Last Saturday saw Amsterdam’s NGHTDVSN & De Marktkantine host one of dance music’s finest duos, Adriatique who graced a packed crowd with, what was surely, a very special open to close set.
The Swiss Adrians have been nothing short of a phenomenon since joining forces in 2008. They have released on a who’s who of the world’s finest labels including their native city’s Cityfox, Brooklyn’s Wolf + Lamb, and, of course, Solomun’s mighty Diynamic, of which they are a seminal member of the family (and thus, no strangers to the city of Amsterdam). This was the first time I had experienced Adriatique in Amsterdam, although they are a regular sight at Brooklyn’s CityFox pop up events, and, without hesitation, can call it one of the finest sets I have heard since arriving here some 15 months ago.
De Marktantine is a spacious venue, tucked away in the West of the city, giving it a combined feeling of secluded yet central. My first experience there was for the Pleinvrees Heroes Afterparty, where many of that events DJs graced the decks of its 2 room space. At that event, I was immediately struck by the size of the venue, which impressively hosts a 2nd room quite comparable in size to its main room. Also, the venue is generally inviting, with the main room DJ booth allowing fans the chance to walk, chill, and dance behind it (located at floor level), adorned with plants and greenery. This design immediately invites audience participation, and creates a rapport between performer and crowd, which is vital to an events success.
With this, I jumped at the chance to go to De Marktantine again, fully aware this time, as I was not following up an all day festival. As I expected, the vibe was going strong when I walked in around 1am. Our very own Kimou was rocking the second room with his blend of deep electronic beats. Such tracks as Robag Wrumhe‘s take on Coda’s Lora, Jamie XX’ Loud Place (Barnt remix), and Erol Alkan‘s rework of Connan Mockasin’s Forever Dolphin Love being of particular highlight. Kimou led straight into Armada Deep‘s Kevin Duane taking control of the room until its 4:30am close time. I say this with no DHA-related bias, but I truly feel Duane is a talented DJ, with an eye for the crowd as natural as his strong track selection. As the 2nd room gradually filled to capacity, there was barely a hand that wasn’t in the air, making the abrupt ending something of an anticlimax. Luckily, Adriatique was still going for another half hour.
My sole critique of the event would be the quite crowded nature of the main room. It was cramped, hot, and humid, with just as many making walking passages through the crowd as were dancing. Regardless, that comes to be expected when a performer of this caliber plays in such a way. With festival culture being so large here, extended sets come as a certain novelty; making them must see events. Allowed the luxury of providing a musical journey rather than a an hour of anthems, Adriatique was able to dig through their catalogue, while throwing in some massive edits in the mix as well. Peaks, valleys, dark, light, classic, contemporary, Berlin, New York, Detroit, were all represented in the set. I can’t lie, my recollection of some specifics at this point are a little…hazy, however one track in particular stood out. Obviously an exclusive, of which I have heard Dixon, Ame, and Job Jobse may be the only others in possession, but after much research it seems the track was an Innervisions reworking of Too Much Information by Dele Sosimi. Don’t quote me on that, but all internet signs (of which most, if not all, are now unavailable) point to this.
So, as you can see, I couldn’t recommend the event or the venue high enough. With that I am quite looking forward to another round this evening as Prunk Invites stops by with Deetron, Citizenn, and Foulk in tow. I have little doubt this will be a special evening as well.
[gallery_bank type=”images” format=”filmstrip” title=”false” desc=”false” img_in_row=”5″ display=”all” sort_by=”random” animation_effect=”bounce” image_width=”600″ album_title=”false” album_id=”128″]
