Back in 2008, I was asked to help curate a line-up for an anniversary party we were throwing at Watergate. At the time, I was working for an electronic music company called Beatport and dubstep was really starting to make some waves across the continent. I felt very passionate about the prospect of hearing dubstep sounds being blasted on the club’s sound system and out across the river.
Working with Watergate allowed us to book dubstep titans Skream and Modeselektor alongside a pre-Berlin Calling Paul Kalkbrenner. In a way, it shouldn’t have worked – the line-up was a collaboration of sounds that no one had been brave enough to do yet – but it all came together beautifully. Taking the plunge was worth it, and it was thanks to the trust that Watergate gave us back in the day.
With its riverside location, kaleidoscopic light-beamed ceiling, large glass façade and sunrise views, Watergate is one of a kind in Berlin, and the announcement of its closure hits me more than that of any other club.
The club’s erasure is yet another nail in the coffin for the city’s cultural landscape, but its memory will live on.
It does feel that I write about the closure of one venue or another in this column every other month, but this one is different. When I first came to Berlin in 2006, Watergate was one of the first clubs I went to. During my first visit there, I watched the sunrise from the waterside patio and saw a naked man swim up to the club from the other side of the river.
Sadly, the security denied him entrance (I mean, where would he have kept the money?), so we kindly brought him a beer, which he enjoyed while bobbing around in the water before swimming off again.
At Watergate, I was blessed to see everyone from Ivan Smagghe and Dixon to Four Tet, Richie Hawtin and Andrew Weatherall. I saw Adam Freeland play Rage Against the Machine at two in the morning (he was never invited back). I even got to see drum ‘n’ bass legend LTJ Bukem play on the main floor, back when the club had a more diverse music policy.
In 2012, I got to work with Watergate once more to book our eighth anniversary party. Working with Uli and the team behind the club, we managed to put together a stellar line-up, including Maceo Plex, Steve Bug and Adam Beyer. Having worked with many clubs and having booked many parties in Berlin over the years, I can say I’ve never worked with a better and more supportive team.
Now all of that will be gone – but not forgotten. The riverside, which was once a landmark for music and creativity, will become a desolate, cultureless concrete graveyard for property speculators and foreign investments. Watergate taught me a lot about music, DJing and records.
(It taught me nothing about style however, and thankfully the trend of wearing deep-V shirts and skinny jeans has moved on). The club’s erasure is yet another nail in the coffin for the city’s cultural landscape, but its memory will live on. To put it in Watergate’s words: the party is over – long live the party.
- Watergate will close at the end of this year after one final New Year’s Eve party, details.
