Thursday, September 21, 2006

FEMME 06, 09/09/06 at Kulturos, pramogu ir sporto rumai, Vilnius

The venue for the night of female DJs was not the usual smoky underground cavern. The Kultur rumai was built in Soviet times and sports classic Soviet features: high ceilings, staircases and mezzanines in the centre of open spaces with stark concrete angles and Stalinist geometric chandeliers. It is not a forgiving venue, yet the performers of FEMME conquered it magnificently. We danced in the mezzanine and the DJs worked their tech from their pedestal further up the stairs; a Grecian ode to God is a DJ. Performers included Rochelle Vincentre, Scratch Massive, Maud Geffray, Product 01, Vinila von Bismark plus others.

The crowd were mainly female, some fashinistas, some indie art kids, some goth, and more. More men appeared through out the evening but not the usual club crowd of letchy arrogance. People milled around until Barcelona’s Vinila von Bismark took the stage looking stunning: strapless dress with 1960s headscarf and dark glasses. She had a presence and seized the dance floor with thrilling pulses and looping hard electro melodies. It was upbeat, it was throbbing and her inventive mixes kept us dancing throughout her two-hour set.

VvB was followed by duo Product 01 from the UK, with trance-like vocals and wonky electronics, but for those whose feet wanted to keep the beat moved to the lounge room for Julita. The lounge room sported the best Lithuanian DJs from Klaipeda to Vilnius with a range of scratch dub and the more mellow to Julita’s electroclash. Seamless mixing of bleeping synthpop and indie rock created an elated dance floor. From Communards samples to Bizarre Love Triangle being played straight through with added rhythm, Julita mixed a feeling of ultimate party. The crowd danced crazy, and the DJ leaped up and down, everyone grinning.

The vibe of the night was incredible, upbeat, feel-good and everyone was there to have a good time and dance their hearts out without caring what they looked like. The range of DJs was diverse and reminded us exactly why DJs rule.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home