I'm back!
Why oh why has no one dragged me to Berlin before? For some silly reason I never felt drawn there always favouring other Eurotrashy hangouts.
...believe it or not it's pretty bloody fantastic! 8) Apart from an unnanounced scheduled change on our outbound flight that meant we had to spend a night messing around in Stansted airport - RYANAIR = GRRR.
Quick history moment:
The culture, history and nightlife all tie in together brilliantly. The stark contrast in architecture from one side of the wall to the other is very bizarre...an instant transition from dull, boring communist blocks to familiar and rather fancy Western European buildings. Occasionally there's the odd ultra modern construction next to a half bombed church - a constant reminder of how recent these wounds actually are for Berlin.
Sooo, that coupled with the '89 explosion in the UK provided an excellent fertiliser for a similar chain of events to ours in Germany...only their approach was very similar to the Industrial depression in Detroit - very *bang, bang, bang* skinhead dress down no-messing-about techno.
...it's still very much like this but if electro is your thing then Berlin is definately the bestest place in Europe for you to visit.
...and the east Berlin scene is very similar to East London - a gritty mess full of underground hangouts, arty farty types and breeding grounds for new music.
As for the g__ well the less said the better! The back rooms are bigger than the club spaces themselves - dirty bugg*rs! 
On Saturday we ended up at Berghain/Panorama Bar...a huge warehouse building on an industrial estate (I think someone's mentioned it on here before). At first glance it's REALLY horrible - everything you'd want a filthy Berlin club to be about but when you notice the small touches it's evident quite how much money has been spent on the place...neatly finished off with a pumping funktion one sound system. World class stuff!
Upstairs, we were treated to Chicken Lips...I've been trying and failing to catch one of his sets for ages and he was well worth it...the set to end all sets (anyone else caught him recently??? It's been a while since someone has impressed me quite that much..."He not in" = 8)
)
I'm going to follow him around forever and ever now.
Sooo, a very trashy and weekend was had - and Berlin is well worth the trek. I'm genuinely surprised and quite cross that no one told me all that was going off over there...but then again I suppose that's what comes from being a fully fledged London snob.
Everyone has to go!!! Just for Berghain if nothing else!
(Be careful of Deutsch lesbians though - I'm still recoiling from being chastised by the hotel owner when I tried to take two bananas at breakfast..."NEIN! EINEN BANANEN NICHT ZWEI BANANEN BITTE!" - *scared*)
Why oh why has no one dragged me to Berlin before? For some silly reason I never felt drawn there always favouring other Eurotrashy hangouts.
...believe it or not it's pretty bloody fantastic! 8) Apart from an unnanounced scheduled change on our outbound flight that meant we had to spend a night messing around in Stansted airport - RYANAIR = GRRR.
Quick history moment:
The culture, history and nightlife all tie in together brilliantly. The stark contrast in architecture from one side of the wall to the other is very bizarre...an instant transition from dull, boring communist blocks to familiar and rather fancy Western European buildings. Occasionally there's the odd ultra modern construction next to a half bombed church - a constant reminder of how recent these wounds actually are for Berlin.
Sooo, that coupled with the '89 explosion in the UK provided an excellent fertiliser for a similar chain of events to ours in Germany...only their approach was very similar to the Industrial depression in Detroit - very *bang, bang, bang* skinhead dress down no-messing-about techno.
...it's still very much like this but if electro is your thing then Berlin is definately the bestest place in Europe for you to visit....and the east Berlin scene is very similar to East London - a gritty mess full of underground hangouts, arty farty types and breeding grounds for new music.
As for the g__ well the less said the better!
The back rooms are bigger than the club spaces themselves - dirty bugg*rs! On Saturday we ended up at Berghain/Panorama Bar...a huge warehouse building on an industrial estate (I think someone's mentioned it on here before). At first glance it's REALLY horrible - everything you'd want a filthy Berlin club to be about but when you notice the small touches it's evident quite how much money has been spent on the place...neatly finished off with a pumping funktion one sound system.
World class stuff!Upstairs, we were treated to Chicken Lips...I've been trying and failing to catch one of his sets for ages and he was well worth it...the set to end all sets (anyone else caught him recently??? It's been a while since someone has impressed me quite that much..."He not in" = 8)
)I'm going to follow him around forever and ever now.
Sooo, a very trashy and weekend was had - and Berlin is well worth the trek. I'm genuinely surprised and quite cross that no one told me all that was going off over there...but then again I suppose that's what comes from being a fully fledged London snob.
Everyone has to go!!! Just for Berghain if nothing else!
(Be careful of Deutsch lesbians though - I'm still recoiling from being chastised by the hotel owner when I tried to take two bananas at breakfast..."NEIN! EINEN BANANEN NICHT ZWEI BANANEN BITTE!" - *scared*)
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