Berlin… A place increasingly becoming more and more talked about within the UK. Somewhere that’s in close reach and surprisingly cheap (you can get a beer for 25p)! So, we took a trip to the city that has recently seen some very good press… the internet has been awash with those weekend articles of Berghain and Watergate – the big dogs providing you with the sound of Berlin.
There are a huge number of clubs to visit whilst in the city, and obviously the big dogs deserve their stellar reputations. Berghain has made its mark as a stalwart of the Berlin techno scene; with its signature dark and industrial flavour, often slowed down 6-8%, its much-discussed door policy (the club’s bouncer Sven Marquardt has just released his memoirs) and of course its sexually charged “darkrooms”. Then of course there’s the fashionable Watergate, which offers up a more mixed bag of genres with DJ’s playing everything from trance to techno.
However you already know about those two and even though they’re great, here at The Noise Gate, we want to provide you with some other options, say for an alternate night. Throughout the week the more famous clubs can often be closed and there are certainly a stack of incredible places to go. By no means are these little scraps either, the best part about the city is that it’s extremely liberal and you can get down from Monday to Sunday… and back again!
The best way to describe Berlin is that it’s a gigantic art gallery: the streets are paved with graffiti, art and expression is literally everywhere. This replicates in its people who are exceptionally friendly and open, but it’s at night when the city comes to life in a different way. For frequent clubbers it’s a paradise.
Throughout the week regular haunts such as Tresor and Suicide Circus, both well known and popular with locals, provide great DJ’s most days of the week and are well respected in their own right. One of the places that we were particularly impressed with was Club der Visionaere – perfectly situated in an old boat house on the channel, next to Kreuzberg (an established and hip suburb) and Friedrichshain (the new up and coming place to be in Berlin).
It was a Wednesday night that went VERY late into Thursday morning; CDV was busy with young and knowledgeable music-loving people, but by no means was there any air of pretentiousness. The vibe all night was free-flowing and upbeat with no animosity and on the turntables was the impressive Bleed, owner of De:Bug magazine, who mixed flawlessly between house, disco and minimal, while Strobocop used mostly vinyl to play out an eclectic taste of rare tracks that would make most crate diggers truly envious. CDV is without a doubt somewhere to check whilst in the city.
Of course if you do get chance to go to Berlin, by all means Berghain and Watergate are excellent, and they do come highly recommended, there’s just a lot more to the city that upon visiting… speaks for itself.
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