Six weeks ago Sven Väth opened Cocoon's 15th season wearing a t-shirt proclaiming "If we don't burn together I will burn alone". This expression blew many minds within the techno world and there's been a buzz on the island for weeks trying to discover the exact meaning. One thing that is certain however is that whilst Cocoon's fanatical fan base remains, Papa Sven will never burn alone - as last night's outfit choice read, 'We are one'. With many of Cocoon's former heroes jumping ship to start their own nights, many predicted the decline of Amnesia's legendary Monday night sessions, however performances like last night from the timeless Villalobos, unique Troxler, eternal Väth and the brilliant production team of course show that Cocoon is not only here to stay but proving Germany not only rules the world of football, but rules on the white isle as well.
Last season saw the Amnesia terrace transformed into a luminous green and orange jungle every Monday. This season however the multiple spinning screens proudly advertised the fact that Cocoon has been making us dance on a Monday night for 15 years. Although Sven Väth relocated to London last year, he was eager to remind everyone present last night of his roots. On numerous occasions the screens displayed a message of congratulations to Germany & their football team on winning the World Cup.
Before we got our teeth sunk into the main man we detoured to the Terrace to catch Seth Troxler's offerings. Far from warming us up, Troxler hit us with a no holds barred, full frontal, audio assault giving us a techno heavy feast with a side of house, delicious. We were kept on our toes as he swept between sub genres, getting the crowd riled up with stomp before falling into melody led numbers. Like cheerleaders expressing the crowds' excitement at a game, dancers on the famed raised islands of the Terrace raised large silver letters to spell out COCOON as the crowd expressed their own, albeit in their less eloquent, slightly less sober ways. Now co2 cannons are a feature that I agree begin to get old in reviews once you've read about them 'pumping into the crowd' for the umpteenth time, but here I feel they deserve a mention. Last night they were sending absolute hurricanes of icy wind onto the awaiting crowds, and believe me when you're at the centre of a crowd like Cocoon's it doesn't get much better than that.
After getting our fill (for now) of the Terrace, we sought out Sir Cocoon himself, Sven Väth, who after a couple of weeks trying out the Terrace for size was back home in the Main Room, serving up his unrivalled recipe for the crème de la crème of techno, that grabs you at the roots and pulls you into his thundering journey. The chunky bass roared out of the speakers and charged round the room bringing everyone with it. The catalyst of this whole night, Väth's set was of course note perfect, with the twilight beats and echoing melodies of Andrea Bertolini's Speedmaster (Spartague Remix), and one of our favourites of the moment, Epikur from Innervision's David August. This two-part set from Väth certainly showed any doubters that the man's still got it, the frantic synths in tracks like Planetary Assault Systems' Future Modular (Subtracted Mix) ensuring every pair of feet was kept moving and yet none would be leaving the door.
None apart from ours of course, being the dedicated reviewers we are, we extracted ourselves from Sven's grasp and dived head first back into the Terrace, where Troxler had been joined by Chilean-German producer Ricardo Villalobos, where the pair were working their own magic to keep their crowd hooked. They were going full pelt at the decks of the Terrace which was already beginning to let in the light. They hit us with the funky tones of Cultural Vibe's Ma Foom Bey, and the epic build ups of Stephan Luke's Threshold (Original Mix), as sunnies were brought out and the crowd relaxed into what was going to be a long - but oh so good - morning.
Fabric's long-time resident Craig Richards, who had opened the Terrace that night, decided to swing back to the decks and join Villalobos and Troxler for a casual breakfast back-to-back-to-back session - and between these three creative minds and the growing sense of levity that comes hand in hand with the morning hours the results were electric - and unbelievably eclectic. The trio took us dark and heavy, classic and funky, and even dragged out some breakbeat from the dusty corners of our clubbing memory boxes. The morning's final track was a straight out samba session - the Terrace suddenly transforming into an ocean of wiggling hips, bobbing elbows and cheesy grins, proving that whilst Cocoon is still the safe home of techno, a night within its walls could take you far beyond the pounding 4/4.
WORDS | Joanna Wright PHOTOGRAPHY | James Chapman
