Ironically advertised as the “not so greatest show on earth”, German event organizer INURFASE invited GPF and friends to Cologne this weekend. If you know GPF and The Piepshow, you will not be surprised at all to read that absolutely no effort was spared to convert the famous Bootshaus into a musical circus for the night – sudden twists, roaring laughter and enormous amounts of fun included of course. Let’s see in detail what they had in store!
Simon
The former boat storage and repair facility is located in Cologne’s shipyard district on the eastern side of the Rhine. Although not being the biggest one with a capacity of around 1,800 party people, the club is world-renowned due to having been voted into the first places of the DJ Mag Top 100 Clubs already multiple times.
A train ride of around two hours and a subsequent 20 minute walk along RTL and the fairground took me to the club. Other uptempo lovers arriving by car could park their vehicles in front of the club area for free.
At around an hour after the venue had opened there was absolutely no waiting line at the entrance and only a few people waiting at the wardrobe. The same picture at the bars, no one had to wait a long time for their drinks even though the main hall was filled very well.
As the “Dreherei”, the smaller floor at the Bootshaus, was booked for some other event, only the main floor was available this time. However, no one had to fear ending up with the wrong music as the security guys asked everyone where they wanted to go and directed them to the right entrance.
STAGES
While in the Bootshaus main hall there normally only is a DJ booth, this time right next to it another stage was built especially for GPF’s live show, bordered by gigantic pink plastic penises and with more space for the two to move around and do their stuff.
Above the DJ booth, the logos of the DJs currently on the decks were shown occasionally as well as some generic animations were played in between.
Two CO2 cannons mounted in front of the screen helped cool down the dance floor from time to time when the heat started to build up. Some flamethrowers mounted above the dance floor below the ceiling contributed to the heat, too.
And, lights – the Bootshaus has lots of lights, mounted on a rig directly above the dance floor around a heaven made out of LED tiles.
LINEUP
After a successful opening by German DJ Hysteria for the early arrivers, Levenkhan took over the decks. I really looked forward to seeing him live for the first time since getting to know him through the remix of “Through The Fire And Flames”, which he produced together with Rooler last year.
And I was not disappointed as he delivered a very playful set, yet leaving only little time to breathe in between. All that while having lots of fun in the DJ booth, firing up the masses for what was to come and acting as a part-time MC at the same time.
Next up: Namara, the only woman on the line-up for the day. She came up with a rigorous mix of melodic parts and hard kicks, not letting the people off the hook for a single time. Dance floor sweat level: 100.
GPF IS COMING
2 am. People were cheering: “GPF, GPF, GPF!” The black curtain finally opened and gave a view to GPF on stage with pink jackets and matching ties while inflatable penises were thrown onto the dance floor.
During the next 80 minutes, they pulled from their full repertoire of craziness – groping each other, performing obscene movements, swinging dildos and even having their trousers pulled down by Levenkhan who paid them a visit on the stage. Accompanied by their distinctive music style and customized GPF-themed animations in the background, they one more time created a unique show experience to be remembered.
MEET THE GPF
As GPF announced a meet and greet after their set time and others ran to satisfy their nicotine addiction again, Major Conspiracy, unfortunately, had to play for a half-empty floor in the beginning. Half an hour later it started to fill up again though so they still could end their set with the full support of the dancing masses.
When Lil Texas started and turned down the BPM significantly at first, I was a bit confused but it didn’t take long for him to release the brakes again, even ending his set in the terror genre. Dr. Donk (who turned directly into “Dr. Swim”) took off from there and brought it to a banging finale!
CONCLUSION
What else is left to say than: Everything’s been done right! A great planning paired with a proper artist choice. If you like uptempo music and are open-minded enough for the flashy Piepshow, there’s no way that the repetition probability is less than one hundred percent!