KaterBlau is one of my absolute favorite places on Earth. It’s a magical playground for adults with sublime taste in electronic music, sandwiched between the Spree river on one side, and the S-Bahn train tracks on the other. That’s why when I found out that Beirut-based label Fantôme de Nuit was doing a showcase there, I cleared out my weekend schedule and made plans to dance throughout the 12-hour marathon!

Nesta’s Set

Given that there’s no pictures allowed inside, to help set the mood and scene, here’s Nesta’s set for you to enjoy!

The Lineup

Tobi Neumann kicked things off in the Heinz Hopper hall. Tobi needs no introduction for folks familiar with the Berlin house and electro scene. The heavyweight from Munich has been making bodies move on the dancefloor since 1995, becoming a fixture on rosters such as Sven Vath’s Cocoon. Having Tobi launch the showcase set the mood early on in the night, and by the time Silky Raven were done setting up, we were all more than ready for their live performance…

Silky Raven blew me away with one of the finest examples of live electronic music I’ve yet to witness with my own eyes and ears. I think we were about 12 friends total huddled together on the packed Heinz Hopper, and for the duration of Silky Raven’s slot, none of us left the dancefloor and none of us said a word. (I really hope it was recorded, so I can eventually share it with you all). There are few things I enjoy more than a live electromechanical show and to witness it in Kater’s gorgeous Heinz Hopper hall reminded me why I fell in love with that club years ago.

Then, Nesta took the reigns for almost 3 hours. The build-up of his set started off easy, transitioning from Silky Raven’s live show into the faster-paced melange I’ve been listening to under the “Nesta” alias for the better part of a decade now… It wasn’t Nesta’s first time at KaterBlau, but it was my first time seeing him there, and even though I lost count of how many hours I’ve listened to that man play, it was special this time. It was special because it included most of his recently released originals. Also, I’m pretty sure it was the first time a reimagined Fairuz track was blasting in this iconic Berlin club, and that was fucking epic.

Then, Gunnar Stiller took over early Saturday morning. A couple of hours into his set, Gunnar invited Nesta back into the booth and what was a brilliant Gunnar Stiller set suddenly became a back to back set with Nesta that kept going hard till well past noon.

In the intimate Kiosk stage, Signal Deluxe and Hisham Zahran were holding down the fort, but sadly, I only caught the last part of Zahran’s set, as I grabbed onto the ropes dangling from the Kiosk’s beams cause 9 hours of dancing had started to take their toll on my knees and ankles, but I still needed to move to the music.

Proud!

All in all, it was a truly memorable night. Personally, it was extremely fun to be with so many good friends and people I love in such a special venue for all of us. Apart from that though, it was quite something for Beirut-based music label to put on such a beautiful showcase in one of Berlin’s finest clubs. Proud!

All that’s left to say is I can’t fucking wait till next one!