Gifgrond 66 party report
flyer! (created by a certain Kai Nobuko)
In case you have been checking this space & didn’t see any updates for quite a while, making you almost cry like a baby and paranoid that YIKIS is no longer alive: I’ve got some good news for you! We are alive and back, just got a little bit mashed up at the event we all should live for ‘Gifgrond’. It happened September the 15th & yes that’s pretty long ago, but the music that night still has damaged my hearing aid system to this very day, making it very hard to pen up a review for a release of music as even now I can’t hear myself think. But next to my ears, the Gifgrond event had also affected my memory, cause somehow (the party happens as usual in Tilburg the Netherlands) I recovered from intoxication just a few days ago in the middle of Russia? It took me quite some time to remember what had happened, but I think today is the day to disclose what had been going on that special evening of Gifgrond episode 66.
Gifgrond 66 (photo by Frank Janssens)
It started for me quite innocently, I arrived a bit early, all excited to try out my new invisibility cloak, a piece of cloth that when worn gives you the freedom of not being seen, giving the ideal opportunity to view a party as it is, making everything go without the awkwardness of having a member of the press around. Of course I was the member of the press, armed with notebook and pencil and a pair of all seeing eyes and still workable ears. When I sneaked in the premises the party wasn’t open for the general weirdo public yet, giving me the time to see the organizers and the artists back stage in their natural habitat. They ate food, drink unusual beers and they had biscuits with Jesus, a code word for biscuits laced with fluorescent alcohol. They had been baked by Linda and pre licked by her hubby irrlicht project… they probably wondered how these cookies kept disappearing mysteriously from under their noses. Yep, it was me in my invisible disguise taste testing like a true professional, hardly realizing that I was playing with fire as damn these biscuits kicked in hard!
toxic biscuits by Linda (photo also by Linda!)
From my early observations the atmosphere was easily set in stone; Russians had conquered the Gifgrond grounds! Three live acts were munching and drinking their anxiety away, I could see that Radarcraft (who came from Amsterdam – which isn’t Russia) was perfectly alright and capable to be a warm hearted and kind as a persona backstage, also Crimson Butterfly was getting loose, this artist wasn’t scared of the language barrier and tried to make chit chat conversations that would light up the room with a flair only Russians could do. Fractalium was more introverted backstage, probably preparing the set within the head or wandering how biscuits and beers would fly through the room and disappear into nothing. Food wise they had been blessed with a vegan curry & a adorable salad, made by the wonderful people with amazing names like Marcella and Hans. I ate a lot, yet not too much as I was scared my belly wouldn’t fit in my camouflage costume any more…
food time (photo by Frank Janssens)
Not very long after I went down and see the space as the doors opened up for the general weirdo public. I don’t know if it was because of me being invisible or that the people were just too excited to get in, but they walked all over me as the place got fully packed with people hungry for good music in combo with intoxicating liquids. I managed to get to the bar area in safe conditions but was stunned to find out that it had changed! The sight of the good barman who had been there since the beginning of Gifgrond had been missed, maybe he was still there also dressed up in a invisibility cloak, checking out the new crew of bar people while (just like me) trying to smuggle out some booze for free… but it went surprisingly smooth and lovely with a bar crew consisting of toxic biscuit creator Linda and the specially flown in Eleye; a charming duo that helped the thirsty crowd to be fulfilled with drinks of their very own choice.
I stole some beer with chocolate flavor, but decided to stick with the Gifgrond’s very own mystery drink the Gifmix. None of the lovely bar people noticed it, but to be fair my invisible cloak is pretty top notch. I hovered over more toxic biscuits but decided to leave them alone for now..
I was secretly so intrigued by the bar crew that I almost forgot that the entire bar itself looked different! It was not your standard bar anymore but had been pimped up with a delicate state of the art kind of functional prop named the ‘drankorgel’, a organ museum piece that can only be played while being completely off your tits, if done sober you would piss off the bar crew and maybe end up as one of the mystery ingredients in the gifmix.. anyway; the more I got loaded the more beautiful the new bar looked like! Pretty!
the Drankorgel bar (photo by Frank Janssens)
Than the official party had started as the first notes and sounds popped open like a sight of excitement. The difficult task of opening the night was musically done to Radarcraft devices. You would expect weirdness, but it was more straightforward electronic material, nicely sweeping with big bass and soft melodies that had the charm of something heavy and light weight at the same time. Unfortunately in my invisible form I could come up to close for reporting purposes, falling over some of the equipment making him face a mysterious technical issues. If you read this, Raderkraft; my honest apologies. But still, Willem Stinissen (the person behind the project) was quick to react and pick up the fun pretty much where it had left out. Going for electronica that was understandable for most, yet still toxic enough to hold on to your gasmask…
Radarcraft (photo by Frank Janssens)
After this it was St.Fractalium ‘s turn, a project that was a perfect fitting fit for the first and last act of the day. With extreme oddities that flubbered away with intoxicating electric layers that would easily create fantastic worlds for anyone under the influence of psychedelic enhancers; I personally enjoyed this set very much, (many party people enjoyed it visibly a lot too) flubbering away with acidic elements and grooves that go upwards towards the crazy zone! The floor was packed and dancing all mass, people got high from other people’s armpits; it was a success! Even though it was hot enough to take off all your clothes, I refrained from doing so not to screw up my espionage activity by revealing my identity.
St. Fractalium (photo by Frank Janssens)
As last act was Crimson Butterfly, going for a cool experimental live show that could go from dubby to trippy and straightforward dancing materials. It felt as if the music was influenced by hanging out in the legendary Dutch coffeeshops, fairly spaced out and adventurous with varied layers to hide your head in. Of course I didn’t have to hide myself, clothed in my invisible costume nobody could see me dance, but trust me I danced like a maniac! Talking about clothes, it was good that Ellen & Serge of Crimson Butterfly didn’t wear a invisible cloth as they looked stunning in their black leather dresses with gigantic eighties shoulder paths!
Crimson Butterfly (photo by Frank Janssens)
Gifgrond’s persona of enthusiasm the one and only deejay DJ BS was there to finish the night off with a set to be remembered, yet with all the stolen gifmixes from the new bar this remembering thing became quite challenging.
DJ bS (photo by Frank Janssens)
What I did remember was that there where still some of the toxic biscuits left as the front doors closed and all party poopers had gone home. The Russians still went out to enjoy some of the famous smokable greeneries and when they where out & the rest of the crew had gone to bed; I used the moment wisely to quickly eat them all!
the toxic biscuits before I ate them (photo by Linda)
Somehow after that it had became a blur, I must have fallen into the luggage of one of the Russians, traveling through Berlin all the way from Moscow to the beautiful city of Nizhniy Novgorod! A bit of a unplanned holiday destination, but proof that when you visit Gifgrond you simply never know where you end up!
Now I have to find a way to get back in time for Gifgrond 67 on the 3th of November, which will feature a whole cast of colorful artists like tattoo illustrator Shopyoyoyo and music makers Hassan K, Lafidki, Pisitakun, goto80 en DJ Ibrahim Kazoo III; put the date in your agenda and I’ll see you there (or not – depending if I will attend with my invisible cloak again or not..)
<KN>
Yeah I Know It Sucks 