Isle of MTV - Paard van Troje, Den Haag 09.07.2004

[Ferry Kloos]

:wink:

[Ferry Kloos]

Re:: Isle of MTV - Paard van Troje, Den Haag 09.07.2004

Please read this very nice report:

Just when everyone thought that a (well deserved) sunny summer was arriving, it seemed the weather gods were not well-inclined towards us. Heavy rains covered most parts of Europe, and The Netherlands were no exception. Nevertheless MTV Europe planned on stopping by in The Hague for their Dutch edition of ?Isle of MTV? on a drowsy evening in July. With a widespread media-campaign and sponsorship, MTV was able to assemble a lineup with international DJs as Stanton Warriors, Nick Warren and James Zabiela. Moreover the music television giant teamed up with Sander Kleinenberg?s Everybody to deliver even more DJs to makes one's mouth water.

I always have great respect for DJs who open for the so-called superstars and headliners of the evening. It seems an unrewarding task to spin your records in front of a nearly empty room, but Everybody regulars Stef Vrolijk and 16 Bit Lolita?s did an excellent job. Building up for the transition around midnight, and letting the crowd grown to a cosy and warm amount, Vrolijk and company hit the gas. Surprisingly MTV kept the surroundings quite untouched from a design standpoint this evening. Although the necessary amounts of sponsored props were placed, I would have liked to see more thematical ?Isle of MTV? elements. Let us say that the music provided the warmth that the artwork couldn?t bring.

When Sander Kleinenberg arrived, equiped with all the necessary musical and visual materials, he decided to raise the temperature in rapid pace. While most people minded the music and eachother, the visuals caught my attention. Layer upon layer, this system provided entertaining and humorious footage and aided some spice to the sounds of Kleinenberg. The selfproclaimed multimedia-jockey built a solid and pumping set and delivered his own remixes of Janet Jackson?s new single and N.E.R.D.?s Maybe to the cheer of the attendees. Fresh! I became curious what the other room had in store for us.

While I missed Chris Coco, who I later spotted spinning in the bleak VIP-room if I?m correct, the music that met our ears on arrival in the smaller room was great. Mark Yardley and Dominic B, the duo who are better known as the Stanton Warriors, were ripping the room apart with their combination of breakbeats, hiphop and progressive. Although they did a great job at keeping the crowd dancing with fitting Daft Punk and Underworld-remix work, the room wasn?t as packed as they deserved. But then again, most of the crowd seemed to wander around between the two rooms throughout the evening. A crowd which was very mixed but quite balanced: attracting Everybody regulars, local clubbers and people drawn by MTV?s reputation.

In the mainroom, Mr. Little Mountain was still pleasing and teasing the crowd before handing the decks and microphone to Way Out West. Nick Warren and Jody Wisternoff, accompanied by a lovely singer, were set to perform live and with their new album 'Don't Look Now' I expected some good new stuff. But when performing, their music didn?t catch on and was too down-tempo after the foregoing, providing an anticlimax for many including myself. With Nick Warren?s somewhat perfunctory behaviour and appearance, it does put a bit of a blot on the picture. We fled to Bedrock?s James Zabiela who provided everything I want to see from him. While some critics say his box of ?techniqual turntablism tricks? (and emphasize on that part) harm his sets in musical aspects, I think his youthful enthusiasm and excellent skills are what a succesfull DJ needs. And after all: Tastes in choice of records differ.

Offbeat, Breakbeat and quite minimum tracks were the choice of Zabiela on this rainy night, and for most people including the watching Kleinenberg and Vrolijk, it was all good. With Blur?s Song 2 to end the set and an ovation by the attendees, only a short B2B final cord with Nick Warren and Sander Kleinenberg in the mainroom followed to end the night. And then it started raining again, but this time a rain of applause for the organisation: providing some warmth on this chilly summer night.

Badu

[maxman]

Re:: Isle of MTV - Paard van Troje, Den Haag 09.07.2004

What do you think Ferry???

It was a good party - especially Zabiela was nice to hear and see perform!

[Ferry Kloos]

I thought this guy told it very nice. Stanton Warriors and especially Zabiela made this night for me.

Next time we 'must' meet mate. :wink:

[maxman]

Totally agree!

Dance Valley? Yoshi Toshi area???

Sorry for late reply, but I don't seem to get any notification mails anymore...

[subdude]

Re:: Isle of MTV - Paard van Troje, Den Haag 09.07.2004

JZ closed with "song two" here in atlanta a few weeks ago, as well. Got everyone pretty wound up!

[maxman]

Can imagine that subdude...

Here in Den Haag people (who understood the music of James) were going nuts as well!!!

[Ferry Kloos]

Totally agree!

Dance Valley? Yoshi Toshi area???

Sorry for late reply, but I don't seem to get any notification mails anymore...

Sorry, I'm not in. Maybe 22th. of september in Paradiso (Jeff Mills/Laurent Garnier) ?!

[maxman]

Too bad, you've missed something special...

22nd??? Well, why not...