Resident switch-ups are a sonic spectacle that have already been paraded on the White Isle this season. Music On frontman, Marco Carola, has crashed into Space on invitation of the big man Carl Cox and he's repaid the favour. Balkan bastion Solomun has snuggled up to Sven at Cocoon giving a wee display of their bromance with Sven all set to lend his dexterous duties to Solomun + 1 in September – definitely one for the calendar. And another that was stamped into the debauchery diary was an absolute belter of a pairing at Sven Väth's techno trumpeting Cocoon with Richie Hawtin being let off the leash at Amnesia.
I knew people from Glasgow that had flown over specifically to catch this badboy and no doubt they weren't the only ones who went all out for this dynamite duo. The biggest indicator of this was for the first time finding myself in a pretty meaty queue, with sleep paralysis, sexual liaisons and fish finger sandwiches being the topics of choice that fed the near half hour wait. This was a prepping for what we were all going to be chucked into. Cocoon's line-ups are always beasts but this was obviously considered the brute of all beasts and its houndingly busy floors said it all. Elbows out. Carnage.
If you consider yourself well acquainted with Cocoon, one word will probably come to mind – pounding. I live two bustops away from Amnesia and I can't actually remember the last time a Monday night/Tuesday morning wasn't spent on the receiving end of an aural bashing. Hello tinnitus. The energy around the place is always strong but there was definitely a different vibe being flung in from every corner with a heavy dose of anticipation being the prescribed medicine. Considering I'd have more space standing in a serial killer's Smeg fridge freezer with big Sandra and Barbara's dismembered body parts, you could say that the said anticipation was just a wee bit infectious.
A small portion of Sven was caught, who thunderously roared it out on a medium setting to build the momentum before it was taken to high on Hawtin. Richie's ENTER residency at Space is another one that I'm barely away from with his stellar lineups. Before this season I'd never seen this guy live and I have a pack of mates who are always giving it "Hawtin this, Hawtin that". I was never convinced from the live sets I'd stick on; maybe I'd listened to the wrong ones. But after his ENTER opening, I finally admitted that I could say “aye, I get it,” and realised that his sound is best injested live. After thirty minutes of reminding myself of this as he took over Amnesia's terrace with stand-out, forceful, pounding techno brutality, I went in for a piece of the action in the main room where Dubfire was holding an ever so slightly less packed crowd who appreciated that extra inch of hair follicle room. He was also absolutely fantastic and made me appreciate again that my ear drum taste is innately tuned in for tasty techno. Maybe I should say, “thank you mum ya ‘90s raver.”
Back in for Hawtin, you realised exactly why this guy is considered a pioneer within the techno tier. If pounding is the word for Cocoon, then unrelenting is one I'd slap on Hawtin. So unrelenting that I'm not feared to say that I took myself out for a five minute breather before getting back in there for more. In some techno sets you can be well aware a track change is coming and has arrived, but for him it's a solid pummeling path which progresses subtly. For numbers, the place barely eased up, Smeg fridge freezer loaded with Sandra and Barbara still very much present which only attests to this guy's power. Frenchman Popof sliced through the magic techno trove with a slightly lighter punch but, make no bones about it, when I say lighter it's still a punch that left a couple of welcome bruises.
At 7.30am, I decided I was off. Said bye, said bye some more and ended up staying until the very end when Hawtin did his usual stripping down tease with irregular pulses leaving you thinking that's it, only for him to come right back in with the ammo and do it several times over. Total anxiety inducer.
But the end had to come and it was off with the other undesirables to Sunrise café for a beer before the two day wait until Sven loads it on at ENTER. Big YAS.
WORDS | Aimee Lawrence PHOTOGRAPHY | James Chapman
