Hi guys,


So... Dusseldorf.

It was a bit of a disaster when we arrived, bright and early, after taking a plane and 4 buses, to find that the hostel we had booked actually resided in another city - Cologne. How was I to know that "Koln" on the internet booking page referred to the famous city, and not to a district of Dusseldorf! Anyhow, it was not entirely my fuck up and so we didnt get charged, and we managed to find another place to stay - equally as romantic - a tiny room with 2 single beds. Sharing the narrow bed with adrians toes as my cuddling companion... needless to say a back ache wasn't my only issue with the sleeping arrangements.

Moving swiftly along, I did lots of shopping, and New Years Eve was mental, mental good not mental bad! White Sensation: 40,000 young people, all dressed in white, the colours of the lights reflecting off the crowd, and just house music playing all night, it was a dream come true! The intial theme was love, and there were intervals with dancers, and gymnastics, costumes and bright lights, and then they showed this really thoughtful video for the New Years Countdown, with a really profound message to make us think a little, (all in english!) and then the theme changed to the dark side of love, with pyrotechnics, and deep reds and blues and fire everywhere. It was really well designed!

Eric Morillo played, who we saw at creamfields, and he was good, but then this dj Axwell started - he also plays in the Swedish House Mafia who are a 3 person dj "team" who played at creamfields as well - they are really crazy, playing everything from tribal to electronic... but this guy Axwell on his own - he blew me away! He was the best I've heard so far. He played pure house but he played very little from what he has made commercial, it was just the blending and joining of complex sounds and making it work, it was incredible! It felt like he was just composing on the spot, and I surrendered to his genius. It was a magic 2 hours, I didnt want it to end - and he played at like 2.45, and my feet were in pain, but when he started playing, the pain left my body, I felt like my feet could dance forever. I'm so glad I got to see him, cos he's just being discovered this year - I'm scared when he gets more famous, he'll get more commercial, and he'll lose the individuality, the uniqueness of his sound.

So, now the downsides: I felt the people who were at the event weren't really into it - maybe the Germans don't take enough drugs or something - I mean I don't take drugs either, but they just seemed a little dull. I guess it was a big event to expect everyone to just be there for the music - they came to have somewhere to go to on New Years Eve. But I would love to go when its on in Amsterdam, (usually its on in Amsterdam, this is the first time I think its been on in Germany) with the energy created by people who are enjoying the music, and appreciating it.

Plus - they smoke. And Jesus they smoke a lot! I just wasn't used to it. The place filled up with smoke, and it didn't leave until they ran out of cigarettes, thankfully, at about 3! I felt my lungs aged by about 6 years in that environment!!

Apart from that, it was brill, and the music made it all worth it.

Happy new year everyone, hope 2008 is smashing for each and everyone of us xxx