Club to Club 2018 was an incredible experience and if you missed it, you made a serious mistake. Don’t despair and recover by reading the Collater.al diary.
DAY #1
My adventure begins on Friday, November 1st at the AC Hotel Lingotto, which hosted Absolutsymposium 2018, the Absolut Vodka‘s event. The visit to the location starts with the exploration of 4 emotional secret rooms with a combined cocktails tasting; I find myself in the elevator together with Sem & Stènn, with whom I have been able to make some shots near the interactive installation of the room Positivity, which had the particularity of reacting to the sound impulses. In the Surprise room there is an installation with the sound of Aphex Twin.
Among the installations, there is also a work created by students of Sound Design IED Milan in collaboration with Roland, characterized by a quadraphonic sound integrated with a system of “Pattern Generations” sound reactors: shouting or clapping the LEDs light up and they change colour.
The general atmosphere of Joy and fun that distinguish the initiative lead me to visit the last room, Gioia (not by chance) literally blurs memories with the final cocktail. The evening ends at dinner and then at the OGR, where I watch Tirzah‘s live performance.
DAY #2
On the second day in Turin, I decided to visit the beautiful exhibition of photography World Press Photo, where I am very impressed by the works by Ronaldo Schemidt, Javier Arcenillas, Daniel Beltrá, and Luca Locatelli. Finally came the night and my first date at Lingotto. At Crack Stage, there is Elena Colombi, who slowly introduces the mood of the evening, and then loads a lot with industrial rhythms and buttons with an unmistakable style.
I’m ready to face Iceage at the Main Stage, which will eat the stage from the beginning to the end, bringing a dose of crazy adrenaline punk rock attitude inside the festival (which never hurts). I am very excited because it’s Beach House moment, which I have always loved, so much so that I enter another dimension suspended in time; the show, moreover, is full of dreamy and psychedelic atmospheres accompanied by classics like Space Song and Myth, up to pieces taken from 7, like Pay no mind, among the most beautiful of their last album.
We continue with one of the coolest performances of the whole C2C, by Jamie XX, who doesn’t miss a beat passing from On Hold, to a remix of Let the Sunshine and to conclude as a master with a triumphant ending from Gosh; all accompanied by the suggestive light of a mirrored sphere in perfect disco dance style. Lights, sounds and an audience in awe contributed to give one of the most beautiful moments of the festival.
Believing I already fell in love, I think: how do you manage to hold the shot after this performance? I’m immediately denied by Peggy Gou who comes on the scene super excited, with Juventus’s shirt and begins to go down heavy, without preambles. As usual, giraffes and Korean flags appear: once again Peggy managed to conquer the public, including me. After dancing like crazy, I close up with the sound of Avalon Emerson.
DAY #3
The first time I heard Aphex Twin I was in Austria, in an electronic music store in Lienz and I was 16, needless to say how long I was expecting his performance at C2C. I arrive in time for Yves Tumor‘s live that descends among the audience, parades in front of the crowd and brings his body close to the amplifier with the microphone in hand, like a real stage animal.
Following is Devonté Hynes, aka Blood Orange, accompanied by an orchestra that gives us a complete and high-level performance between saxophone, piano and choirs. There are songs like You’re Not Good Enough and songs from the new album Negro Swan. I stop to hear the interesting live of Babylon Rai Radio 2 conducted by Carlo Pastore and then I unleash on the notes of DJ Nigga Fox.
Arrive at 1:30, Aphex Twin comes into the field accompanied by lights and smoke. There is nothing to be done: the master surpasses everyone, bringing the show to a level, if possible, even higher. His live is a true visual artwork, composed by laser beams, neon lights and giant screens on which disturbing visions are projected, distinguished by the unmistakable sneer of Richard James, and then evolved into a real delusional hallucination trip, based on Italian characters like Benigni, Rita Levi Montalcini, Cicciolina, Agnelli and Gramsci. In one word: a genius. The rhythm pulsates, explodes and is unleashed unabated, this is a live show that is not forgotten. I move and get on the stage of Absolut Vodka to fully enjoy the show; going down I find myself in the middle of an overwhelming rave. My evening continues, but it will also take me the next day to “assimilate” the incredible experience of Aphex, an unexceptionable artist. The day after I return home in Milan enriched by this wonderful experience, unforgettable from the beginning to its end, so much that it would take another C2C not to “suffer” but we have to wait for next year.
Text and Photography © Claudia Fuggetti
