Istanbul's Electronica Festival 2006 - Pictures/Review

[bxtreme]

The pictures of the Electronica Festival I went to in Istanbul are finally out, so I thought I'd share them with you and tell you a few words about the event.

It was a two day festival featuring Sasha, Digweed, Spooky, and Alexander Kowalski on day one, and then Bent, Kosheen, and Armin Van Buuren on Day 2. It took place on a huge beach area, and featured the best soundsystem I have ever heard! You could stand anywhere you want and still hear the same great quality of sound! The light setup, unfortunately, wasnt as good as we were told it was going to be, but the sound made up for that. Yet the venue was beautifully setup, with lots of bars at the back and on the side, clean WCs, and a huge chillout area by the sea, where hundreds of beanbag couches were placed for people who want to take a break. Alcohol was very expensive, a half full cup of vodka redbull cost $15. I went for beer most of the time, the cheaper alternative.

As for the DJs, Day 1 was just sick! Spooky and Kowalski went way beyond my expectations. Kowalski played a lovely house/techno set that surely got everyone in the mood for the night. Check out 'House of Hell,' his new single that just got released recently, I think its worth a listen! Then came Spooky, two young lads that took over Ableton and managed to pull out a great 2 hours of music. The style is Sasha all over, and I totally loved it! Then came what was supposed to be the real deal: Digweed-Sasha back to back. I had always wanted to see Sasha live, and that day had finally come. Sadly however, I think the night wouldve been perfect if Sasha was up there alone. Digweed seemed to take things down and deep, the bass was irritating to my ears. Its the second time I see Digweed, and his style still hasn't grown on me. Simply, I felt it was BORING. After an hour of Diggers, Sasha came on! It was beautiful, it was what I had expected, and more! The music was so diverse, it wasnt just house, it was a fusion of a lot of things including hints of indie and alternative rock at times. It was way beyond the limits Digweed was sticking to. The two djs alternated and played a total of 6 hours, with each playing around 3 hours. Whenever Digweed would go back up again, Id go chill by the beach and wait till Sasha would get back on. I hope to see Sasha in Lebanon soon, ALONE! That back2back thing IMO, was the only let down of the night.

Day 2, Me and my friends decide to go a little late, thinking that Armin would play a long set till sunrise. So we got to the place right before the last DJ before Armin was wrapping up. I wouldve liked to see Kosheen, but we got a little late and missed them. Armin started at 2AM and played till 5:10. The set wasnt as good as Lebanon's and seemed a lot shorter. The set had too much electro and tech going on, and much less good ol' melodic. He wrapped things up with 'Burned with Desire' and turned the music down. Thats when everyone went nuts (including me) and started screaming for more. He started pointing at security and saying its not my fault! 5 minutes later he went down and started signing and talking to everybody.. I love how the Turks say Armeeeen and not Armin, hehe.. was a good night.

Click Here For the Pictures
http://www.electronicafest.com/2006pics.htm

[rob]

[TrancApex]

one word : amazing !!
glad u enjoyed it
I see Digweed , Sasha , Armin , gr8 line up

[DIONYSOS]

[outlawDJ]

looks like a gd 1

[bxtreme]

read again.. signing

[Roland]

[e-sam]

[~Tr@N(E_L@TiON~]

[Trancestral]

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