The month of September was rolling through its early days, when we decided to travel to Berlin, to attend the First We Take Berlin festival. It’s a beautiful sight, Berlin bathed in sunlight. Locals and tourists enjoying the last days of summer, in the streets, in parks and cafes. The festival took place on the 4th and 5th of September, in various clubs and venues of the trendy Kreuzberg area, allowing many newly formed acts to present their work.
Countless people moved from gig to gig, stopping in between for food and drinks in nearby places such as the famous Burgermeister under the Schleisisches Tor station, or in the lobby of the hip Michelberger hotel. The live acts that left their mark on us, were mostly London based. Despite London Grammar cancelling their set, we still enjoyed acts such as Moko, Snakehips, Josef Salvat and SOHN.
We danced through to Friday, alongside other music lovers in the Chalet Club listening to the selections of Berlin based dj Eva be, a member of Sonar Kollectiv.
After grabbing a few hours of much needed sleep, we headed towards the old Tempelhof airport, to catch the Pet Shop Boys show, with friends from Greece, who had seen them this past summer, informing us that we were in for a treat. And true to form, they did not disappoint, presenting their new album and proving that they still remain young and relevant. We continued with Kit Kat’s Gegen party, for which we won’t say much, save for the fact that it is reason enough in itself to visit the German capital.
Bjork provided the festival with its closing show, with an experiment she named biophilia. Twenty years may have gone by, since the elven songstress introduced herself to us, but watching her perform is still a unique experience. She asked us not to take photographs but instead become part of the performance itself. She held the stage, accompanied by a choir of Reykjavik girls, lighting fires and turning beams of lasers into sound.
The cocktail party to round up the festival took place under a circus tent, with the night ending at the Berghain club.
We could easily live through it again. And again.
Vasileios Dofoudis
