What's cooking in the Kitchen?
For those of you who have attended a blazing dance event, trusses filled with spikes, sporting a full dungeon decorative theme, red lights taking over the venue hall, while the beat temperature rose gradually till you reached the point of no return — I would definitely say you have already entered the Kitchen.
Godskitchen is an international dance brand associated with dance music and organizing numerous events, particularly in the UK, US and Europe. The company runs an in-house music label as well as operating under the same Name. This label annually releases numerous compilation albums, in addition to supporting a lot of new artists whom they believe will bring something new to the genre.
Godskitchen’s seeds began back in the golden era of the UK rave scene in the early 1990s. when promoter Chris Griffin was already responsible for staging such massive events as Fantasia, Perception and Vision in the UK, attracting over 38,000 people to shows.
After further successful events in Australia, Chris teamed up with fellow promoter Tyrone Matthews and Godskitchen was born.
Their first event back in the UK was at the Junction Nightclub in Cambridge, launching a series of sell-out nights across the UK. The date was May 1996, when Godskitchen began to stage weekly events in Northampton, UK. Godskitchen events began to sell out week after week, demanding that the party move to an even bigger venue. staging an event for 4,000 people at the Sanctuary Music Arena in Milton Keynes. Billed as Britain’s first “stadium house music event,” the party sold out well in advance.
Back in Birmingham, Godskitchen continued to go from strength to strength. With industry heavyweight Neil Moffit onboard, Godskitchen turned away over 20,000 people on its first night. With Friday’s Godskitchen, the crew was fast becoming synonymous with the trance and hard dance sound.
The dream got bigger and better.
The following summer Godskitchen decided to stage their first outdoor festival, Godskitchen Global Gathering, which saw 25,000 partygoers descend upon Long Marston Airfield on the Gloucestershire/Warwickshire border near Stratford-Upon-Avon on a balmy July evening. Global Gathering was a major success, and Godskitchen finished 2001 by returning to one of their original homes, The Sanctuary Music Arena in Milton Keynes. The year 2002 saw the capacity of Global Gathering increase to 35,000 and in 2003 Godskitchen completely transformed their home venue Code, renaming it Air, and featuring three rooms to coincide with Godskitchen’s ever-expanding music policy as well as staging yet another Global Gathering, 2003 saw Godskitchen embark on an arena tour, selling out parties at the Telewest Arena in Newcastle upon Tyne and The National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, the UK’s largest venue.
One success after another pushed the boundaries for Godskitchen to take the party overseas to the Ireland and the US, staging events across the continent. The final jewel in the Godskitchen crown was to take place in July 2005, Global Gathering expanding to cover an entire weekend (complete with camping) and the Friday night crowd saw a “fresh music” policy with more emphasis placed on live acts. The capacity was again increased to 45,000. Those numbers are huge, and it’s time for us in the Philippines to achieve that level of fan support. I am very glad to witness the revolution in dance music lately on these shores.
The competition is growing, and finally the media is starting to pay attention again to this genre. I remember back in 2003 our erstwhile DJ TC (Tuck Cheah) was battling with some radio stations to air some of the electronica and dance music shows going on. Five years later and your Saturday night is filled with radio frequencies battling to broadcast the best electronica shows. Looking back, if only these shows started at that time, we would be able to stage 40,000–plus gigs easily.
Godskitchen events have been held at Club Bonbon in Shanghai for the past three years, before they opened their own club in China. Manila witnessed the first Godskitchen gig back in 2001 at the Activity Center in Glorietta mall, an event described to me as one complicated production that pushed the team to cover the whole area around the center with black cloth, and stage a 360-degree projection screen wall, transforming the mall into a 3,000-capacity club. Endearing? Yes indeed, but I will have to say wait till you see what’s going to happen tonight at the A. Venue when Godskitchen hits the Manila shores for their annual world tour, with no less than heavyweights Dutch master Sander Van doorn, who in the words of Armin van Buuren is described as “the man who puts real tunes into trance.”
A dashing set-up awaits you tonight, from 10 p.m. onwards, so my advice is to get your outfit in order, clean your Calvin Harris disco shades, put on your “Shut Up and Dance” T-shirt and we will see you on the dance floor.
As promised, Bigfish will blow your mind away, so let’s watch and see what’s in store for us tonight.
If you haven’t bought your tickets yet, call these numbers: 632-7762 and 0921-8380133. Or head to the venue before midnight if you want to grab discounted tickets.
* * *
For comments and suggestions feel free to e-mail me at rickydaker@gmail.com.
Beat generation is the only column that features the electronica scene, DJ interviews, CD reviews, parties and events around the world, exclusively in Philippine STAR’s YS section every Friday.
