- For the past few years, the last Saturday in May in my calendar has been marked with a large "X" ahead of Lente Kabinet. The fifth edition of the festival saw the Dekmantel crew place even more emphasis on local artists, complemented by a strong visual and decorative component across the site. The weather forecast looked fairly gloomy at first, but in the end the sun decided to shine all day for the first time in weeks.
I was among the first people to enter the grounds at Het Twiske, determined to catch Orpheu The Wizard's back-to-back set with Music From Memory's Jamie Tiller, as well as the Malawi crew's first performance in months. While Tiller and Orpheu delved deep into rare cuts like V.O.'s soon-to-be-reissued "Mashisa (Dub Mix)," the Amsterdam collective displayed their broad musical range, dropping Timbaland & Magoo's "People Like Myself" next to Idrissa Soumaoro's "Djama." I like to think that this loose concern for genre, where Malian folk and American R&B make sense in the same set, has become a trait of Amsterdam DJs.
After a quick rest in a hammock suspended between some trees, I made my way to the De Tweede Kamer tent to see one of the day's must-see acts, influential house duo Mood II Swing. Their set of perfectly-pitched house felt soothing—even cathartic at times—as they stretched out the individual elements of their selections and let them do the work.
I left Mood II Swing just before the end and made my way to the DJBroadcast stage for Shanti Celeste. Her set reminded me of The Black Madonna's performance at the same stage the previous year, back when the US DJ was fairly new to The Netherlands. The Black Madonna is now one of the rising stars in the Dutch club and festival scene, partly thanks to her slot at Lente Kabinet, and it felt like Shanti Celeste could be about to embark on a similar journey. Her set was well thought out, beginning with vocal house (Maurice Fulton's "You Give Me Good Feeling") before steadily picking up the pace with cuts of funky techno. Hashman Deejay and PLO Man followed with a great back-to-back, after which I returned to the midst of the festival to see Gesloten Cirkel, one of few techno acts on the bill. The producer played an interesting live set straight after I-F, who had ended on a high with his much-loved track, "Space Invaders Are Smoking Grass."
Despite rave reports filtering through about Ben UFO's set at De Tweede Kamer (I'm gutted I missed him dropping James Holden's remix of Britney Spears's “Breathe On Me"), I decided to stay and end the night at the Red Light Radio stage with DJ Deeon. At past editions of Lente Kabinet, the atmosphere at this stage grew rowdy around this time, with the camo netting above trembling from the size and force of the pack below. This year was no exception, as Deeon banged out a hefty chunk of Dance Mania classics such as DJ Funk's "Put Yo' Back N 2 It," Paul Johnson's "Feel My M.F. Bass" and his own "Freak Like Me." It was a classy finale to a festival that continues to impress.
Photo credits /
Lead - DeFotomeisjes
All others - Yannick van de Wijngaert
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Despite rave reports filtering through about Ben UFO's set at De Tweede Kamer (I'm gutted I missed him dropping James Holden's remix of Britney Spears's “Breathe On Me"), I decided to stay and end the night at the Red Light Radio stage with DJ Deeon. At past editions of Lente Kabinet, the atmosphere at this stage grew rowdy around this time, with the camo netting above trembling from the size and force of the pack below. This year was no exception, as Deeon banged out a hefty chunk of Dance Mania classics such as DJ Funk's "Put Yo' Back N 2 It," Paul Johnson's "Feel My M.F. Bass" and his own "Freak Like Me." It was a classy finale to a festival that continues to impress. Photo credits / Lead - DeFotomeisjes All others - Yannick van de Wijngaert.jpg)