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.
The night before the set Guld had asked me to be careful of the bpm, as there are a lot of hard dance fans at NRGetic Romancer – understandably he didn’t want me to scare them off by playing too quickly from the start, especially as my set was going to last for a pretty hefty 1hr 10mins. Thankfully I made it through with only one slip up at the end, which given my nerves was pretty good going, I’d say. Having planned to play a darker set, I ended up playing fast and melodic for the most part – but it was really nice to have ravers I don’t know coming up to me later, telling me they had a really good time. I’ve bumped into more of the NRGetic Romancer crew at other events since, and they’ve told me they’re looking forward to my next set, which is fantastic to hear.
Here’s the tracklist this time:
- Cyrez – Intro
- Cyrez – Private Demon
- DJ Rx – Code of Silence (Epyx & Cyrez remix)
- IAF – Kinky
- Carbon Based & DJ Rx – Titor’s Quantum Theory
- Nomic – Awa
- Eryk Orpheus & K Complex – Surrounded By Insanity
- Epyx & Cyrez – Distant Illusions
- Alek Szahala – Alanamra
- Grimsoul – Some More
- Sam One & Horzi – Fear of Reality
- Substanced & Grimsoul – Harder Than U Think
- Alabaster – Barbotage
- Carbon Based – Tuonela
- Kevin Energy vs Proteus – London Helsinki Underground (K Complex remix)
- Nightforce – Raindrops
I’m guessing that people will be familiar with enough of those tunes to imagine what kind of set it was – very melodic, and the bpm went from 165 to 175. Once I started playing I was hit by the realisation that THIS IS NRGETIC ROMANCER , but luckily I managed to keep the nerves at bay and got the set flowing pretty well, I think (Guld later said he couldn’t tell when I was mixing between tracks…he couldn’t have been listening too closely!). I usually (no, make that always) play over 170bpm, and so this was the first time ever that I was intending to finish a recorded mix/event set on a much higher bpm than the start. For the first few tunes I was definitely concentrating on ‘doing my job’ decently (hence the crazy-eyed stare in the photo again..). By the time Alanamra came in though, I was pretty comfortable again, and that was around about the part of the set where I tried to take it away from twisty dark tunes and into melodic territory. As usual, everyone loved Alanamra, and I was dancing away as much as I do when it’s played by someone else.
Semi-distaster struck near the end though, as I played London Helsinki Underground, expecting it to be the last tune. Alas Yousuke had disappeared somewhere, and so Buzzmasta asked me to play one more while they got sorted out – my mind went completely blank…. For some reason I couldn’t think of a single tune (when of course now about 10 leap out at me), and so I played Nightforce’s epic Raindrops. I love the tune, and so does Betwixt – he’d actually requested that I play it, so I thought I’d try squeezing it in – the mix was a bit of a mess, to be honest, but people got nicely into the tune, even if it is much more of a set-opener than a set-ender.
All in all, the set went extremely well, and although I’ve already chosen some darker tunes to play next time, the selection worked much better than I was expecting. Maybe the biggest hits with the crowd were Private Demon, Kinky, Alanamra (of course), Harder Than U Think, Tuonela and London Helsinki Underground, but thinking back there didn’t seem to be a single tune that bombed. Set-related thanks to many people this time: huge thanks to Cyrez, Teemu Carbon Based, DJ Rx, DJ Swoosh, IAF, Nomic and Alabaster, I’m really grateful for all the help. Thanks also to Mai, Minagi, Yasuo and the Hell’s Gate massive who danced like mad through the early stages and picked up on all the anthems, as I was hoping. Final thanks to the extremely talented Anarchy for the plastic hair I was wearing this time – it’s difficult to see in the photos, but they did an awesome job. I got a few compliments through the night about it – including a slightly bizarre one from a homeless old guy in Tamachi station, on the way to the event (“I thought you were a girl at first, but it looks really cool”).
Next up were the Full Circle DJs, only playing for 30mins with a ‘new style’ of set. It took everyone completely by surprise when they started at a very low bpm, with melodic, almost house-esque tunes with a Full Circle twist. DJ Yousuke was mixing the tracks while Buzzmasta played percussion and added extra elements. It was really professional, but the crowd were quite surprised by the new style, I think, and so by the time people were finally starting to get moving properly….the set ended. I wonder if the bpm will be a bit higher next time – as the Full Circle DJs always play in a peak-time slot, it might not be a bad idea.
Betwixt & Between played next, and it’s plain to see that along with Guld, this is ‘his’ event at the moment. He started off with a new track, an amazing schranz-esque stormer that obliterated the place. Guld and I were lurking up the back near the bar and were both amazed at the damage it did. Moving from that into The Moon From Below, his Moving Flare edit (or maybe even an edit of an edit, I’ve known of another version for a year or so now), and Hesotarou Tankobu, his set did real damage. It calmed down after the madness of his Airwave edit (a real anthem here now), but picked up again towards the end. Absolute class, and I think it’s safe for other DJs playing here to assume that if they get Betwixt’s fans on their side during a set, the atmosphere will take care of itself.
Closing things as usual was Guld, and he played a lot of promos – we’ve been talking lately about the lack of good, dark tracks these days, but here he came up with a very nice selection. Tracks included the new stormer from ConfigSys, Wasteland, as well as the Proteus remix of Psychopath, Hase’s Attacker and many more, before playing a selection of his own tunes. He also played Voices of Babylon, as I’d been asked not to use it in my own set….at least I still got the chance to hear it, eh? It was a great set, and ended on an old Lab 4 tune, Stungun. I hadn’t heard it before, but it’s fantastic in a retro high bpm sort of way. With Hannya8000 as an encore, the event was then over.
Thanks a million to Guld and the NRGetic Romancer crew once again, I’m already looking forward to the next one on the 18th April. It seems like Cogi will be playing too, which will be great – and I’m pretty sure the sets will be recorded.