We’ve been hyping about and looking forward to 20 F**king Years Of Planet E since it was announced a few months back. What we didn’t expect was that it would surpass our expectations, turning in to a memorable ‘were you there night’ from the first records dropped. Big ups to everyone who had any part to play in pulling it off, not sure when we’re going to see something this special again.
For starters, Ewer Street car park as a venue is absolutely spot-on. The golden days of rave still hold spirit in here and definitely accommodate ideally towards the techno aficionados, as well as the newer audience who missed it the first time around. Something about the night made it seem that everyone there was on the same wave length and who knows if it would’ve worked without the dope set up. Not only were the vibes amazing, but the systems and sound were keyed to perfection.
Still not sure who was holding it down for the opening sets, but it was proper on point in both rooms well before any headliners came on. Straight in to it with some original-sounding-techno mixed with house, and twisted up for massive drops straight from the get go.The crowd was plenty appreciative and all on decks responded by giving something extra.
As to be expected Francois K and Paul Woolford managed to push it up notch further. Getting carried away on one stage meant I’m gutted I missed Psycatron doing their thing live, but by all second-hand accounts they delivered nicely. For many the lead up to the peak probably came with Mr Kevorkian dropping ‘Desire’ as his last tune of the night, and it was time for Carl Craig to step up to his 20 year celebrations in the main room.
Cool as ever, it’s always about the calculated drops and perfection of selection for Carl to express himself purely through the music. Weaving in and out of some unnamed pieces, classic Planet E catalogue and signature workings such as his remix of ‘In The Trees‘ (which sounded amazing on that system), it was an education in electronic music and how to headline a massive party. More experienced heads are already calling C2‘s set on the night the best they’ve seen him play, and I don’t think there’s much more I can add to it than that.
Fortunately we had Timmy K aka Phomandark in affect snapping shots for us, saying more than we could trying to train-spot the tracks. Some of our favourites below, click for full resolution, and the full set can be viewed up here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/timkantoch/sets/72157626082081005/
