Waking up on Friday morning was easier than usual. The taxi ride into the CBD felt like the final stretch of a year-long journey. Walking across the Grand Parade caused a frenzy of nostalgic butterflies in my stomach. Entering the iconic Cape Town City Hall made the weeks of anticipation a reality. Cape Town Electronic Music Festival had finally arrived.
While wandering the corridors of City Hall – subconsciously mapping possible escape routes from awkward interactions and hot spots for chance encounters with artists – it dawned on me exactly why this venue is the right home for CTEMF. The juxtaposition of hosting an event focusing on the future of electronic music inside a bastion of rich cultural history, is quite simply genius.
What most tour guides and Trip Advisor reviews won’t tell you is the one thing for which Cape Town is most famous – we are the late arrivals, the city of naps, the capital of procrastination. True to form, the opening day of CTEMF got off to a slow start. To be fair, it was Friday and a lot of people were leaving work, heading home for a shower and a few beers before heading over to City Hall. The downfall of this process was the squandered opportunity to enjoy the festival opening set by Douglas Olsson, in the late afternoon sun on the Terrace stage. At around 6pm the venue fell into darkness courtesy of loadshedding, but the music kept going thanks to back up generators. As the evening sky enveloped the city bowl, Audiojerk, Kanan K7 and Patrick Kunkel helped the gradually burgeoning crowd forget their 9 to 5 blues and embrace the looming euphoria.
In the depths of this iconic building is an architectural feast for the eyes, augmented for the weekend by an array of screens and lights. The Auditorium stage was set to host all the headliners for the weekend and was adeptly opened by Love All co-founder, Bryan Travis. Johannesburg duo, Metro Ticket, was tasked with the responsibility of keeping the groove going while setting the tone for HVOB. Pulsating beats and an ethereal voice filled the auditorium, while the dancefloor revellers surrendered to the rhythm of Her Voice Over Boys. They were the highlight of the Sunday line-up at CTEMF 2014 and judging by the size of the crowd supporting them this year, they’ve made a lasting impression.
The Terrace stage had a set capacity, enforced strictly by festival security. It meant you could be on the dancefloor without having your face in someone’s armpit but it also meant that you had to stand in a queue if you wanted to check out a particularly popular act. In my case, the queue was worth the wait for Kyle Watson. He is one of the few local producers I have to keep reminding myself, is actually local. He had the Terrace massive losing their minds, delivering a solid selection of his signature bass/deep house influenced grooves as the closing set for that stage.
In the Auditorium, Fogshow took the reigns from HVOB. I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by people who have witnessed the duo’s progression and the conclusion was unanimous. The Cape Town Techno duo has grown into a force and were more than capable of warming up the crowd for Anja Schneider. Quite possibly a doyen of the Berlin techno realm, Schneider’s set was sophisticated and inspiring. Being in the presence of one of the hardest working women in modern electronic music, was surreal and affirming. When you don’t have a deep understanding of a genre it’s important to observe the people around you and techno fans are fascinating. There are intricacies within the genre that are difficult to appreciate if your passing opinion is that every song sounds the same. As Loco Dice – quite obviously a firm favourite of most of the people I spoke to on Friday night – took the stage I felt a shift in the energy of the room. There was an even more significant shift in energy and subsequently, my perspective, when Maelstrom took over and delivered a devastating finisher.
As my head hit the pillow, I felt grateful for the repose and anxious for the impending madness. In one day I was able to experience the intricate nuances of house, techno and its various sub-genres and incarnations. There were moments where I could swear the same song played for 20 minutes, but every so often I’d catch a glimpse of someone lost in complete euphoria and it started to make sense. Whether “performance enhanced” or not, an appreciation for techno is a taste acquired through experience and on Friday night I was privy to a masterclass.
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All Day 1 photos courtesy of Laura McCullagh.
