Despite its devoted following in Europe – and, to a lesser extent, in regional clubbing strongholds such as Beirut – techno has traditionally been rather underrepresented in the Emirates.
The best that the average techno fan here can hope for on an average weekend has been a smattering of regular nights representing for the genre, and semi-regular smaller-name DJs jetting in (and mostly only playing in Dubai, at that).
All of that frustration will be forgotten, for one weekend only, however, as the veteran overlord of techno, Sven Väth, returns to the Middle East for the latest edition of Blue Marlin Ibiza UAE on Friday (March 27).
At 50 years of age, the German is doubtless old enough to have fathered most of the revellers that will fill the dance floor in Ghantoot. He’s not known as Papa Sven for nothing.
And, yes, he does conform to the image of the stereotypical European techno chap: bald, intense, serious.
Yet in clubland’s very best Peter Pan traditions – see also: fellow quinquagenarians Paul Oakenfold, Pete Tong and Carl Cox – Väth could pass for a man 15 or 20 years younger. Judging by some of his latest promo shots, he maintains the kind of sculpted pecs and abs that could refract light, and his youthful appearance might also be aided by his love for Ayurveda, a type of traditional Hindu alternative or complementary medicine.
Väth would probably offer a derisory snort at such superficial observations, though, because since his formative days as a pioneer of trance in the early 1980s, he has favoured music over image at almost every turn. That approach is epitomised by his label/brand Cocoon, which is arguably techno’s most enduring name.
It was founded in 1996, initially as the umbrella catch-all for Väth’s ambitious parties in his native Germany. Those nights soon expanded from his homeland to what would become their spiritual home: Ibiza. The past guest-list reads like a who’s who of techno and beyond, from Richie Hawtin to Armin van Buuren.
A fervent champion of vinyl while all around him seem to have abandoned the art of stylus on record, Väth isn’t showing any signs of slowing down as he powers into his sixth decade.
His 2015 world tour, of which the Blue Marlin date is a part, is truly a global jaunt, taking in locations on five continents including Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand, Australia, Peru, Argentina, the United States, Russia and, perhaps inevitably among a raft of western-European dates, Ibiza.
In the 10 days following his UAE appearance, he’ll play shows in London, Amsterdam and smaller cities in Belgium and Germany. And one of the highlights of his summer – before Ibiza at least – is set to be Cocoon in the Park, a day-long festival in Leeds, England, headlined by Väth himself.
The scale of Cocoon’s popularity, then, seems to be as big as ever – and those 20th anniversary celebrations promise to be quite something. Find out why tomorrow, at what will be one of the last bearably mild beach parties of the season.
• Sven Väth plays at Blue Marlin Ibiza UAE, Ghantoot, Golden Tulip Al Jazira Hotels and Resort tomorrow. For more information, visit www.bluemarlinibiza-uae.com
aworkman@thenational.ae
