Left-field styles of house and techno are common today, with artists blending sub genres such as garage and techno, but also combining all types of genres, from jazz to folk music. In today's dance music landscape, we see artists such as Archie Pelago playing instruments live alongside their DJ sets. Hybrid projects continue to push boundaries, as we see artists like Jeff Mills re-making the soundtrack of classic dystopian film, “Metropolis”, directing a conceptual film for Paris’ Le Louvre and playing with philharmonic orchestras around the globe.
Live orchestra and live Mills...an excellent combo indeed. Last year, he brought this hybrid project to Ghent, Belgium for OdeGand by Night, the closing party for OdeGand. OdeGand showcases world, jazz and classical music in various unique locations the city of Ghent has to offer. OdeGand By Night blends these genres shown during the day with electronic music at night. For their second year running, OdeGand by Night presents to us their headliner, Detroit techno pioneer, Derrick May. Having shown two techno gods in just their first two years from conception, show that Odegand By Night is indeed an innovative project, certainly in Belgium, a country known for their quality events. The line up also includes artists and collaborations of poineering talent from seemingly different musical cultures, such as Sysmo & DJ Grazzhoppa, KEDA, Khalifé-Schumacher-Tristano, Pnut & István Várdai and Bel Canto & visuals.
Derrick hits the stage at OdeGand By Night in St. Anne Church. Hidden behind scaffolding for years, St. Anne Church will come alive exclusively for this event, as Derrick showcases orchestral versions of his legendary tracks with the Flanders Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dzijan Emin.
Seeing a performance by Derrick May is no let down. A true performer, he transmits so much energy and passion into his music and wows the crowd with musical tricks and surprises. A leading figure in the techno scene, Derrick is not afraid to push boundaries. It is no surprise therefore, that he will be playing alongside an orchestra for OdeGand. This year he has performed around the world, receiving fantastic reviews, such as his "unforgettable" concert in August with the Macedonian Philharmonic Orchestra:
"Every change in beat Derrick May played was again followed by a sign of vocal delirium by the people, aged from 5 to 55, who were dancing all night long. The synergy that developed with the first chords of the first song, only grew bigger and bigger, to culminate at the end, when the crowd was just simply not ready to let the musicians leave the stage.” - Independent
Several DJs have a strong affinity towards classical music. As mentioned, Jeff Mills and Derrick May tours the world playing sets with classical ensembles. Other dance music DJs such as Francesco Tristano famously covers techno tracks with the classical piano (watch Francesco play his piano along Carl Craig here, and listen to his rendition of Derrick May’s famous “Strings of Life” here). Seeing DJs dressed in suits is surprisingly, quite pleasant.
Then, there is also the connection between techno and the church. Could you say techno heads go to sunday morning raves like catholic families go to church every Sunday? Perhaps not, but there are clearly some similarities. Spiritual, soulful vocals that emit from several 80s disco tracks are taken from gospel singing. A Guy Called Gerald will be playing at St John Church in Hackney this weekend for Spiritual Groove, and in general, using a church as a venue for a rave is nothing new, but always quite exciting.
See the relationships between techno and classical music, and techno and the church at OdeGand By Night with Derrick May, and take a trip around the city to see other excellent shows in the centre of Ghent, as the festival transforms six unique locations into music clubs and classical musicians meet with electronic DJs and forward thinking audio visual artists:
All of this sounds exciting? Odegand has kindly offered an amazing prize for this “once in a lifetime” show: TWO TICKETS and a DINNER FOR TWO at Cafe Theatre. Please send an e-mail to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with “Derrick May at Odegand” in the subject title.
OdeGand by Night will take place on Saturday 27 September 2014 from 8 p.m.
Tickets: €27
Call +32 (0)9 233 77 88 or on www.odegandbynight.be
More MEOKO?
Find us on Facebook
Find us on Twitter
