British club culture invades Tallinn

Apr 01, 2004
By Aleksei Gunter

TALLINN - British club culture will be descending on Tallinn on April 9 - 10 to once again remind everybody that Britain is not only about Charles Dickens and Margaret Thatcher.

Thanks to the Crossroads for Ideas project, which is being organized by the British Council, heavyweight stars such as Gilles Peterson, the Asian Dub Foundation, 2 Banks of 4, EZ Rollers, Bill Brewster and others will be performing at the special event, aptly dubbed Club U.K.
The British Council is celebrating the new member states' accession to the EU with a series of special events in seven countries, including the Baltics. Estonia and Hungary will be the first countries to play host to the festivities, which are being arranged in cooperation with local media partners. In addition to the club music event, the project includes tourist, business and culture events throughout the country.
The U.K. is famed for its thriving and vibrant club culture, which is why the British Council chose to use it as one of the special events to celebrate Estonia's forthcoming EU accession.
DJ Rhythm Doctor, who calls himself the unofficial British ambassador to Estonia, says it is almost impossible to compare the club scene of London and Tallinn as the size of the two markets is so disproportionate.
"The Estonian club scene has moved on in the last five or six years, but in terms of club variety, London is way ahead," said the DJ who has been living in Estonia for about eight years and is the man behind Mutant Disco and other major club events.
On the other hand, the Estonian music scene is more selective and any visit by an international star is guaranteed to receive a lot of attention, added Rhythm Doctor, who will play on both days of Club U.K.
The main hall of the Sakala Center, a venue mostly used for conferences and classical music concerts, will be temporarily rebuilt to add the necessary club atmosphere - a dance floor will be built over the seats. The party will also take over, apart from the main hall, the so-called chandelier hall of the center.
The smaller hall of the Sakala Center will screen "Human Traffic" (1999) and "Young Soul Rebels" (1991), two British films about club culture that have earned the status of cult movies.
But perhaps the real star of the show will be Gilles Peterson, the acid jazz pioneer and host of the BBC's "Worldwide" radio show. Peterson will be the main performer on the first evening, followed by 2 Banks of 4 who play a mixture of soul-jazz and electronic music.
Ethnically and culturally diverse, the Asian Dub Foundation will play their searing combination of reggae and jungle rhythms mixed with sitarlike guitar lines and Indo-dub bass on April 10. The EZ Rollers, who will perform next in the main hall, will offer something a little lighter.
Bill Brewster and Rhythm Doctor, who have both been DJs for over two decades, will occupy the chandelier hall on both evenings. On the first night it will be the Boogie Room and on the second, the Underground Solution. Figure out the repertoire by yourself. o

Club U.K., Sakala Center,
12 Ravala Blvd., Tallinn. April 9 - 10, from 9 p.m. - 4 a.m.
One-day ticket before April 9: 12 euros, two day ticket before
April 9, 19 euros.
One day ticket
on the day -14 euros.
Tickets sold at Piletilevi
and Piletipunkt

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