A batch of news has come along at the same time (sorry about the silence for a while though), and first of all we have May’s Tokyo Hardcore Construction – luckily it’s on a Saturday, so I’ll be able to make it. No lineup announced yet….
Events
I’ve finally seen some photos from last month’s NRGetic Romancer, so time for a round-up of what happened there. Of course, the venue and other DJs were nothing new to me, but to be actually playing alongside some of my best friends in the scene at the most famous event of its kind in Japan was, well…you can imagine, can’t you?
First thing was the pre-event meet up, and being shown the staff ropes by Guld – I’ll be helping out on the reception etc next time, all the stuff that the other DJs have to do too (until Hard NRG smashes into the mainstream and we can afford to pay reception staff, that is). There isn’t too much decor to put up at NRGetic Romancer, but this time there was some kind of problem with the flyers and they weren’t printed. A shame, as I wanted one for myself – but the front of the DJ booth is usually covered with them too, to obscure the rummaging for records/messing around with gear that goes on at most events.
After the sound check, gokuraku & Yuusuke started off their epic 1hr 50min set, running through a lot of their usual crowd pleasers, even if the floor was practically empty for the first part of the set. I was away with Guld at the reception for a lot of the time, but still heard some of the set through the speakers they have down there. A great thing about schranz as a warm up is that the bpm is pretty high from the start, and so the crowd were ready for more of the same by the time 12.50 rolled around.
I’ve just recovered from a busy Saturday, where for the first time I managed two events in one day – it nearly killed me, but I’m glad I didn’t miss either of them, especially after I couldn’t make it to last Thursday’s Tokyo Hardcore Construction.
First was Hardcore Tano*C, and I had to be there for the start to see Alabaster’s set. The night before he received some FINRG promos (entirely legally, I might add), and I was hoping, he played Voices of Babylon about halfway through. I have to say, I was really really impressed with his mixing and track choice, we’ve got very similar taste in tunes – as well as some of his more recent tracks, like Void and Ziggurat, he played Grimsoul’s Synthetic Paradise (still one his very best tunes, I reckon), Angel of Hell and a few other quality tracks. It was only a 45 minute set, but one of the best I’ve heard for a while – the mix combinations were very very good.
Thanks to Decion for pointing me towards this one – I’d been watching some videos from Konemetsa earlier today, as it happens. It looks like such a great event…I’ll be heading to Finland at some point, I’m 100% sure, but maybe I can’t make it to the ’09 Konemetsa. A Finnish raver I met at Energetic Trance the other week was telling me about the amazing sound of the music in amongst all those trees, kind of a ‘softer’ sound, or something like that. Seems like the kind of thing you have to be there to experience properly though, so time to start saving..
A quick note for any NRG fans in Chiba prefecture (just east of Tokyo) – DJ Minagi is playing a set at HARD JAM on the 20th March. His selection’s been getting better and better lately, and I’m keen to get to this one myself. Trouble is, Thursday is Tokyo Hardcore Construction, and Saturday is Hardcore Tano*C/LTJ Bukem…
The lineup hasn’t been completely announced yet, but Minagi is headlining, and it’s great to see him still getting sets after Hell’s Gate.
The event opens at 11.00pm, and here’s a map of the area, too.
Not too much has been happening during the past week, but I made it along to Energetic Trance on Sunday, as planned. It was actually my first time at amate-raxi (for some reason I thought I’d been before..), and it’s ridiculously hard to find, through a little hidden/unmarked passageway. The dancefloor itself is tiny, too, and if there’s any air conditioning it doesn’t do anything useful…it was definitely too hot to stay for more than one set at a time.
Anyway, Guld’s set was really top quality, and the highlight of the event, for sure. A lot of the NRGetic Romancer crew were there, and the atmosphere tailed off after Guld and Nish finished their sets. Remo-con’s set in particular didn’t seem to get people going at all….
March is a busy month for events, the first being Energetic Trance next weekend, and here are three more that I’ve been looking forward to. First up is Tokyo Hardcore Construction at Studio Cube – I’ll definitely be along to this one again, though Betwixt & Between isn’t playing this time. If you check the flyer you’ll notice that it’s on the 19th – a Thursday – but thank the gods I’m not working the following day, so all’s well.
Then, depending how NRGetic I’m feeling on the 21st, I’m thinking about a couple of ambitious trips to first the ‘East’ Hardcore Tano*C event (the ‘West’ version will be held in Osaka the week before), and then LTJ Bukem’s event at Unit. I’ll be free from work on Saturdays after next week, and so if my body/bank balance can take it, the early Tano*C start time might actually be a good thing….
1am here, so NRGetic Romancer is officially today! The past few days have been spent madly trying out different mix combinations, and I probably have a million ideas at the moment – hopefully that’ll narrow down a bit by the time I play.
Anyway, the timetable has been announced, and although I’m replacing Cogi, my play time is pretty late – starting at 12.50am, I’ll be playing for 1hr 10mins, which is the longest ever at an event. Really exciting, as that gives me plenty of room to play all sorts of stuff, instead of turning it into a semi-megamix in 40mins. The Full Circle set will be only 30mins this time, but I think it could be very unique indeed, I’m looking forward to it a lot.
東京に住んでいる方は明日是非遊びにきて下さい。ゲストで２０００円になります！よろしくお願いします。
11.00 – gokuraku & Yuusuke
12.50 – PlasmaDancer
2.00 – Full Circle DJs
2.30 – Betwixt & Between
3.20 – Guld
Only a few days until NRGetic Romancer now, and as I still haven’t seen any sign of the photos from the event, I thought it might be worth quickly posting up some of my hazy memories along with some YouTube videos, for those who haven’t seen them yet.
Android Lime was playing there as a guest, of course, but the rest of the DJs also did a great job as always. I only caught the end of gokuraku and Yuusuke’s set, but recognised a couple of schranz numbers from their previous sets. Great warm-up material, once again.
What a start to 2009…I’m incredibly pleased to announce that I’ll be joining the staff of NRGetic Romancer – starting with the event on the 21st of this month! It’ s a little less than two years ago that I went to my first NRGetic Romancer, and to now be playing there alongside Full Circle DJs, Betwixt & Between and Guld himself is genuinely a dream come true. The one disappointment is that Cogi won’t be playing this time – he’s had to cancel, and that’s the main reason that my debut is coming a little earlier than planned.
So, huge thanks to Guld – I’m determined to repay his faith and really come up with an NRGetic Romancer-worthy first set. Once again though I also have to thank Zio and the Hell’s crew, as without them this almost definitely wouldn’t have happened at all. I’m going to have to change my style a bit though, because (for obvious reasons) I won’t be playing any tracks by Guld, Betwixt & Between or Full Circle DJs. It might be quite a challenge, but instead I’ll be aiming mostly for a best of FINRG/Hybridize set. After a couple of years as a raver there, I think I know what kind of tracks appeal to the NRGetic Romancer crowd, after all.
Final mentions for the fantastic flyer design, courtesy of Android Lime himself – great work once again. As for me, planning for the next set begins now!