We left Frankfurt
just after 5 pm and after picking up another friend and various traffic jams
we finally got there about 10 pm and caught the last minutes of Takkyo Ishino
which sounded very promising. Later on, just before midnight and Chris Liebing's
set, surprisingly the entire group showed up at the agreed meeting point. While
it obviously didn't stay together as a whole for the night we managed to split
and meet again in various compositions throughout the night, making it great
fun to party.
As for the music and the DJs, here is my detailed review of the ones I saw
(in this order):
Tillmann Uhrmacher: OMG, I simply couldn't and still can't
believe how such a bad, no: horrible DJ gets to play on Mayday. That "set"
was bad beyond belief. Mixing, what mixing? Just cross fade or put on a new
record when one is finished, well, I can do that, too. Easily the worst DJing
I have heard in my entire club life, and this is no exaggeration. To have some
good tracks (Renato Cohen-Pontape, Dave Clarke-The Wolf) alone is by far not
sufficient to rock a place. Rating is not 0/10 but minus10/10. Disgusted we
left to see:
Marco Remus:
Ah yes, that's how we wanted it. Very solid banging Schranz to dance hard to.
The perfect warm-up for Chris Liebing.
Chris Liebing:
OMFG! Especially the first 20 minutes were really moving forward. After that
the tempo slowed somewhat. But the mood this comedian behind the decks he emanated
was incredible and contagious creating the best vibe at a given set of the entire
night. The crowd was firmly in his grip, there was no escape. Very unusual for
Mayday, there were calls for an encore! Clearly one of the highlights of this
Mayday.
Members
of Mayday: It was nice hearing 10in01 and Sonic Empire but the rest
wasn't anything to write home about.
Paul van
Dyk: Awesome! Of course, NBY was predictable and there is a risk to
get tired of that song given how he has been banging it out in every set for
about a year now. I am not in that camp yet, though, and again loved it! The
set wasn't smashing hard but still hard (or was that impression at least partly
due to the loud PA?), very much to my liking. Needless to say we all danced
our asses off. This set was even better than the already very good Mayday 2002
set, IMO. Definitely another major Mayday highlight.
Nu-NRG
live: Unfortunately, I missed parts of this set. While it sounded good
uplifting and energizing, I believe 20 minutes are simply too short for a live
act to really leave a lasting impression.
Blank&Jones:
Well, this was one of the more controversial sets of the night. While some said
it was excellent, very uplifting and creating a great party vibe, others said
it simply sucked. My own take: it sucked. So much commercial crap doesn't belong
to an event like Mayday. It sounded like they played the 438th MTV trance compilation
or something. Just not the quality music a PvD delivers.
Vanguard
live: Yawn. Flash as the opener,but played for too long, especially
considering it was a 20 min only set. The set as a whole simply didn't kick
it at all, of course suffering from that 20 min shortness as well. At the end
of March they played a 1 hour set at Palazzo and that rocked! Whatever.
Chrysler:
This was a techno DJ I have to admit I hadn't heard of before. The mixing wasn'T
spectacular, buy by far not as horrible (or non-existent) as that of Uhrmacher.
The music was surprisingly good and very danceable. Very decent filler until
the incredible sets that, unbeknownst to us, were yet to come.
Jack de
Marseille: OMG! Now this was something else, really really good! What
a re-energizer after the doldrums left after PvD and Nu-NRG. That was something
to go at full speed again. What should come after this, the list of remaining
acts was getting short....
Mark Spoon:
*puke*
Sebbo:
Seamless continuation of the amazing Jack de M. Not exactly Schranz, but still
superb banging techno as we like it. Well, the Airport club in Wuerzburg has
a reputation as on of Germany's leading techno clubs and we should have expected
no less from it's resident. Amazing closing track: Pink Floyd - Another Brick
in the Wall in a techno remix. Usually i don't like that sort of stuff, but
at that moment it was just right and totally rawked!
Dero:
What can I say? This was (PvD and Liebing being awesome or not) by far the best
set of the entire night, at least for me. With a somewhat thinned out crowd
at this time the overall party atmosphere couldn't reach the level it had during
Liebing's set, but the remaining people happily got their asses kicked. And
musically it was beyond imagination. To go nuts was mandatory. Then we recognize
him playing Renato Cohen – Pontape to our excitement. But that was only
the beginning. I have never heard that track played in such a ultra-kicking
way by anybody else. Was it a different/new remix or did he mix something into
it or did he rework the track right there on the spot, I don't know. I am at
a loss of words to describe how insanely good this was, other than to say "I
died". Well, but not enough, a little later, completely out of the blue
he played a track I had least expected at Mayday, in fact that had never even
crossed my mind at all: DJ Rolando - Jaguar !!!!!!!!! O-M-F-G!! One of my absolute
TOP TOP TOP top favourites of all time! I was the only one to immediately recognize
the song and to start to scream hysterically (to the bewilderment of the others,
who, as it turned out, didn't even know this track). And then I died so hard
and completely as I have never died before. After that overwhelming Pontape,
now this. I was beyond me, I lost control, even started to cry. Needless to
mention goose bumps all over. I DIED DIED DIED. Unfortunately, he didn't play
it for too long, i don't know what would have happened if he had. But enough
of that. Only this much: for this moment alone it was more than worth it to
go to Mayday 2003.
Moguai:
After this divine experience this set just didn't do it for me at all. I had
expected more based on his really decent Mayday 2002 set. The worst was when
he simply wouldn't end his set at the appropriate time, instead milking his
own track 'U know Y' it became unbearable. The unspeakable Westbam was already
hovering at his side to start the set inexplicably dubbed 'Mayday All Stars'
to close the event. Anyway, we left at that point, exhausted yet happy.
TOPS:
1. DJ DERO 15/10
2. PVD 12/10
3. Chris Liebing 11/10
4. Jack de Marseille 9/10
5. Marco Remus 9/10
FLOPS:
1. Tillmann Uhrmacher -10/10
2. Superpitcher 0/10
3. Blank & Jones 1/10
4. Vanguard 2/10
In summary, Mayday 2003 as a whole wasn't up to par musically, IMO. Especially
when compared to the musically clearly superior Time Warp. There were to many
weak points or filler DJs, see -->full
line-up. All in all it was still a worthwhile party with some great sets
and good atmosphere, especially among our group of over a dozen. And for me
personally, it brought one of the most incredible moments in my entire club
life (comparable only to a similar, yet rather different moment conjured up
by PvD at the Vandit night in Feb. 02).