Bart Skils
at the Gashouder for Awakenings Festival 2020 | Online weekender
Another beautiful dispatch from the lockdown era, where the audience consisted of people dancing in their kitchens while anxiously waiting for a Deliveroo. The techno tourists were forced to trade their bucket hats for slippers, trying to recreate the magic of a festival porta-loo in their own bathrooms. But visually, the massive, empty circular cathedral of the virtual Gashouder looks utterly spectacular and dystopian. This Bart Skils live set is a masterclass in driving Techno, locked into a steady, hypnotic 129.7 BPM.
Skils is a technician of the highest order, burying himself in the 12A key for more than half the set to create an unrelenting, rolling energy arc that feels like a freight train in the night. The transitions are incredibly long and buttery smooth. The Bart Skils at the Gashouder for Awakenings Festival 2020 tracklist is a crate digger's delight, perfectly blending the old school with the new. Slipping in Tanya Louise's 'Deep in You' alongside Robert Miles' iconic 'Children' via a Deborah de Luca remix is a proper nod to the ravers at home.
The journey is incredibly paced. Launching from a dark, unidentified opening track, he brings immense emotion with i_o's 'Come with Me,' before concluding the virtual rave with the stunning, ethereal synths of '747 - Aurora Centralis' as the closing track. Sorted.