- Techno and experimental music par excellence at one of Russia's top electronic festivals.
- The Saint Petersburg promoter m_division calls their events "industrial musical journeys." In 2013, the team moved to Russia's second city from Omsk in Siberia, where they threw open-airs and parties in unusual locations—Ben Klock once performed at an old trolleybus depot. These days, m_division holds massive raves in historical city buildings throughout the year, focussing mostly on techno and experimental music. Gamma, currently one of Russia's biggest summer festivals, is one of their standalone events.
On the opening Thursday, the German neoclassical composer Hauschka played two concerts in a row—the second one was added due to high demand—at Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace in the city center. His snapshots, performed on a prepared grand piano, set the mood perfectly for the festival, which joined the dots between club and ambient music. During one of Hauschka's pieces, I heard someone behind me whisper, "Wow, I even want to dance."
Lenfilm, the oldest film studio in Russia, hosted Gamma Pro, a programme of discussions and audiovisual live shows. On these grounds, in 1896, the country's first-ever public screening took place, and 122 years later the founder of MUTEK, Alain Mongeau, highlighted some of the latest examples of audiovisual art, including Martin Messier's Field and a piece by Dasha Rush & Stanislav Glazov that had featured at Gamma in 2017.
This was followed by several live performances. Loscil set doleful ambient to birds-eye visuals of forests and beaches. Maotik arranged pastel fractals while his partner onstage, Nicolás Melmann, created fragile melodies using a variety of instruments, only to be interrupted by people talking loudly at the back. As soon as the show ended, the chairs were cleared away. I asked a volunteer why and she replied: "There's gonna be a wild, wild dance!" Deadbeat, also performing live, was the man left in charge, though I left for Blank, the club hosting the afterparty. With its arched ceilings and lasers on the dance floor, it suited being crowded. Naty Seres played a smooth, pulsating set in there, before Shlømo went ruthless and uncompromising, forcing people to take out their handheld fans.
Like last year, Gamma's main event took place at a large industrial space within the former Stepan Razin brewery, once the biggest of its kind in Russia. The venue has a rough-and-ready feel, with tiles ocassionally falling from the walls. Passing the illuminated yard with tyre seats, a food court and a gigantic brick chimney, I got to the buildings named A and B. From there, I headed to the third floor for Gamma Stage, where NSI, AKA Tobias. & Max Loderbauer, were playing diluted drone music.
At 12:30 AM, the yard was full of people wearing black. The main dance floor in building A, Sygma Stage, was stacked with artists pushing rabid techno of various shades. Drumcell's set sounded like he was laying bricks. Codex Empire was more evil and unbridled. I went to the fourth floor for Edward, but instead ended up at the ARMA Stage, which opened later than the others, at midnight. The vibe was brilliant, and I caught an astonishing opening set from Ranishe Niyaak: dark, hypnotic and Eastern-influenced.
Huerco S, who came straight from the Moscow club NII in a Gost Zvuk T-shirt, followed Edward with a DJ set, keeping the crowd rocking with tracks like Fio Fa's "I'd Like To See Ya Do It." When the first floor cafes ran out of water, I made my way back to Sygma Stage, where DVS1 was captivating everyone with the more humane side of techno, full of masterful percussion and short melodies.
Sunday's programme included a party at Peterhof, a town a one-hour drive from Saint Petersburg. There, at QuartaRiata Residence, I caught Peter Broderick's mellow performance and an eight-channel sound installation, which let listeners sit in the center of a room surrounded by different ambient pieces. The party went on until Monday morning, with O/H playing a live noise set and Mike Parker going back-to-back with Cio D'Or. After four days, I'd finally had my fill. Great local and international artists play every week in Saint Petersburg, but Gamma took it to the next level. That you could enjoy such an abundance of music and art for less than €50 is something that m_division, and Russia's electronic scene as a whole, should be proud of.
Photo credit /
Nikita Grushevskiy
This was followed by several live performances. Loscil set doleful ambient to birds-eye visuals of forests and beaches. Maotik arranged pastel fractals while his partner onstage, Nicolás Melmann, created fragile melodies using a variety of instruments, only to be interrupted by people talking loudly at the back. As soon as the show ended, the chairs were cleared away. I asked a volunteer why and she replied: "There's gonna be a wild, wild dance!" Deadbeat, also performing live, was the man left in charge, though I left for Blank, the club hosting the afterparty. With its arched ceilings and lasers on the dance floor, it suited being crowded. Naty Seres played a smooth, pulsating set in there, before Shlømo went ruthless and uncompromising, forcing people to take out their handheld fans. Like last year, Gamma's main event took place at a large industrial space within the former Stepan Razin brewery, once the biggest of its kind in Russia. The venue has a rough-and-ready feel, with tiles ocassionally falling from the walls. Passing the illuminated yard with tyre seats, a food court and a gigantic brick chimney, I got to the buildings named A and B. From there, I headed to the third floor for Gamma Stage, where NSI, AKA Tobias. & Max Loderbauer, were playing diluted drone music.
At 12:30 AM, the yard was full of people wearing black. The main dance floor in building A, Sygma Stage, was stacked with artists pushing rabid techno of various shades. Drumcell's set sounded like he was laying bricks. Codex Empire was more evil and unbridled. I went to the fourth floor for Edward, but instead ended up at the ARMA Stage, which opened later than the others, at midnight. The vibe was brilliant, and I caught an astonishing opening set from Ranishe Niyaak: dark, hypnotic and Eastern-influenced. Huerco S, who came straight from the Moscow club NII in a Gost Zvuk T-shirt, followed Edward with a DJ set, keeping the crowd rocking with tracks like Fio Fa's "I'd Like To See Ya Do It." When the first floor cafes ran out of water, I made my way back to Sygma Stage, where DVS1 was captivating everyone with the more humane side of techno, full of masterful percussion and short melodies. Sunday's programme included a party at Peterhof, a town a one-hour drive from Saint Petersburg. There, at QuartaRiata Residence, I caught Peter Broderick's mellow performance and an eight-channel sound installation, which let listeners sit in the center of a room surrounded by different ambient pieces. The party went on until Monday morning, with O/H playing a live noise set and Mike Parker going back-to-back with Cio D'Or. After four days, I'd finally had my fill. Great local and international artists play every week in Saint Petersburg, but Gamma took it to the next level. That you could enjoy such an abundance of music and art for less than €50 is something that m_division, and Russia's electronic scene as a whole, should be proud of. Photo credit / Nikita Grushevskiy