BnB @ ADE 2010 | M-NUS

Written by Marijn van Laerhoven

Friday October 22nd saw the third annual M-NUS bash during the yearly Amsterdam Dance Event festivities. The night is made possible by the Dutch Evotions, the same crew whom also brought Cocoon and Time Warp to the Netherlands. With more than a decade of experience under the belt in the exploration of the minimal techno genre the M-NUS family offers no less than the creme de la creme. On a personal level the likes of Richie Hawtin and Magda have had a certain special attraction to them from the first time we heard them play, up until tonight's great happenings.

The Amsterdam Dance Event has become one of the, if not the world's biggest club festivals for electronic music. Artists, labels, managers, agents, promotors and every other industry professional imaginable find their way to the Dutch capital, and so do thousands of passionate electronic music lovers. Conferences, panels, presentations and speeches during the day, parties, booze and beats at night. One of the 44 venues this year was the Powerzone, like last year yet again the location of choice for a M-NUS night on Friday and a Cocoon night on Saturday, both made possible by Evotions.

What started with an amazing 10 years of M-NUS - CONTAKT show three years ago has become a yearly returning M-NUS night. This year touring the globe mostly under Plastikman moniker, Richie Hawtin still fathers the M-NUS family. Returning artists where Richie, Ambivalent; Magda; Fabrizio Maurizi and visual side kick Ali Demirel, this year's 'new' faces were those of Clickbox and Jon Gaiser. All in all a great menu for another great M-NUS night.

Special nights like these just can't start early enough so we were one of the first to arrive at the scene. No queue at the doorsteps, no line at the bar and plenty of space to move. And move we did. Ambivalent's beats did not ask if we could perhaps please move our feet, they just did. Meanwhile, many more likeminded fans of the M-NUS sound arrived, now indeed queuing up in and outside the venue. With some still waiting outside around midnight, not only Jon Gaiser started playing, also the second room upstairs opened. Fabrizio Maurizi had three hours to play with and saw an empty room change into a can of sardines. Yes tonight was sold out and yes it showed.

Many people, many smiles and twice as many feet that moved to the beat. Visitors from Germany, Italy and England; a closer look at the crowd revealed the international appeal of tonight and the ADE in general. Downstairs minimal queen Magda played a two hour gig but apart from taking her picture we mostly sticked around upstairs where Fabrizio Maurizi played a really great set. After three hours both his and Magda's time was up and respectively Clickbox and Marc Houle stepped up to the stage for their live performances.

While Ambivalent started playing a second set upstairs Richie Hawtin started playing downstairs in the main room. Time to get down we say. The visionary man of plastik is a living legend and had a tough schedule for the Amsterdam Dance Event. Introducing a new 'groundbreaking project' named Burn Studio's (on music creation) and sharing his visions in a Plastikman behind the scenes. Oh, and then the man was to play a two hour gig tonight. We'd almost forgot to mention the LED wall that surrounded the main room in 360 degrees. Sure it looked cool but not as spectacular as the LED effects seen during the CONTAKT and Plastikman shows.

Did we say Hawtin played a two hour set? Well, make that three hours. The man has this nice habit and skill of being able to make nights last longer than they're originally supposed to. The final touch to what was a little overcrowded but nevertheless great night out, perhaps one of the best during the Amsterdam Dance Event 2010 all together.