Gifgrond #94 really made it feel as if the venue threw together a party specially for its visiting visitors. It always is, of course, but this edition really went that extra mile to make everyone feel special. As if everyone was celebrating their own or their best friend’s birthday bash. Not just the audience got this vibe, but also the performers of this specific night. They were treated with the warmest of welcomes and lots of food that was so good for their tongues and stomachs. Their meals consisted of courgette and pumpkin soup with bread, cheesy cheeses, and grapes! All wonderfully prepared by Marcelle, who was clearly able to put in the best kind of ingredient: lots of love. How do I know this? I was there when everyone was not paying attention and licked out the pans, sniffed out the bowls, and ate whatever the artists had left behind. I now understood the good energy that these people would bring to this event. It was one big massive love bomb with lots of happy people and bloody good music!
Oh, and yes, there was a very legendary tombola! As if being inside the hottest venue in Tillywood wasn’t enough luck! The Tombola, cleverly organized by the Belgian-based Pickls Xp crew, really knew how to pick(le) one up and put them in the pleasurable spotlight. Winners got a personal goody bag with plenty of pickls made fun! The Pickls Xp crew seemed to shine when giving out the prizes, from records, stickers, noses, bags, and self-made pickls to iron on your clothes. It came as no surprise that the winners of the tombola equally glowed from happy excitement.
Bar people Paul and Gerrie had their hands full as they had the crucial task of hydrating everyone at the perfect level. Luckily they had popularized Gifgrond’s very own Gifmix drink again, which was delivering the uniquely suitable flavor to match all the fun. At Gifgrond nobody is left thirsty or silent. The Pickls Xp tombola was nicely held between the bands setting up, but one of the Pickls Xp members named Suzie Cue also got behind the deejay desk to provide a great atmospheric set to set the scene. What a feast and treat! Wonderful!
The first live act was Staxl. It was like being in a movie in which the entire crowd turned into a hacking head office all around Staxl, who was hacking into the mainframe of what could be the White House. That would be odd, but not too out there, as with Staxl’s quick and witty live coding skills, everything could be possible. Luckily, Staxl main purpose of the night’s performance was to hack into the sound system and deliver an electronic energy of rhythms and sounds with each and every line of code. Staxl’s fingers were quicker than any secretary in the world, mesmerizing the people with the right rattling of beats. Bonus points came because we, as cheering onlookers, didn’t have to wreck our necks by peeking secretly over this mathematical musician’s shoulders, as Staxl broadcast the entire process on a mega screen! Super intriguing!
Montagne Rouge came back to Gifgrond from an earlier delicious presentation of mayhem. This time the band brought even triple the amount of hard waves. You could see each band member totally reacting positively to their fellow band members playing, creating a together sound that kept spiraling up with lots of fanatic fun. This was not only fantastic to watch but, above all, very great to feel and hear!
The trio of Montagne Rouge frantically (but also somehow lightly) played the strings like they were actually playing the hairs deeply in your inner ears, & the enthusiastic drummer kept them all together in a solid mental state in which you just want to hop up and down like a freshly born bunny that was born ready to rock! An absolutely great, ground-shaking, phenomenal band!
Vive La Pop certainly earned the pop by blowing up a bass box, but holy moly, it was necessary and needed! The second coming of (to Gifgrond) Vive La Pop got the entire place moving like we were in some underground hot boiling boiler room. Everyone was dancing to the hottest kicks and the face-melting bass that Vive La Pop created in the middle of it. It was impossible to resist, and I was glad to see that everyone was being swept away by these reliant groove makers. You could feel the speakers create rippling sound waves in the air, directly punching you in the right direction, so even if you came to Gifgrond without any dancing skills, the massive rhythmic sounds would direct you more persistently than a dance teacher!
At the final end (after more festive Pickls Xp tombola), DJoker took over and smacked on an energetic set to finish this excellent party off in style. It was a busy edition, enough for me to hide in plain sight among the people, but my goodness, it really outdid itself! If you don’t feel energized, happy, or jolly when leaving Gifgrond then you might have to see a doctor. It was truly one of those parties that seemed to be made to be a positive blast for all involved! Everyone was a bit the birthday girl/boy, and Gifgrond was everybody’s gift! Thanks all for making it happen!
And now if you think that this is possible, the final blast of Gifgrond (as who could top this night?) You are pretty wrong, as Gifgrond will return in the new year! It starts off with a very unique and interesting opportunity! Yuri Landman will come in the daylight to give an Error Instruments ‘Micro Doser’ workshop. Micro Doser is a fantastic exploring happy accident sound device that lets you explore micro-glitches, crackling sounds, and ASMR soundscapes! At this workshop you will be guided to make one of these fun machines yourself! It will be on the 17th of January from 12:00 to 16:00… If you want to take part contact info@gifgrond.nl
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Yeah I Know It Sucks 