Despacio Goes APE!

Despacio was at All Points East Festival in Victoria Park…this is how it went down…

Hottest Despacio ever. Darkest Despacio ever but possibly the deepest too. Outside of the tent it was a beautiful summer’s afternoon but as soon as you walked through the entrance you were  inside a dark, sweaty, bass beefy, edgy East London warehouse rave. It was not for the faint hearted. 2manydjs and James Murphy said in a recent interview for the Guardian about Despacio (link) that it rewards the patient. It is not for those who want a quick fix.This is very true. you have to get stuck in. You have to be committed and you have to give yourself over to it but if you do, your efforts will be more than amply rewarded. In relation to this Despacio it rewarded not just the patient but the brave.

It was pretty sweltering inside  and very dark so it took at least 20mins for your body and brain to adjust. The heat was pretty intense so you had to kind of push through it and let your body acclimatise. I personally like the temperature on the outside of my body to be the same as the inside, that way my molecules and those around me are in unified heat harmony. Not for everyone mind. A lot clearly couldn’t handle it or didn’t understand what they were in and you saw quite a lot of people sail in, look confused as if they didn’t quite know what to do and then make their way to the exit again. And that is the great thing about Despacio, is that it acts like its own filter system, it weedles out anyone who who doesn’t get it and so everyone who does stay  become the core crowd of the party. I actually love the fact that they don’t pander to the crowd. They’re like, this is what we are doing, get on board and we will take you on a journey of a lifetime, or don’t. S’up to you.

As it was much darker than previous outings, it was less about connecting with the people around you and more about connecting solely with the music. Its like those sensory deprivation tanks – as you have no other distractions you hear the music even better and the longer you are there the more you become one with it. What blows me away everytime is dancing to tracks you know but hearing and being able to dance to individual components as the clarity of system is so pronounced. You can literally cherry pick what bits you want to bust moves to and as you hear it so cleanly you are always bang on the beat. I pull moves I would never be able to pull anywhere else just because you can hear it so well and without sensory overload I could seriously get down.

I was there for 3 straight days, and barely left. a) I was having the time of my life at my favourite thing on Earth and b) it was such a jolt to go outside and have to adjust each time to the fact it was daylight and not nighttime I  just stayed on the floor and just danced and danced and danced. And it was bliss. You lose yourself completely. You stop thinking. You just move to the music and give yourself over to the experience. By the 3rd day I couldn’t even remember who I was or what I did, I was just in it. Total immersion. At times I wasn’t sure even what I was listening to, I was at one with the beat and the music. I was utterly free.

As there was such minimal lighting and also so steamy I couldn’t really take many photographs. My camera really struggled to focus in the conditions. The shots you see are snatched moments when there was maybe a flash of light or else I have taken a long exposure in the dark and hoped that something would come out. This is why a lot of these pictures are so mashed up but in some ways they are a good reflection of the event and my experience.In some ways it was very liberating as couldn’t even try to get shots so I just got more and more stuck in.

And there was still time for plenty of shared appreciation with my fellow Despacio Heads. Some I had met at previous events and is always a great reunion and also made new friends as I have done at every one. The cult of Despacio is definitely growing, gaining die hard devotees every time and am now starting to meet people who had been time after time and done anything they could to  get there…met Momo who had come from Tokyo, Auston who had come from Austin (kid you not), Albert and Catarina from Germany..welcome to the United Nations of Despacio!

What astounds me every time about Despacio and I have mentioned this before is that it is never the same twice. Not the environment, not the people, not the way they react to it, not the music. This was a very purist minimalist version. No theme, no props. The glitter ball, a focal point of every previous one barely featured and as a result there were a lot less smartphones out snapping every light explosion which meant ultimately that people got more into it. Less photo opps. Less distraction. It showed that all you really need are the speaker stacks and the floor and that’s pretty much it. And with a sound system and djs this fucking great that is all you will ever need.

Heard so many great tracks it was ridiculous…there was like a 10 minute drum track which I went APEshit to and one of my favourites was (I think) a Jarvis Cocker remix of a Pilooski track “Fuck Yeah” (if its even called that). I know that’s all pretty light on info but you can’t shazam this shit cos its either edits or slowed down to such a pitch it will never pick it up. But I am happy only hearing these tracks at Despacio because they will never sound as good as you hear them there. Not even close. So why bother? (if you do want to know some of other tracks they played dj mag just put out this Top 10 from the weekend: Link)

And it sounded so soo fucking good. So much oomphf. So much bang for your buck. I was talking to John Klett the designer who said they had replaced the drives in the bass units to give it a bit extra welly (as if it needed it) and it definitely felt like it had a bit more of a kick, a beefier bassier affair that gave the sound an extra dimension again and coupled with the relentless power and clarity of the McIntosh amps the sonic experience is pure bliss inducing heaven. During our conversation he also admitted that if you had in on full blast it would basically kill you. Apparently your cells would seperate and your organs would liquify. Shit you not. And now I know exactly how I want to check out. Death by Desacio! What a way to go! I might just need to check exactly what the timeframe we’re talking about here…as in from dialling up to 11 to actually croaking as not totally sure an extended period of agonising torture would be so ideal so would be good to know quite how long it would take but otherwise I’m in!

Its next outing is at Sonar in Barcelona (June 15/16/17)  and I cannot wait. It is the last one scheduled for now and who knows when it will next appear…if you can get there, get there! See you on the dancefloor!

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