#deadbeatblast

The day has finally come! It’s the day of the 10th edition of the legendary EINDBAAS! The tickets have been sold out two weeks in advance. In the days prior to the event, there’s a frantic online trade of tickets taking place between desperate individuals. I get e-mails with supplications every day of people wanting to get in, but missed the boat somehow. It’s crazy.

Therefore, we have been working hard to find a bigger venue. We love the Ekko, but it feels like a favorite jacket that we’ve obviously grown out of. And it’s never easy to find a fitting replacement for your favorite jacket.

Just as hard, was to find a good spot for the famous EINDBAAS open stage, prior to the big event. Because our usual spot De Kargadoor was already booked that evening, we had to ask three other venues before we found Biton prepared to work with us on the open stage. And it turned out to be an excellent choice! Perfect size, the volunteers were really nice to work with, and the sound was ok. Except when our most internationally seasoned guest entered the stage: Monodeer. Somebody thought it was wise to turn the volume down during his brilliant-and-loud-as-always set. Which is the absolute worst thing to do if you want to piss off Monodeer. Poor Mark. But I was also very surprised in more positive ways, by the soothing synths of Tempianetic (a.k.a Flamingo Pudding, a name that for some reason sticks infinitely better with me than Tempianetic) and the pure Nintendo DS fun machine that’s called HarleyLikesMusic. Honored, because he came all the way from Sheffield. 

While the people in Biton partied some more with a fine encore by Men of Mega and viewing of the live stream of EINDBAAS X, we quickly moved back to the Ekko venue, where we have been working very hard all afternoon to do soundchecks, interviews with the press, install the live stream and what have you, and booby-trap the place with lots of lasers. The long queue waiting on the street is a familiar sight. Hello queue, long time no see, how are you doing? Syked for tonight?

Personally, having an EINDBAAS is like having the perfect birthday party. Half of the room is filled with friends, who are (very much unlike real birthdays) all there! The other half I’ve never seen before, which is even better. 

Xyce kicked off with a really convincing set full of bleepy sweetness from good old Atari ST and his girlfriend Amiga. I can’t imagine a chip act in the Netherlands that makes me happier than these demo scene geeks Roel and Tom, except for chip god Jeroen Tel maybe... Xyce is not for you if you like it raw and loud. What they do provide, is a imaginary trip back straight into your best childhood memories of the eighties: your favorite cartoons and high school series on TV, video games with your best buddy, puppy love, unicorns and tv-striped multi-color madness. 

There’s an invisible man from Sweden, that appears to be very famous... His name is FantomenK and everybody knows him, but nobody’s ever seen him. He hardly ever leaves Sweden and rarely performs live. Having him on the EINDBAAS stage is such a rare treat! And even up there, he’s like a ninja: cunningly masked and vanishing just as quick as he appeared, leaving the crowd in pure awe and pierced with his evil eye. Wtf just happened? 

And speaking of piercing lightbeams: lasers lasers lasers everywhere! Our laser dream team Hobbybob and Master PJ555. Having them VJ-ing with actual lasers is a whole new deal, turning the Ekko into a nineties rave party. 

Now that’s a true chip giant. Ctrix caused the EINDBAAS team several spontaneous livingroom dancing sessions, ecstatic climaxes at chip parties in New York, the starting point for almost every EINDBAAS DJ set and a happier life in general. And now he’s standing there at our own little chiptune party in Utrecht, with a perfectly working gAtari, for God's sake! The crafty modded portable Atari ‘thing’ turns every chip party in a wild rave, with its sharp barking and roaring sounds. Too bad that he had to pull out his best weapon at the start of his set, making the rest of his show sound a bit less powerful. Very understandable though, taking into account that the gAtari doesn’t work halve of the times, including the soundcheck. But still the other halve was better than most things I’ve heard so far. The sublime combinations of funky synths and bouncy chiptunes, with a delicious hint of nineties house nostalgia (whoo. yeah.) proves that this little ozzie is still the undisputed world champion of chip. 

The loudest contribution this night is from the Canadian Deadbeatblast. He did a great job, doing all the additional VJ-ing for the other artists tonight, especially with the funny ninja stuff for FantomenK. A Deadbeatblast show is a very intense experience, because his music is kind of demanding. If you don’t like chiptunes, don’t go see him. The virtuoso stuff he forces out of his Gameboy is noisy, but very rich in melody, that can either drive you crazy or gets you ecstatic. Tonight, its was obviously the latter and it was my personal high light of EINDBAAS X. Brilliant! 

That’s it. Lasers lasered, Timbob did very good business at Timbob’s chipshop, we’ve danced to all our favorite artists, EINDBAAS X was no less than legendary. One to remember and tell your grandkids about. 

Text: Klazien Schaap

The last two weeks have been a trip for the EINDBAAS crew. It started with a little road trip to Darmstadt in Germany, then builded up to a climax a week later at EINDBAAS X, to top it of with the rather megalomanic experience of an EINDBAAS DJ set at VJ op de Dom in our beloved hometown Utrecht. But first things first: road tripping to Chipnyte in Darmstadt!

It’s so good to be reunited with far away friends! First in: Deadbeat Jake. And the next day cTrix Chris arrived. Having the best parts of Canada and Australia united in Utrecht, it’s time for beers in Cafe België. Summarized: 

Timbob (EINDBAAS’ scruffy roommate and no. 1 Gameboy provider of the Netherlands) trying out every fruit beer in the cafe. 

Packing up a statue on the street with found Burger King wall paper, as a giant birthday present.

Chris having a Kapsalon for the first time in his life. 

The next day we got all crammed into Men of Mega Bart’s car, ready to head out to the Chipnyte party in Darmstadt. Being a five hour drive, it was hard to find the right position, but who cares: we’re going to a chiptune paaaaartyyyy! Jake turned out to be an excellent driver (his own words) so the others could have beers, naps and write music for weekly beats. 

Darmstadt is a typical mid-German city, which is hard to describe otherwise, if you’ve never been in Germany. Turns out the show was in the basement of a frigging castle! And if you think that resonates, think again. The sound was superb and most of all, loud in a good way. The organizer of the party is chip fanatic Niels Cassens. Not a man of many words, but he sure knows how to put up a show. The line-up was almost one on one with the EINDBAAS X show a week later, with addition of the German screamo chip duo Stern Fucking Zeit. Excellent stuff. The others were at their best behavior too: Xyce was ever so charming, Men of Mega solo was just as good as the Men of Mega duo, cTrix is still my favorite songwriter in the world and Deadbeatblast was on fire. With 250 visitors, Niels did an outstanding job for a first chip party in Darmstadt.