with some sections of the set being a little too experimental for our taste. The crowd, being a mix of music lovers who really wanted to be there that early and ravers who were somehow still standing, ate out of their hands though. When they finished with M-Ziq’s Twangle Frent, roars and whistles through the hall.
After this, we decided to head to the Gashouder to catch the final hours of the Awakenings day party. Full disclosure: we got free tickets. This made the decision easier to finally check out an Awakenings event, because they are amongst the most expensive parties at ADE, often with commercially leaning line-ups that are not really our taste. However, most of that money goes into a larger than life light plan, including walls of LED-screens, light rings, incredible lasers and even pyrotechnics. The shows here are tightly choreographed and just plainly amazing, being on par with the biggest EDM festivals. That being said, the music was sub par, as Rødhad and Rene Wise delivered an endless stream of techno rumbles and blips, never diverting from their bland mix of techno until the very last track. When Joris Voorn took over, things got a bit more melodic but still felt uninspired. When he decided to up the tempo to astronomical levels halfway through his set, we called it a day.
On the Sunday ADE gives something back to the city and its (temporary) inhabitants with a free day festival. Traditionally this takes place on the grounds of the NDSM Into The Woods festival, which means you get to check out their stage designs for free. The line-up was quite nice this year, with much of the Kultlab favourites performing. When we arrived most stages were still half empty, and after a quick stint at Moxie hitting house bangers to a headier crowd we went to check out Parallelle. This duo is known for their dreamy, minimal sound that they combine with live keyboards and singing. Perfect for the early stages of the festival, and the Vakwerk stage slowly filled with people as the hours of their set passed by.
Meanwhile, things had gotten into full party mode in the Dr. Martens tent, where FKA.M4A had taken over the booth. Being a jack of all trades, he opted for a pacer house and techno set that fit the vibe perfectly, mixing quick and laser-sharp. The drops hit hard and we saw some of the most ferocious dancing at the very end of the festival here. To smooth things out, we went to see Ryan Elliott close out the stage at the food court for a crowd as intimate as you get it for a name this big. But after a few last moves we had to leave, which felt like a proper goodbye after a long weekend of raving.
All in all it was a nice ADE, where we finally felt a breeze of fresh air in the scene. If the parties we went to are somewhat representative, we saw a bit of a decline of the need for speed, in favour of more tasteful approaches to dance music. Spending a long weekend on multiple sides of the dance music was refreshing and we can’t wait for next year’s event.