ADE 2011 review

Hi all, its been a while since the last post!  Just got back from Amsterdam for ADE so here is a little report while I remember...

Saturday:

Up at 6am and down to Dover with Roberto from Kai Zen (www.facebook.com/RobertoUK), then over to Amsterdam, the drive wasn't bad at all and the music was full blast all the way!  There weren't too many complaints from him when Blondie came on so I reckon hes been hiding a secret passion... Anyway...

Arrived at the hostel - the St Christophers on Warmostraat, well recommended and off to Outland to meet Jerome Krom, Dave Johnnys, Chris Page and Jamie Anderson of Artform records.  After a good pizza at Jerome's place - thanks to him!  I headed to Toko MC - note to self and anyone else, take a map, I walked for ages until I found it.  The Objectivity Vs. Theo Parrish night was superb, I stayed mostly in the 2nd room for Theo, Juju & Jordash, Tom Trago, Awanto 3 and Kyle Hall.  Tom and Awanto playing as Alfabet was awesome, no kick drums for the first 5 minutes meant there was something special coming up and it didn't support, harder and faster than Tom's regular stuff it was genuinely surprising and refreshing stuff.  Theo followed the live set and after a minute's silence the hip hop started, his whole set was based around presenting the music in a unique way, there was not much mixing going on but that suited the vibe... Excellent all round!

Trouble with a lock meant I couldn't get any fresh clothes at 6am so instead of going to Secretsundaze sleep was in  order!  Got up to watch the rugby with the NZers so supported France.  After discovering there was no reentry to Ostgut Ton at Toko MC the money went on beer instead which lead back to the Artform Records party at The Sun, a superb way to start the night with quality music coming from Roberto, Jamie Anderson, Jerome Krom and Will Long.  Then it was onto Trouw for the Visionquest closing with Ben Gomori, walking into Trouw is a real experience, having never been I was extremely impressed, the size was something to behold!  Unfortunately Seth's set didn't really match the impressiveness of the venue - it was a bit bland and generic.  Fortuntely though I discovered Tom Trago playing downstairs and again the sleazy acid really made my night!  We tried to get into Ostgut later on but weren't allowed in which was annoying...

The conference only runs from Weds to Sat but having an extra night in the city couldn't be wasted, so after a few drinks it was onto Supperclub for some guys that were playing soulful and funky house.  It was a good relaxing way to end a hectic weekend with a lie down on one of the beds...

Overall a superb weekend and very easy to get to, superb clubs and nights on and excellent options for places to stay meant that we will definitely be going back next year...

Mentions for:

Roberto
Chris Page
Dave Johnnys
Jerome Krom
Jamie Anderson
Will Long
The guy from Manchester
Ben Gomori
Eli from Soul Clap
Tom Trago for the music
Mark Kitchell + gf
Raiz
Olivier 'Ghini-b' Palazzoli
Roy Davis Jr
Toby and Claire