(idm) Tsuyoshi Suzuki (live report back)

From Irene McC
Sent Mon, Feb 1st 1999, 16:06

*** If THIS is trance, why didn't I know I liked it? ***

In what has come to be regarded as the pinnacle of the South 
African outdoor trance/rave scene's calendar, Vortex promoters 
again brought out Matsuri's Tsuyoshi Suzuki for this annual event.  
I hadn't attended any of the previous ones, but since it attracts a 
cross-over crowd, all of whom have given favourable reports, I 
decided to go on Saturday 30 January, a placidly warm and 
windfree night in a perfect setting +- 35km's from Cape Town, 
across some fields, down a rough dirt track and amongst bushes 
and blue gum trees near a little river.  

There were a few pre-erected teepees with disco balls surrounding 
the open-air dance area, which the organisers had previously 
doused down with water, to stop a dust cloud.  The DJ's doing the 
early sets were playing mainly ambient verging on psychedelic, 
while people scuttled about, finding their friends, setting up tents, 
spreading out blankets.  One adventurous mix that made me look 
up was Little Fluffy Clouds criss-crossed with Pink Floyd's Wish 
You Were Here  }:-<>

I am elated to report that Suzuki rather surprised the die-hard 
trance heads by playing a 5 hour set of basically knife-edge hard 
techno!!!  He went on at 2am, scheduled to go till 6, but only ended 
his set at 7am, even slipping in a track from local musician Jorge 
Carlos' recently released album (Trip of Africa), which got the crowd 
cheering like crazy.    

The sound was amazing - he ripped up the full moon night air with 
clean shimmering stabs like clear icicle shards.  By about 4am he 
cranked it up to a huge throb and just kept pushing warp speed 
ahead into the realms of deep space. 

The whole place was well laid out and decorated : the rig built up 
around the stage to form a huge pyramid topped with lasers; Hare 
Krishna food stalls, day-glo paintings of the pre-requisite alients 
and mushrooms, screen-saver Mandelbrot-type visuals mixed off 
two computers projected onto a screen etc.  The smell of Tiger 
Balm encroached on the dope smoke - a fine combination, it turns 
out.

There was also a techno area.  That was further down the fields : 
very popular, loaded dance floor with some excellent choons, but 
booming bass and clipping speakers, uncomfortably loud for the 
cramped bush enclosed space they were using.   (I heard this 
morning that they blew two bass speakers :-> )  

By the time we left at 9:30am, they were all still storming and 
stomping.  But by then it had veered very definitely to full-on trance 
which I was pleased not to have to endure!   (Tristan of 21-3 & 
Flying Rhino had the morning set.)  

Major props to my ahead-thinking friend who had brought along 
cold watermelon - the early morning taste explosion is worth 
passing on as an insider tip :-)

I
*