Feeling like something out of The Weekender I arrive at Amnesia on the back of a scooter - adrenaline rushing through my body, gifting me with the initial high to storm through the entrance of the award-winning club. Although the false sense of empowerment I feel hopping off the scooter is suddenly drained for my bones once I enter Amnesia's lair and realise I'm just another cog in the wheel.
My eyes are met by a maze of pipes and rickety stairs, and dotted around are speakers used as stages for 10 or more enthusiastic ravers to show off their moves. Set times have been slightly changed, but Pan-Pot are easily recognised, playing Pig&Dan's ‘The Saint' (Job San remix), with piano keys bouncing off the warehouse walls, a 90s feeling has already been set.
Amnesia is probably the most ‘out-there' club yet, for me. It's an absolute free-for-all and I find myself surrounded by ravers dressed in alien-like gowns and glowing sunglasses. I even spot a wedding party. The (what seems to be) bride is hauling her dress up as she closes her eyes and loses her soon-to-be-married self in Amnesia's walls. I like this place.
Melanie Ribbe has taken full control of the main room, and I find myself in the midst of a dance off as Federico Grazzini's ‘I Like That' is played. It's still early and we're full of energy, and that's never wasted if you take your dance offs seriously.
Back on the terrace, two identically sophisticated half-naked dancers clamber up on a podium. They seize the attention of anyone within a mile radius, throwing their bodies around with flirtatious passion. Being a dancer on this occasion isn't as easy as it looks, because having to stay attentive as Ricardo Villalobos unmercifully takes over the decks is a tough job. The word onomatopoeia springs to mind as he plays a wobbly track that almost sounds like his second name, which quickly merges into a techno hip-hop beat, matched by the dancer's sudden aggressive moves.
I feel as if I'm raving underwater, my head sunk deep in euphoria as the words “Relax your body, Relax your soul” float in between the little space left in the club. Soon enough the Apollonia trio are polishing off the night, and paper fans are distributed as the club-induced heat wave show no signs of abating. But the crowd remains strong-willed as Apollonia dish out unrelenting tracks throughout their set, supplying the crowd with original groove and unforgivable beats.
Amnesia has given me a taste of what it's capable of, and I leave with a part of my mind embedded in the walls, just as an excuse to return at a later date.
WORDS | Ruby Munslow PHOTOGRAPHY | James Chapman
