The Belleville Three: "this was once, but never again '

[eppertheleper]

Sorry the translation is a little rough. The link will take you to the original Dutch if you want to try your own software on it. The story is a sad one, though. Juan Atkins clearly has a serious drug problem. I only heard a little bit of this set, but what was very clear was an old track that Atkins plays often was part of the worst train wreck of the entire day. I did get a chuckle out of the fact that he mistook Adam Beyer for Jeff Mills. You've got to be WAY off your nut to get those two mixed up.


Painful action technolegendes
"This was really very very bad," said Derrick May, about 20 minutes after the legendary action of The Belleville 3. "We tried to make the best of it, but it was just not good. I think this is the first and the last time. "

It was supposed to be the highlight of Awakenings. The idea was as follows: slip the three godfathers or techno or, in other words, Derrick May, Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins together behind the turntables and you have guaranteed a legendary action. It ran different. Mainly because of an absent and failed Juan Atkins. While Saunderson and may were trying to save what can be salvaged, it was not tight Atkins mixed plate. Hanging on the turntable and with his sunglasses half way through his nose, Atkins got several times leaning looks of his two colleagues.

At the end of the gig is promised us an interview with the three measures. But also provides a space for Atkins is not at home. If I ask him whether we a tranquil spot can search he says, while he points to Adam Beyer, that is to his performance: "no not now, I would like to see Jeff Mills."

An interview with the Belleville Two. May and Saunderson are visible. "I wanted to do this is actually not at all," says May. "We love Juan and we will be always there for him, but he's lost the way. He has for a long time had a drug problem, the better hand, but today it seemed nowhere in the end, Kevin has persuaded me to do. He has been working nights in the hotel lobby to make it succeed, then it is sad that it ends. "

"We wanted to do everything we can to deliver something good," continues Saunderson. "But with someone in another world seems to be down, it is not a work. It's painful to see. In my view, the public had not always, but for us it was no fun. "

Unlike Atkins seems May be seriously concerned with the promotion of Detroit techno. Recently he blew his label with releases of Greg Gow and DVS1. "That runs fine. The chance that Kevin and I will soon be together again the Studio in diving is greater than that we still have a time in this configuration. "

The set up on stage was impressive. Atkins may do it with one turntable and Traktor-a software program that with the touch of a button multiple plates at the same pace let stop responding (hang). Saunderson Also uses that digital system, while May clearly shows technically superior. Diligently mixes it shall determine from among the sly vinyl and CDs in synchronized on the work of his two colleagues. May experience with the faders and equalizers, get the most out of his equipment. In addition, Saunderson and may take turns live on a synthesizer. "We have to be" soft playing "in this way, so that we could exclude major errors. This has not happened ", May.

"Of course we are proud of what we have achieved, we can also really the positive side. Techno is huge, that we had never imagined when we were on our bedrooms to Electrifying Mojo and Kraftwerk listened. But probably you witnessed a one-time action. " Saunderson laughing: "it is no different, we have the best of it."

VPRO | 3VOOR12 | Awakenings Festival 2010 | The Belleville Three: ?Dit was eens, maar nooit weer? (http://3voor12.vpro.nl/3voor12/festivals/news/full.jsp?portal=2534202&event=43629918&news=43650068&type=-1)

He looks like he's lost a lot of weight, too.

http://images.vpro.nl/img.db?43650126+s(400)

[DannyBlack]

bloody ell. :-\

[SlavikSvensk]

he's a godawful DJ.

[Paul Zykotik]

Interesting. I thought there were some terrible train crashes at the time but given experience at past festivals assumed that we were just stood somewhere where the speakers clashed.

Pretty sad news.

[Esox Lucius]

is he a rock head?

[teknorich]

"I have seen the greatest minds of my generation destroyed by madness..."

[morbid]

To be fair to him, who are we to comment on others drug habits?

OK he should show a level of professionalism and possibly act his age a bit but have you never been on it when playing out?

Ive seen a number of high profile users of this site in worse states than that photo at parties and club nights over the years and heard my fair share of trainwrecks.

If he does have a problem then he will have his own reasons

Judge not lest you shall be judged

[Francisco Scaramanga]

He is a terrible DJ, by all accounts he's never been any good. I saw him once in Barca and he was clearly off his nut, and all over the shop, playing great records but trying really ambitious mixes that he was not getting even close on, the painful thing was he kept trying more and failing. Saw him at Glade a few years ago and he looked more together, and while he wasn't trainwrecking, the mixing was pretty dull. So yeah all in all I just think he's a shit Dj, regardless of whether or not he's off his nut. Saw him at Bloc doing the Model 500 live thing, and that was absolutely amazing, really blew me away, so he still has it in him when he can be bothered, but maybe he should give up the decks! He was seriously rocking the machines...

[SlavikSvensk]

francisco's right...he's just not a good DJ. never has been. can't mix for shit.

sorry, juan...you're a legend but it's true.

[aphex_hn]

YouTube - Belleville Three Live @ Awakenings Festival 2010 part 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mbr6_r8HNs0&feature=player_embedded)

[DannyBlack]

To be fair to him, who are we to comment on others drug habits?

OK he should show a level of professionalism and possibly act his age a bit but have you never been on it when playing out?

Ive seen a number of high profile users of this site in worse states than that photo at parties and club nights over the years and heard my fair share of trainwrecks.

If he does have a problem then he will have his own reasons

Judge not lest you shall be judged

what gets me about that, is his mates/colleagues/brothers in arms outed him like that. I mean, isn't it his business?

[davethedrummer]

very badly translated from dutch isn't it ?

I saw them too, I filmed a little myself, I'll put it up later once I've got a min
the crowd were really boring I have to say
in fact they were quite dull everywhere except the hard techno tent I was in.
or at least so it seemed.
Mills was alright , It was the house areas that were grooving the best really.

I think awakenings were ambitious with a lot of the DJs this time.
trying to get people to do weird things that weren't tried and tested or very well rehearsed.
I can see why , but I don't think it works most of the time.

for the Bellevile 3 it was purely a bad sound that drove me away.
I didn't stay long enough to notice any really bad mixing, but the sound was terrible in that area.
farting distorted bassbins, Yuk!

It was a bit of a funny one really.
I had a wicked time , but I wasn't happy about playing live myself.
I don;t really do that much any more so I\'m much more on the vibe of DJing

they also got all the hard techno guys to play back to back and that was weird for a lot of them too.
It was OK, nothing terrible, but most people felt they would have rather just played their "normal" sets.


tell you what though
A.Paul was ****ing brilliant!!!
EASILY the set of the day for me.

[morbid]

what gets me about that, is his mates/colleagues/brothers in arms outed him like that. I mean, isn't it his business?

Yeah - like we were fine it was this other muppet ****ing it up for us

He dont look that bad anyway, you wanna see easygroove these days

[Jay Pace]

Saw juan atkins at Bloc in 2008

Really enjoyed it, one of the highlights for me. Mixing was fine, track selection was fantastic and he built a really good atmosphere.

[force]

Saw juan atkins at Bloc in 2008

Really enjoyed it, one of the highlights for me. Mixing was fine, track selection was fantastic and he built a really good atmosphere.

Did you see his set at Glade last year.
I thought he was fine then as well. much better than Carl Craig who was on before, he just bored me to tears..

(Cant use apostrophes or question marks btw, my son removed the keys from the laptop)

[Bionic_Eye]

didnt hear it cause i was with marcel dettmann n ben klock but my friends said it was not that good

[SlavikSvensk]

marcel dettmann n ben klock

playing together?

[eppertheleper]

playing together?Yes, sir. Didn't get to see that one, but I'd like to hear it. We were busy with A. Paul and Dave the Drummer at the time.

What most shocked me wasn't that Atkins was messed up, but that his "friends" were willing to dog on him so publicly. Everyone who has performed has done so under less-than-ideal conditions, whether that be from a bad flu or too much cocaine the previous night. However, for it to rise to the level that they're willing to call him out on it publicly and specifically tie his poor performance to drug addiction?

That means there's probably a history of them attempting to help and Juan just refusing to take it. I mean, it's not like this was the first time they've seen him screw up gigs. More than half the people here have heard him plow through train wreck after train wreck. Now I'm sorry, but someone who's been doing this professionally for thirty years doesn't make that many mistakes. There are some people in this world who were cursed a total lack of internal rhythm. I seriously doubt Juan Atkins is one of them. However, drugs can make something like beat matching a difficult proposition due to their distortion of the senses.

[Jay Pace]

.

[snooch]

I've never sen Atkins play a good DJ set and I've seen him four or five times. His live p.a. is way better than his DJ sets. We can all postulate about his skills and the degradation of them under the influence of drugs, but what matters is his mediocrity behind the decks. I've seen him not suck, but not sucking and being good are two different things. Through the years I've never seen him play a set where he made me sit back and say I wish I had a recording of this.

[SlavikSvensk]

Yes, sir.

yeah, i'd say i wouldn't have missed that for the world, but i'd have trouble missing henry and a. paul too. embarrassment of riches, innit.

you check out dettmann's last album? this ne'er-do-well sure liked it:

Marcel Dettmann -Dettmann - Bleep43 - Electronic music podcasts, parties, writings (http://www.bleep43.com/bleep43/2010/4/11/marcel-dettmann-dettmann.html)

[Bionic_Eye]

that album kills it really great

[SlavikSvensk]

ben klock's last album was fantastic too

[Bionic_Eye]

also his new mix for berghain #004 is really great

[Paul Zykotik]

very badly translated from dutch isn't it ?
the crowd were really boring I have to say
in fact they were quite dull everywhere except the hard techno tent I was in.
or at least so it seemed.

We were pretty much in the 10 Years of Awakenings tent from 6pm onwards and the crowd was really going for it, especially during Billy Nasty and Ben Sims' sets.

From what I could tell the atmosphere was pretty flat at all the stages that were playing minimal / laidback stuff. A coincidence I'm sure.

Was a great day all round anyway, and that lightshow at the very end at the main stage was very good indeed.

[davethedrummer]

We were pretty much in the 10 Years of Awakenings tent from 6pm onwards and the crowd was really going for it, especially during Billy Nasty and Ben Sims' sets.

From what I could tell the atmosphere was pretty flat at all the stages that were playing minimal / laidback stuff. A coincidence I'm sure.

Was a great day all round anyway, and that lightshow at the very end at the main stage was very good indeed.

yeah I could imagine that being cool sims is back on it at the mo.
hooray for techno then ?

[drift9]

From what I could tell the atmosphere was pretty flat at all the stages that were playing minimal / laidback stuff. A coincidence I'm sure.
heh. indeed.

[The Overfiend]

Seems like money got thrown under the bus because of his actions, and as 3 world class dj's no one wants to take the rap for trainwrecking, but throwing someone's personal issue into the public realm? That's a fist fight waiting to happen if that was me.

[djfilthmonger]

very badly translated from dutch isn't it ?

I saw them too, I filmed a little myself, I'll put it up later once I've got a min
the crowd were really boring I have to say
in fact they were quite dull everywhere except the hard techno tent I was in.
or at least so it seemed.
Mills was alright , It was the house areas that were grooving the best really.

I think awakenings were ambitious with a lot of the DJs this time.
trying to get people to do weird things that weren't tried and tested or very well rehearsed.
I can see why , but I don't think it works most of the time.

for the Bellevile 3 it was purely a bad sound that drove me away.
I didn't stay long enough to notice any really bad mixing, but the sound was terrible in that area.
farting distorted bassbins, Yuk!

It was a bit of a funny one really.
I had a wicked time , but I wasn't happy about playing live myself.
I don;t really do that much any more so I\'m much more on the vibe of DJing

they also got all the hard techno guys to play back to back and that was weird for a lot of them too.
It was OK, nothing terrible, but most people felt they would have rather just played their "normal" sets.


tell you what though
A.Paul was ****ing brilliant!!!
EASILY the set of the day for me.


couldnt make it this year but was at AwakeFest the last 2 years. The first year I stayed in Area Z all day some laff , didnt venture further than the drinks stand .

the second year I went straight into the Z area for most of it , I strolled around and checked out a few other places but wasnt feeling the buzz , even notice they had a beach tucked away in the back.

the energy in the hard techno zone is what did it for me. roll on next year ill be happy as fck to stay in Area Z

[MARK ANXIOUS]

i am too very shocked that may and saunderson would publicly speak out like this. so much so, i honestly think it's bullshit. you just wouldn't do this. you simply wouldnt! if any of you guys dont doubt these guys professionalism, then I can confirm as someone who has interviewed them all, DJed with them all, that they are defo highly professional!

read that interview again and imagine that the interviewer had a hard time interviewing these guys. imagine that the interviewer is some jumped up ass hole who doesnt understand the way shit works and all three of them didnt want to be interviewed. next thing you know he's making up a huge story.

how do we know he's trustworthy?

ok they might of had a shit set. sound problems anyone? equipment problems anyone?

if none of us were there, how can you comment and pass judgement on people?

bah my 2 cents eh.. ;)

[TiagoTechnoHead]

read that interview again and imagine that the interviewer had a hard time interviewing these guys. imagine that the interviewer is some jumped up ass hole who doesnt understand the way shit works and all three of them didnt want to be interviewed. next thing you know he's making up a huge story.



Good point!

[TheRev]

i am too very shocked that may and saunderson would publicly speak out like this. so much so, i honestly think it's bullshit. you just wouldn't do this. you simply wouldnt! if any of you guys dont doubt these guys professionalism, then I can confirm as someone who has interviewed them all, DJed with them all, that they are defo highly professional!

read that interview again and imagine that the interviewer had a hard time interviewing these guys. imagine that the interviewer is some jumped up ass hole who doesnt understand the way shit works and all three of them didnt want to be interviewed. next thing you know he's making up a huge story.

how do we know he's trustworthy?

ok they might of had a shit set. sound problems anyone? equipment problems anyone?

if none of us were there, how can you comment and pass judgement on people?

bah my 2 cents eh.. ;)

While it's definitely a shame to bring someone's problems out in the open like this - from my friends account who was there, watching them during the set - Juan was clearly not sober during the set.

My friend watched as Juan frequently would just be staring off in to space - touching the mixer and standing back like he had no idea what he had just done. Wrecking the mix just about everytime he went over to bring something in.

So yeah - I don't think it was sound troubles. Juan was off his nut.

[Hoth System]

My friend watched as Juan frequently would just be staring off in to space - touching the mixer and standing back like he had no idea what he had just done. Wrecking the mix just about everytime he went over to bring something in.



Wow - pretty much my mixing style down to the letter.

[Darkmode]

i am too very shocked that may and saunderson would publicly speak out like this. so much so, i honestly think it's bullshit. you just wouldn't do this. you simply wouldnt! if any of you guys dont doubt these guys professionalism, then I can confirm as someone who has interviewed them all, DJed with them all, that they are defo highly professional!

read that interview again and imagine that the interviewer had a hard time interviewing these guys. imagine that the interviewer is some jumped up ass hole who doesnt understand the way shit works and all three of them didnt want to be interviewed. next thing you know he's making up a huge story.

how do we know he's trustworthy?

ok they might of had a shit set. sound problems anyone? equipment problems anyone?

if none of us were there, how can you comment and pass judgement on people?

bah my 2 cents eh.. ;)

As the old saying goes don't believe what you read in interviews as most of them will be misquotes & made up.

Back in the 80's a female interviewer for the Sun made a story up say that the Beastie Boys told some kids in an hospital in the to F Off. She made the story up because she was annoyed that they did not want to be interviewed what was sad about it loads of people believed it!

[teknoid]

wow, does no one in europe know that juan atkins has a bit of a (crack) habit???!!? i really didn't think this was news to anyone ...

i was at awakenings and saw the whole thing going down. everytime juan would up the volume on his end, it was pretty much a disaster. perhaps, it was a little less obvious, because there were 2 other people trying to rescue the set constanltly, but he did just simply manage to ruin the whole set. not just once, but over and over again. it was funny cause derrick (always a tad dramatic) looked like he was ready to walk out on the whole thing, kevin had to calm him down, both of them went to the back once for a sec or two when i was there. kevin was trying to tell juan what to do, it seemed or to try keep it together, but juan was just kind of "pretending" he knew what was going on. and yes, he is skinny like an anorexic girl, hiding it somewhat under the sleeveless hoody, but his exposed arms are super thin.

perhaps he's never been a great dj, but now it is just a farce. as a paying customer, i am not happy when a DJ is unprofessional to the extend he was. i can totally understand that derrick and kevin where pissed off, because it is their rep on the line!

i would like to send out some light and love to mr. atkins, bless him for being such a brilliant producer, for giving us the music we love so much, and i hope that he will find a less distructive way of dealing with whatever issues he may have. (like, how about channeling the angst into the music???) i guess he is a tortured soul, and i hope he's not gonna be some crack casualty, well, at least not more then he already seems to be ...

all in all i was NOT impressed with awake fest at all, i expected the sound to be much, much better. (actually it was shit pretty much everywhere i was. well - that's what you get when you set up a dancemusic event with a rock band set up = lame!!!)
i did however enjoy the X area, sims and oscar mulero brought it! (bass bins farted during sims' set as well, bummer)