Wanderlust: Destination Venues for your Clubbing Holiday
Forget the bitter winter of Scotland and the recession. Chris Duncan looks at where to blow that winter heating budget on a lavish trip to some of the finest clubs that the globe has to offer.
Cielo – New York City
Situated in the Meat Packing District of New York City the 350 capacity venue Cielo has a worldwide reputation as being one of the best clubs on the planet. The seating and lighting looks as though it was lifted directly from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, whilst the sunken dancefloor located in the centre of the venue puts the emphasis on dancing, not posing by the bar. Cielo’s popularity shows no sign of slowing down, especially after winning the Club World Award for best club in 2005, 2006 and 2008 as well as entering the top 50 clubs list in DJ Magazine.
Womb – Tokyo
Placed in the centre of Shibuya, Womb is a three level, 1000 capacity beast of venue. Extravagant in its size, light shows, acts and mammoth mirrored disco ball, Womb is a surreal and wonderful experience. Specialising in drum and bass, tribal, techno and filthy house, Womb hosts all manner of events across the year and opens most afternoons as a pre-club café bar. Previous guests include Alex Smoke, Dusty Kid, Four Tet, Fragments, Seb Fontaine and Radio Slave. The club also features in the film Babel, for all you 35mm fact fans out there, and there are touch screens in the bathroom so you can write messages on the walls before they are beamed through to the opposite sex’s bathroom.
La Terrrazza – Barcelona
An open-air club on a mountain in Montjuic in Barcelona? Sold and sold! However, due to the venue lacking a roof there are sound restrictions in place. But on a clear night the stars will add to the club’s basic lighting giving it a unique twist, which is a trade off of sorts. Soma Records tend to host a summer party there every year, with the likes of Silicone Soul, Slam, Funk D’void and Decimal all appearing al fresco. Secretsundaze also hold an absurdly cheap event in late August which rounds off the summer season nicely. Beginning in the early evening and ending in the wee hours of the next day the annual party closes months of festivities rather well.
Rex Club – Paris
For creatures of the Parisian night Rex Club has been a major player since 1992. Arriving with a bang, Rex Club opened its doors with the debut of “Wake Up”, a night curated by Laurent Garnier. Previous events include Bassculture, Bpitch Control Party, Back to Warehouse, Circus Company Club and Automatik, which celebrated its eleventh birthday this year. The new year sees Rex Club promising to push the boundaries further in providing Paris with the finest in fresh electronic music. The Mobilee Showcase takes place on 16 January and features Pan Pot and Anja Schneider.
Berghain/Panorama Bar – Berlin
Blessed with a pretty much perfect soundsystem this former power plant located by the Berlin Ostbahnhof train station is an absolute haven for clubbers. Berghain combines the techno sounds of Marcel Dettman with the house music of Cassy in the upstairs Panorama Bar. The cavernous venue holds 1500 people and features an 18-metre high dance floor. The aesthetic of the club is unusual, with bare concrete and steel being the main interior design. Berghain rose from the ashes of the legendary Berlin club Ostgut, which had its roots in the gay fetish club night Snax. The hedonistic history remains with Berghain’s inclusion of a dark room set aside for sex acts and a strict no photography policy. Only half of the building is in use but plans are underway to turn the remaining section into a concert hall.
Cocoon Club – Frankfurt
Quite possibly the most striking club in the world in terms of design, the Cocoon Club comprises a restaurant and two dance areas, Cocoon Club and Micro. DJs and VJs work in perfect harmony to ensure that vistors are treated to a multimedia delight during events. The main hall features a 100-foot long “membrane wall which wraps around the main floor to give the impression of a living organism”. The cocoons from which the club takes its name are seating areas contained within the membrane wall that feature dimmable lights and touch screens to survey the rest of the club. Words cannot really do it justice so a visit to their website is highly recommended. The music policy is largely tech house and electro but the Micro area of the venue dips into different genres such as new jazz and broken beats.