Final party at the Elf Squat in Amsterdam

Courtesy of Marita [6 january, 2001]

...so we figured we would not be justified in missing it, not that we wanted to anyway. =)

It was being advertised as a 24hr party, so we took our time in going there, and wandered over that way around 3am. it was rather full when we got there, but didn't actually get any busier, thankfully. =) it gave the immediate feeling of a good atmosphere even before i could get my coat off.

All available walls had been covered again with fluoro backdrops, fluoro wool decorating-, and mobiles hanging from the ceiling. a big fluoro pink cutout of DANCE was leaning against one side. as if we needed encouragement. ;)

Totem was playing when we got there. he played a really good set. one of those sets that have everyone grinning and bouncing around on the dance floor. gelfling from belgium came after him with a set that seemed to get better as it went on, and after him shakti-cat played just as the morning was starting to break. she plays brill morning sets, and didn't disappoint this time either. =) she kept everyone wiggling around the dance floor until well into the morning. =)

This woman that was playing when we left on new years day took over after shakti-cat, but i still don't know what her name is. =) she played a really nice morning set for a while, but then she lapsed back into what she did on nye again, and pushed the tempo up further and further until it wasn't comfortable to dance to that speed of music at that time of the day anymore. but we just took time out and sat down and chatted for a while and smoked a few joints together. maybe we didn't dance, but we still enjoyed it. =)

So we took that opportunity to go home to get the camera, and to pick up more tobacco. by the time we got back, gosse (shawnodese) was playing. the tempo was back to a more dancable pace, and the dancefloor was still full and wiggling for that time of the day, think it was around 11:30am.

Check out the wee robot that was placed in the middle of the floor at some point of the morning. and later, someone put a wee wig on it. very very funny to see the expressions on the faces of some people as they almost tripped over it. ;))

Gosse played some really good tracks, his set would have been really really good if.... he left the jet effect on the pioneer 100's alone. but he didn't. can you imagine what it's like to have jet effects zooming over your fav music, not just once or twice in a set, but 4 or 5 times in almost every track? it was *terrible*. i can't understand how one dj, over the course of a couple of hours that is the duration of his set, could fuck up so many good tracks singlehandedly. gives me the impression that such a dj has absolutely no respect for the music he's playing or the artists that created it. and unfortunately, this wasn't the first time i've heard it from him. oh well. =/

Even that didn't and couldn't spoil our fun and enjoyment of the party in hand though. there were people there that i hadn't seen in such a long time, i think a lot of them made an extra effort to make it back for the last party. =) massive smiles and hugely friendly atmosphere throughout the whole thing. =)

 

I think we finally left around 2pm. we could have pushed ourselves further, but we really had to consider that we had to get some sleep in before work the next day. again, we didn't get to bed or sleep until 15:30 or more... i'll have to blame it on the mind altering substances, but i'm not complaining. ;)

We're certainly going to miss the elf. we used to have such excellent parties in the silo years ago. it was a squatted grain-silo, but it finally got evicted, and we had no decent party venue for about 3 years, until the elf was squatted. the elf recaptured some of the old atmosphere that the silo used to have, and indeed, there were people that came to the elf parties, that we never saw anywhere else outside the silo. =) fingers crossed that 1) the elflings find a place to continue their life style and 2) (on a more selfish note) that we find somewhere to continue our noncommercial psy parties! =)

Many many thanks to the elflings that provided us with, and participated in, all the parties at the elf. it's sadly the end of an era that won't easily be forgotten. i'm just hoping that it won't be the last time that we'll all be together in such an exceptional atmosphere.

Greets to one and all,
=)
marita.