Fred Baker @ B018

[DIONYSOS]

[align=center]"There are people who play records, and there are DJs who blow minds." (Paul van Dyk)[/align]

Fred Baker was one of those DJs tonight.

Upon entering B018 around midnight, my eye sight was immediately drawn towards the TH table on which were gathered our resident party animals. I shared my usual greetings with everyone, but noticed that a considerable amount of our members were gathered a tad behind our space. This intrigued my cat curiosity, and so I tilted my neck like a giraffe and threw a glance towards the action zone, only for my eyes to lock with those (or rather with the glasses) of the main act of the night, one of the scene current biggest producers, one of Belgium's finest exports, and one DJ who was pre-destined to shock our senses on this thunderous night: Frederick de Backer.

I just felt compelled to approach him, as any one of you would've done without the slightest hesitation, and he greeted me with a smile and a handshake despite not even knowing of my little existence. I gave him the Chinese bowing salute as a manifestation of my repsect towards his artistry, and he modestly bowed back at me. By then I was told that I could get a poster of the event from the entrance and have him sign it, which is precisely what I did, again without the slightest hesitation. It was thus that my night began, as Fady Ferraye was already half-way through his warm-up session.

Fady played a variety of House sub-genres, mostly Progressive House and Deep House; I hope that a House expert may validate or modify my last statement as I do not claim to be that well educated in House music. Regardless, Fady was alternating between different sounds, from John Digweed to Nick Warren, the latter's timeframe being my (and perhaps all other THerz') favorite moment of the warm-up set. The music was just right for the warm-up: not too energetic to wear you out, nor too mellow to get you bored. Technically, Fady was impeccable, pulling out some very smooth transitions, and some other cleverly rough ones at the right times. The sound system was well distributed though not all powered up yet, and the roof was already spread wide open. All the signs pointed that the time when Fred Baker took over the decks was approaching pretty fast.

I believe it was around 2AM that Fred was bestowed the helm of control, and the journey into techland effectively begun, not with an epic intro as most DJs have gotten us used to, but with a straight-on in-your-face beat that just screamed "this is how we do things in Belgium, this is how I kick things off, this is what you will be pounding on until dawn". The bassline had its say too, and say read out Fred Baker vs Nyram - Confirmation. It was thus that our night was initiated, a night filled with roaring beats, vibrating basslines, and relentless melodies... a night filled with Tech Trance and, believe it or not, Techno.

Fred delivered a three hour session, and what was probably the most energetic DJ set that Lebanon has ever witnessed on the hands of a foreign jock. He succeded in delivering a message that said "this is my sound, this is my identity". That sound was techy, very techy, so techy that it makes Marco V appear to be an infant. Fred was alternating between Tech Trance and Techno, at some times broadcasting the most emotional Trance melodies, at other times pumping raw Techno energy from the speakers, all under the name of boundaryless energy. Relentless, mercyless, pityless, Fred kept hammering one techy monster after the other, literally wearing the crowd out with a climax, then flying us back down with some melody, then slamming another Techno beast right in our faces - he was truly in control of the crowd, and showcased wise track-selection criteria. We weren't that disappointing ourselves, as we responded to both hands-in-the-air moments and feet-shaking-the-floor ones. The more he delivered, the more we responded. The more we responded, the more he massacred. Taking a few requests here and there as well, Fred just didn't allow us to cease moving: it could be normal dancing, it could be head-nodding, it could be insane raving, it could be feet tapping, it could be mindless bouncing... whatever it was, it was constant motion, and not every DJ gets you to do that. The tracklist (soon posted by SamEr) will speak for itself, but as with any musical act, no words could ever do justice in depicting an accurate describtion of the intensity of the experience.

For one night, Fred Baker was not the talented producer we know, but the outrageous DJ that didn't just play records, but blew minds. Thank you Frederick for a much needed night of Trance, for something different, something irresistable. When you get home with numb feet, buzzy ears, dizzy head, a cigarette burn on your arm, a bruise on your foot, while the sun is rising and the birds are singing as you write a review, yet you feel so much energy left whithin you that you could easily go to a morning rave, that's when you know that it's been a good night, a great night, one that, besides its musical dimension elaborated above, wouldn't have been made possible were it not for the hard efforts of DJ Cardiac whose organization standards proved to be top notch from the very first event. The journey begun with Fred Baker, but I am certain that this is not the last thing we'll see from this fresh organizer, and TH will be there to support him and any other person who proves his worth as DJ Cardiac just did.

[align=center]Frederick: vous avez eblouis nos sens; merci... merci.[/align]

[trancematic]

Tiesto ken mni7 ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh !!!
i was not that drunk m8 !!!!

[Mido]

^hehee
yalla Dioooooooon

[Proof]

I may have shed a tear or two while reading this review. (Rhymes doesn't it?). I was just a so-so admirer of Fred Baker's work but now, you've just thrown me in a barrell full of tech-driven-curiousity to hear what kind of monster Fred Baker really is. My full respect to DJ Cardiac & Crew, for well... providing a night, a night worth reading. There were no words of complaining ... there were no words of 'this and that' ... just pure thrill. If I may speak for the other members, thank you for listening to our complains and I'm glad some of you got to meet the Baker himself.

I'm off for now ... but I will join you folks soon ... .

To the proof-copter!!! *Batman theme*

[Nesta]

man i didnntt sleeep yett
FRED BAKER WAS JUSt.. humm.. FUCKING AMAZING I DIDNT STOP DANCING
==> CARL COX THE 6th OF MAY.... YALALALALALALALALA badddna nrou7 fiya

[Roland]

SPEACHLESS , SPEACHLESS !!!

One Of The Best Club Nights Ive Ever Been To , FRED BAKER Was Like A Monster Dropping A TECHY Track After The Other And Setting The Dance Floor On Fire ....
The Organisation Was Really Really Good , Full Support For Dj Cardiac He Did A Really Good Job And Proved HimSelf As One Of The Best Organizers In Beirut !
And YES : THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO PLAY RECORDS , AND THERE ARE DJs WHO BLOW MINDS !!

[TRANCExual]

FRED BAKER = THE FINEST TECH-TRANCE!!!!

Gr8 work cardiac...and goodluck 4 your future events.

[Shy--Ism]

Wow i enjoyed reading each line in this review !

These are great news , glad you all enjoyed it !!

[jayc]

Congrats to cardiac for all the hard work he put into this event! and im soo sooo sooo HAPPY to read it was a success!

well done dude!

and now.. till the next event!


PS. were there any black bulls at BO?

[Nesta]

ana b7ebbo la jhonny:P

[DIONYSOS]

Not to blow your horn Proofy, but there were a few setbacks, nothing way out of the league though... I was just too "in the moment" when I wrote the review that I overlooked them:


1) The sound system was good, but not great. Regardless of the DJ's mixer and what autonomy of control he possess around it, the sound was engineered to suit House and not Trance-Techno. Both are EDM with highly similar structures, but at the same time the elements forming the two are vastly different and thus require an audio setting of their own. During DJ Fady's roll, the sound was perfect, but during Fred it wasn't that great, just good. And for music as complex as Tech Trance and Techno, you need great, not good.

2) 22$ and not even a single drink? I understand that this is the first event, that Baker is expensive, and that B018 is probably even more expensive, but at least one drink should be included with the 22$ offer, else a reduction in price... again, I understand why it is like that.

3) Fady Ferraye is undoubtebly a highly skilled DJ who is able to deliver a solid set anytime, anywhere, and that is exactly what he managed to pull out yesterday. But it is observable that a significant gap existed between his music and Fred's music, and you don't want that in a warm-up. I would humbly suggest that, when importing a jock to spin anything equal to or above Uplifting Trance in terms of energy, the warm-up should be more on the Progressive Trance edge: on one hand, it serves as a better "mood creator" in preperation for what is to come as it is more coherent with the different Trance sub-genres than any House genre is, and on the other hand it better pleases the crowd who are there for Trance. Again, I understand that Fady is your friend Mohammad, and as I said he is undisputably a very talented DJ, but consider my humble two cents on this.

4) Could you please ask Fred next time to give us a freaking break every now and then? He paralized us!



Apart from that, the organization was one of the firmest I've seen in local clubbing history - again, I extend my respects to Cardiac (and "crew" as Proof pointed out) and will be looking forward to great achievements from then in the (hopefully near) future.

[Gotcha]

DIONYSOS -- Respect for the Review man..! Great Night indeed..
small question: Didnt u guyz feel some gap within the mixing style.. Maybe its not a gap.. its smthg that we are not really used to.. it was weird how he was jumping from one style to another, alternating between tracks without any interconnection...
Now u might tell me that's wt is so great about him.. and i agree partly.. maybe his set was too short and he wanted to blow us away with all possible sounds... but i felt i couldnt really follow up all the time..

[DIONYSOS]

[pTq]

[DJ_TRACID]