Celebration of Life Festival Antwerp 2022 | Review
Sometimes you need to look outside the box. Step away from the major hubs like Berlin, Amsterdam, and London. Explore! Let’s check out the Techno scene in Antwerp — bargain or disappointment?
Location:
Celebration of Life took place in the event venue Trix. It is located in the eastern part of town a bit on the outskirts. However, it’s not far away from Antwerp Centraal and is generally easy to reach within 15 minutes by bike or public transport. The venue seemed like a typical music/concert hall. Additionally, there is a smaller “club floor” attached to it which was more intimate, and a big bar area which was used as a third floor. I am not familiar with the After Hour scene in Antwerp, but since the city isn’t too big I think it is easy to get around by cab for a fair price.
I didn’t have issues ordering an Uber and it only took a few minutes directly after closing which is usually the busiest time. Security was friendly and not strict at all if you acted respectfully. There was no selection or dress code. I arrived at 23 o’clock on Friday and at around 1 o’clock on Saturday and didn’t experience any waiting times which speaks for it being well run.
The venue itself is a classical multi-purpose event venue and nothing out of the ordinary, but it was easy to reach and ran flawlessly by the staff: 7.5/10
Sound-system:
Out of all the points I am covering here the Sound System is the worst-rated one. By no way was it terrible, but it wasn’t great either, and leaves a lot of room for improvement. Maybe my mind played a trick on me, but it also felt that the sound on Saturday was slightly better than on Friday and maybe some tuning has been done.
Let’s start with the smallest room: Yellow/Purple
Two of those stacks have been present. I don’t know the exact speakers and am too lazy to research since they are older models. However, I am not a big fan of the sound quality of older dB Technologies stuff (haven’t heard the new) and certainly would find such a stack more fitting at a school dance or wedding instead of a festival. The mids have been pretty muddy and the quality overall wasn’t great. In the organization section, I explain what in my opinion would have been a better option for the use of the floor — this system could be disregarded.
Club floor aka Orange/Blue Room
The club featured 3 Adamson S10 line array elements. The subs have been placed under the stage s.t. It’s impossible for me to tell which and how many there have been. However, at times the bass felt a bit weird as if they haven’t been properly delayed. The lows haven’t been as punchy as I would have liked them to be.
Additionally, on Friday the energy in the room was in such a way, that very early on the dancers stormed the stage and surrounded the DJ in a very “intimate” atmosphere. So actually not a whole lot of people have been on the “actual” dancefloor. Given the vibe that was great, however, the sound was subpar in such a situation. The DJs didn’t have a big monitor system so there wasn’t even the possibility of really turning up the stage.
It’s hard if not impossible to estimate how a crowd behaves, but on Friday when House was played on that floor neither the stage design nor the Soundsystem really suited it. On the other hand, the Saturday live performances by Babynymph and Promis3 fitted far better into this room. The voices have been crisp and pleasant.
Last but not least: Main aka Red/Green Room
Okay, I am sorry. Here the nerd in me needs to pass. I can’t name the exact Soundsystem used. I am very confident, that it was an Adamson system as well. There have been 8 line array elements and 6 subs per side.
The subs look like single drivers to me and Adamson itself offers 18" and 19" variants. The best attribute I can think of when describing the sound is: inconsistent.
At times it felt like a solid system, especially during high volumes. But then again a new track came on and it just sounded lifeless and wrong. During the opening acts, with lower volumes, it was even more extreme and I was already getting ready to be disappointed, which luckily wasn’t fully the case. My best guess would be, that some frequencies suffered from extinction, and the positioning of the speakers was badly chosen for the room and the type of music.
Another critique is also, that the sound in the middle of the dancefloor was probably the worst. In the back and on the sides, facing the speakers it sounded the best for me. But when you went into the first half of the center the music lost its energy. It’s also pretty obvious. There have been no speakers placed there. The left and right arrays have been a good 20 meters apart. The easiest fix probably would be to provide a decent center fill the next time. This is extremely important since usually, this is the main spot of the party. You want to concentrate the highest energy there!
Enough words have been spoken. Easily the biggest flaw and I would wish for improvement in this category. But to be fair, it still worked and it got people dancing: 5/10
Lights and atmosphere:
In times when lighting constantly becomes more important the setup was rather simple. The club and smallest floor had a simple setup of strobes, PARs, some small moving heads, and led bars. There is really not much to say about it other than that it did its job and was overall ok.
Especially with stage design in my opinion there is a lot of room for improvement. I would really like to see it decorated more. Maybe hire local artists to create some paintings and figures and accentuate them with some smartly placed lighting. Otherwise, both stages seemed quite generic to me — even on the second day when a bit of decoration was added.
The main stage was also designed in a very simple way, but I liked it. It suited the big hall. The main stars have been some Sharpy’s that have been smartly operated. With some regular LED lights and lasers (that have been added on Saturday) those were a good addition to the music, creating a great atmosphere without being too disturbing or annoying. However, the same thing applies here as with the other two floors: I would have liked to see a bit more decoration to emphasize the event I am visiting. Something quirky/colorful maybe. Temperature and Humidity have been constantly perfect. The floor wasn’t even and there have been placed multiple plates to elevate it. I am a bit torn on that. On the one hand, it gave the whole crowd some dimension, on the other hand, I can see the risk of injuries. However those have been well-lit, so hopefully, nothing happened.
In one of the next sections I will speak about pricing in detail, but taking that into consideration the lighting was good. For the budget, I don’t want to criticize the technical setup. And what was there, was operated very well using it to its full potential. However, I would have liked to see more decorations and more unique & playful elements that bring the place to life instead of having a rather generic scenery: 6.5/10
Organization:
The organization was absolutely beautiful! More or less the exact opposite of the possession festival. I already briefly mentioned the security which was really undisturbing the whole evening. Also at the entrance, there was always standing a member of the awareness team explaining how to spot them and their “rules”. They have been easily identifiable and there were plentiful people constantly going around. I saw some guests (presumably) in a K-Hole and the awareness team was always quick to check on them, observe them for a while, and offer some water. Also, the venue was equipped with some TVs that constantly displayed the timetable and the consent policy. It was honestly one of the best awareness concepts I experienced. It’s classified as a queer festival so open to every and anyone!
Additionally, on Saturday (I don’t remember seeing it on Friday) a Harm reduction stand was placed in the Hall area between the floors. I noticed it quite late during the evening so I don’t know if they did drug testing, but they provided free earplugs (you could also constantly buy some at small vending machines) and condoms, as well as flyers regarding the usual topics (drug abuse, spiking, STDs, etc.).
Another positive point, and I feel like that’s where Belgium and the Netherlands are miles ahead of Germany, is that instead of a wardrobe the venue had (enough) lookers. Sometimes additionally to standing in line for an hour, you have the pleasure to queue up for an additional 30 minutes just to leave your jackets here in Germany. The lookers are so much easier and cheaper! The price was 1€ (nonrefundable) but they have been big enough to fit winter clothes for up to 3 people.
The toilets at some point during the night turned Unisex, which nobody cared about, and always was really respectful. I’ve also experienced them as clean as there was cleaning personnel. And they have been really unintrusive! I’ve had terrible experiences with cleaning personnel in a club, but here they didn’t care and let everyone do their thing. Also, there have been enough stalls so I never experienced long waiting times. But while the venue was filled it was nowhere near overcrowded and probably at ~60–70% capacity.
I still have some minor complaints regarding the smoking area. While nobody really minded if you smoked inside (plus points for that) outside was clearly encouraged. I fully understand, that with the current situation you shouldn’t place gas burners there. But it would have been nice if they had blankets to rent as it was hovering around 0 degrees that night. But thinking about it, it also was an easy one to go to the lockers and get your jacket, so not really deducting points — just an inspiration.
However, the outdoor area wasn’t the only place you could sit down and chill. There have been multiple small corners you could do that and relax.
One thought I had however would be to transform the 3rd small floor into an ambient floor — a place to chill and trip. Due to my criticism regarding its sound system and lighting in my opinion it could have been disregarded as a full musical floor. There was already a big seating area in it so providing lots of pillows and blankets, some decoration and maybe a DJ sitting on the floor casually spinning some melodic tunes would have been in my opinion a better use of the space. It would bring a complete contrast to the other 2 floors, which I felt wasn’t much the case this time. Just a thought from my side.
The opening times could be considered short by some as it only went from 22–6 in the morning. Honestly, it fitted the vibe and didn’t bother me at all. Sure, till 8 would have been preferred as in my opinion it’s nice to step out of a club when the sun is up, but I don’t know the Belgium culture and laws enough if people would make use of that and if it could cause problems with authorities.
All in all the organization was nearly flawless. The awareness concept with the friendly staff was executed in one of the best ways I’ve ever experienced. Neither with the Bar, Toilets or Wardrobe had there been any inconveniences, but there is still a bit of room for improvement and redesign: 9.5/10
Music:
I was really impressed by the well-put-together lineup with DJs and performers from different genres. For me it felt like the following split:
- Friday: Hard Techno (Main) + House (Club)
- Saturday: “Classic” Techno (Main) + Live Performances (Club)
I disregarded the small third floor as I bearly spend no time on it. Also, this is highly individual so I’ll try to keep it short:
The whole Hard Techno trend is too fast for me and feels uneasy. It’s all about drops and samples to the point where in my opinion it is kind of cheap. It had its novelty a while ago and I sometimes still hear sets in the gym — but I dislike it for clubbing. It often feels like DJs try to generate energy solely by increasing the BPM and good luck dancing multiple hours on 160+ bpm (without drugs). I can go into detail on this topic in another article, but I prefer more “classic” techno with long buildups in the 130+ bpm range that causes you to get lost in trance.
This said, let’s talk about the acts at Celebration of Life. The local DJs that opened all did a good job setting the mood. On Friday I spend most of the time in the Club. The act I looked forward to the most, Octo Octa, unfortunately, canceled two Europe gigs a few days prior, but her replacement and the other DJs on that floor in my opinion played great music and did a good job. The main floor however I didn’t enjoy much. I don’t know how to classify what Otta played, but it was somewhere between Hard Techno, beginner Goa, and cheap Psytrance. For Parfait, I actually looked forward to her. I strongly expected her to play a style similar to her famous Possession Boiler Room (I like the one a lot). However, this wasn’t really the case. The first hour was good, but she got faster and faster to the point that she was basically playing beginner hard trance/gabber/hardcore. I think the time she spent playing B2B with Charlie Sparks did her no good. Sure, this is highly individual but I felt like the room was overwhelmed a bit as well and it never got to the point that there was a constant high energy level.
Saturday for me was a lot better. The performances in the club were great and of good diversity. The best set during the whole festival, however, came from Nene H. Fast & driving techno, good DJ technique, and regular breaks to give the dancers some room to breathe. However, Schacke, who played after her was a bit of a letdown. His mixing was weird in the sense that some tracks had a strong bass and others only very little. I don’t know if he used proper audio files but it sure didn’t sound like that, but maybe he also just ran into the limiter (or other issues with the sound system). The last half an hour of him playing were basically only known “trend songs” like the “be my lover remix” and DYENs Let You Go. The closing track was Vision of Ecstasy which fitted really well.
Overall there was constant musical diversity present with interesting acts. The concept of multiple collectives hosting their own floor and letting them express their vision was a nice touch. If it fully fits my taste isn’t relevant for the rating. I’ll go into detail about which artists I think would have fitted really well and whom I would like to see in the next iteration in the last section of this review. All in all: 10/10
Pricing:
Originally I discovered the festival because I wanted to see Octo Octa. So seeing her play and Antwerp being not far from where I live sparked my interest. However, I was completely mind-blown when I saw the ticket price. I purchased an early bird ticket for 35€. 35€!!!!! For two days! That’s incredible! In Cologne, the prices slowly become unbearable with certain nights costing close to 50€ — looking at you Bootshaus.
Sure, there wasn’t a megastar (e.g. Amelie Lens) on the payroll, but a lot of well-known artists mixed with some local ones. When I looked at it I considered it very well-curated and absolutely worth the price. Unfortunately, I forgot to check what the next releases have been priced at, but I believe it was 40–45€ for the weekend and between 20–30€ for a single day.
In General Belgium, entrance prices seem to be a lot more reasonable than those of its neighboring countries. E.g. the club entrance for Patrick Mason is 12€. However, for the organization and the artist's booked this is an incredible value!
Drinks have been fairly priced as well with a big selection. Payments have been only accepted by card which was very convenient and glasses have been placed in such a way that you could easily walk up to the bar and grab one to fill it from the tap, without waiting in line — no, the bar staff didn’t mind.
This was probably the best value-for-money event I attended this year: 10/10
Conclusion:
Let's keep it short. The price is hands down the biggest up! Not to imply the rest was bad, quite the contrary. But to have such a diverse musical lineup, hosted by multiple local collectives, with an overall good organization and amazing awareness concept — for 35 Euros! If… the price would increase, then I would expect some technicalities to be upgraded as well (mostly sound) to keep the rating. But taking it for what it was, there is little reason not to visit Celebrations of Life: 8.5/10
My state of mind:
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t in my best mood. And that’s something that really just manifested at the party. There is currently a lot going on in my life, hence the lower output on this Blog. My study, job, and relationship troubles have an impact, even if clubbing usually works for me as an outlet. But sometimes it’s just too much and I lose the ability to fully let go. This sounds more dramatic than it is. I still had a great time, but I mostly used it for myself, enjoying the music, and letting my thoughts flow.
I still socialized and everyone I encountered was very friendly. Overall the crowd was respectful to each other, so the awareness posts worked well. The style of the crowd was impeccable — what else to expect from Antwerp as one of the major fashion hubs. But also way more individual, way more laid back, than the “Techno Dresscode” that is currently taking over here in Germany and popularised by Instagram and TikTok. Btw. stay tuned, as I will soon release an in-depth article about this trend. I liked it a lot, and even I, during my more introverted moments felt very welcomed
Some last words regarding the music. I love electronic music, it is the main point why I go out and often my make or brake. I misjudged the Hard- Techno focus — as mentioned for some of the artists I had a sound in mind that got even harder the last few months and just didn’t suit me. Luckily there was diversity on the floors! Artists that would really fit the crowd and the vibe I experienced would be some of the Ostgut People. In my opinion, Ryan Elliot or Steffi would be an excellent choice. On the Techno side, Boris or Answer Code Request are some options. Now that I experienced Celebrations of Life I am a bit sad I missed the iteration at the beginning of the year when the Herrensauna collective hosted a stage. I can imagine that worked out great. I could go on forever naming others like Gerd Janson or Stef Mendesidis, but let’s not get lost. I learned my lesson to look more into the music and listen to some (recent) sets before going out — but I don’t regret Celebrations of Life at all!
