05/05/2015

Recent Tartu Techno and House scene

Welcome back,

The techno and house scene keeps growing in Tartu and during the past two months there have been a lot of good events to go to. A little recap of what has been happening.

Maria rocking Paanika at Gen Club

The heavy lifting has been done by Arhiiv, which is the cellar bar where Söör Paul organizes his weekly or bi-weekly nights. He is usually accompanied by Tihane, with whom they also organize the Kivikõva event (meaning Rock hard) in Kivi. And apart from these two there's usually someone else like the house champion Siim2000 from Still Out or Paula who when possible plays back to back with his brother Paap.

Söör Paul and Maria at Paanika, Gen Club.

The other place that has become a go to place is the Kivi bar. Recently it has been all about Aadam and Eeva - a girlfriend-boyfriend duo playing percussive house with hip-hop influences and turning the  Dj booth into a kissing booth. Also one of them is usually up for dancing or going for a cigarette while the other one plays. The two rising stars of the scene organizing the Kivimaja series.

Me playing Paanika.

The place that has been left somewhat aside is Gen club. It hosted the first SÜNK party which was a visual blast and which I covered last time. It also hosts the Söör Paul's reception which is him playing a marathon set for whole of the night (around 5 hours). In the past months aside from SÜNK the Paanika night was one of the best nights in Gen Club. It featured Söör Paul, Maria (bartender of Arhiiv) and myself playing "in your face" full on electro. It culminated in having 4 topless guys dancing on the stage next to us and girls on the other side.

Aadam & Eeva playing Kivi.

One special occasion was last weekend when Kivi bar had oppened up its courtyard to celebrate its birthday. Tihane and I played there on Friday from 9 to 5 (pm to am). The night was full of fun and dancing. It was a rare occasion in Tartu, where the Dj can smoke while mixing. They also had Burgerbox from Tallinn cooking up quality burgers and craft beer from Tallinn Craft Beer Week. 

Tihane playing Kruiis at Arhiiv.

Still Out continues to feature in the scene ever so strong. Featuring in its line-up Merimell, who has been recently played by Dj Haus in his sets (Boiler Room for example) and is bound to be released by him as well. Still Out has an audience which somewhat differs from the nights I mentioned before, as the goers are a bit older and I'd say they are people who have been into house and techno for many years now. It is always characterized by great equipment and good-mixing and I would say Still Out is the loudest party in Arhiiv.

Paula playing Kevadrabandus at Arhiiv.

Next weekend there's a hard choice coming up for you on the 15th as one has to choose between two great events. First of all there's SÜNK II coming up which features a great number of DJs and styles. One of the last times surprises being Majoor Liiv whose sets combine retrofuturistic electro and EBM with more contemporary sounds, all in all, it's a dark and hypnotic mix. There's also a live by Mimicry. A part from the music there's a whole lot of decorations, most of which interact with the UV lights and all the other lightning contraptions. 3/5€

Me and K at Kevadrabandus.

The other choice is the Still Out festival in Aparaaditehas. It includes three stages (house, techno, DnB), quality sound and has already over 450 attends on Facebook. The line-up includes Merimell, Siim2000, Paap & Paula, Studios and other Djs. I have heard rumors about special lightning equipment being present as well. For 5€ it's a good Bang for the buck.

Kevadrabandus.
I recommend starting out "first-at-the-party" early at SÜNK and switching to Still Out at around 3 when Gen Club usually starts closing up to get the full experience. 

Esn UV party.
No matter which party you go to these days, it's a safe bet to wear something neon on white as the UV light has become a must at most of the mentioned nights.

End of our night at Kivi courtyard with Tihane.


Cigarettes and craft beer at Kivi courtyard with Tihane.


See you soon!