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Night 1 – Part 2
INTO THE NIGHT! 6 PM to Closing!
Photos By: Lindsay Meredith (Except Where Noted)
By: B.Donovan
November 15, 2007
Picking up where we left off with Part 1 – The Night Was Young (5:30 – 9:00 PM)…
At this point of the evening, the first band of the evening was coming on stage in the large room so I wandered through the dancing crowd to the other side of the building and entered the dark room filled with fog, strobes and stage lighting…. Very eerie atmosphere that was pretty cool!
First up was Cervello Elettronico (a name taken from the Italian phrase for computer. It translates to electronic brain) who took to the stage with a quickly build crowd in front of him. His talent with the computer, synth programs and keys was incredible. His talents filled the room with aural spectrums of electronic sounds and beats that quickly captivated the audience and drew others in from the other room. Cervello Elettronico’s set picked up with the first round of DJ’s left off and continued to build the night and fill the evening with intense and highly body motivating music.
CerVello Elettronico Gallery - Photos By: Lindsay Meredith
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After the first band I wandered back into the first room to see who was spinning… People were already dancing but more were filling the floor as they came from Cervello Elettronico now completed performance.
Spinning here was DJ Xris Smack!, known for his work as producer of SMack!, New York City’s Premier Multimedia Fetish Play Party, as well as being a notable and respected Music Producer / engineer / programmer and and video producer / editor / experimentor (the SMack! Video Lab). He is also a co-producer/creator of BYTE, a synthetic, sexxxy monthly party ( www.BYTE-NYC.net) and a co-producer of RubberCat, (www.RubberCatNYC.com), a FETISH (yes, S&M) party where they put the F.. back in Fetish !!!. He was keeping the crowd going spinning his eclectic tastes of industrial, punk, synthpop, electro and more. DJ Xris Smack! is certainly a crowd pleaser and had no problem entertaining the energetic attendees of The DarkStar Festival.
At this point I followed the herd back into the main room where the highly talented Jessica Vale was about to take the stage. Other than what I’d heard recently, I wasn’t too familiar with her music; what I had heard rawked tho! I was eager to see her performance.
Like a seasoned professional, Jessica Vale and her band took the stage in a room that people were just coming back into and she instantly was able to capture their attention and draw them to the main floor in front of the stage to catch her performance. As the sound of her energetic danceable guitar driven electro-rock penetrated the door to the other room, even more people were drawn into the main room to see her performance. Unfortunately, she was playing somewhat early on the first night of the event so there weren’t as many people there as there should have been to see Jessica and her equally talented band rip through one killer tune after another. However, the majority of those in attendance at the time of her performance were in there enjoying her set.
JESSICA VALE GALLERY - Photos By: B. Donovan
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Jessica’s newly released CD, “Brand New Disease,” is already charting in Billboard’s Dance Charts and getting highly respectable reviews from local, regional and major publications – even MTV is saying great things about Jessica’s new release and, seeing her perform and hearing her tunes makes that easily understandable. (See the interview Carpe Nocturne did with Jessica in this issue!)
As Jessica’s performance ended DJ Ian Fford began spinning in the main band room again where some of the crowd stayed and continued dancing while others migrated to the other room where the bar was and DJ Annabell Evil was again spinning her eclectic mix of awesome tunes and beats. I headed out side for a breath of fresh air, tar and nicotine! Outside people were still arriving and I was bumping into old acquaintances from throughout the northeast that I’ve seen and met at other events and festivals. So, I remained outside chatting and meeting even more new friends.
After a while I headed back in as, through the upstairs windows, I could hear the next act, the German based Reaper, starting to play. So In I went and I found my way back into the main band room that, by this time of the evening, was pretty packed with people enjoying the industrial sounds of an artist with an amazing history as well as amazing music.
Although this culture with its varied though related musical genres is my new found home, I am still learning and am always amazed at, not only the talent of the artists, but of the vast histories and influence that some of the performers have within the scene and it’s constant development. As the Publisher of Carpe Nocturne I oversee and often choose the assignments for our writers. Often I get to read their reviews and articles and learn more about different bands and performers. Although I was unfamiliar with Reaper, I was somewhat familiar with acts like “Galatea” and “NamNamBulu;” I had no idea the history and that these influential acts were all, basically, the conceptual idea of 1 man.
Reaper took the stage to a, pretty much, packed room and started right in and proceed to lay out some killer beats and sounds. Filling the room with powerful Industrial / Electro beats came easy for this veteran of the scene. Some of you may know, Vasis, Reaper’s mastermind from earlier projects previously mentioned or as the live keyboardist for VNV Nation. Obviously, with this talent and his ability to create great music for the masses, this performance went off, as expected, in an awesome way! The crowd in attendance was totally into Reaper and was very energetic! Hats off to Reaper as they kicked some serious but that evening!
REAPER GALLERY - Photos By: Lindsay Meredith
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Between bands, once again, the crowd, like a changing tide, flowed between rooms catching their favorite DJs. In all the movement, though the order of the bands is correct, the order of the DJs may not be so. Nonetheless, between DJs Annabel Evil, Xris Smack! and DJ Fulgin, there was a constant flow of intensity of sounds and beats carrying the night in the first room with DJ Ian Fford in the band room between band performances.
DJ Fuligin specializes in spinning a mix of dark electronic and synthpop music. He likes it loud and fast and had no problem with that at the festival! Loud and fast it was and the dance floor filled with people who shared his musical tastes and also enjoyed edgy, loud and fast music. DJ Fuligin is a native to the New York scene but fit right in “down the road a piece” in Connecticut at the Dark Star Festival. You can learn more about DJ Fuligin on his MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/djfuligin.
Last up for the evening for band performances was an awesome performance by longtime electronica / new wave / gothic scene veterans The Echoing Green (http://www.myspace.com/echoinggreen). Traveling up from Albuquerque, New Mexico, Echoing Green was here to party down with some great music for their longtime and new fans! One of my staff writers was excited that The Echoing Green was performing because she used to listen to them a lot when she was in college and it brought back some great memories. That’s one of the great things about a band being around for a while… as the years go by, you can listen to their material and recall memories, good and sometimes sad, of experiences and times gone by; memories none the less let allow you to be in a different place in time even if only just for a few moments.Echoing Green took the stage to a crowd filled room that was also thick with fog, stage lighting and strobes that, coupled with the flashes of eager fans’ cameras, made for some interesting effects.
One of the songs that caught my attention was an interesting cover they did of an old Boston area favorite of mine – Amy Mann; I heard the intro music and I knew the song right off the bat and wandered deeper into the crowd to get a good listening spot. I couldn’t believe how they pulled off Amy Mann’s “Voices Carry” in their very own unique style! Amy would be proud to hear The Echoing Green’s version of her hit! I was very impressed!
They went on to perform material from their latest releases as well as through their history of releases and were enjoyed by all. They certainly pleased old and new fans! Their new fans got to hear older material that was new to them and their older fans got to hear new material; it was a perfect set performed perfectly.
THE ECHOING GREEN GALLERY - Photos By: Lindsay Meredith
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With my good viewpoint and listening spot in the center of the room I decided to stay there and check out several more of their songs before trying to focus on maneuvering around to get pictures. Their material is very catchy and for those who enjoy dancing, it is very danceable! But for those who just love music and a great performance, it certainly music you can enjoy throughout any part of your day. I was impressed with this act and will be looking into their music more myself. In fact, you can count on an interview with The Echoing Green in an upcoming issue here in the DarkStar Coverage area!
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