un peu d'événementiel

This weekend I went to Maastricht to visit close friends from high school. They have a music collective called Smoke Shed Crew. They organise events throughout the year, and they have been at it consistently for a couple of years now. I wanted to speak about them since the work going into events can go unappreciated.

The explanation behind the name is that in their previous house, they had a small shed in their backyard. Instead of simply stocking tools, as people usually do, they set up a speaker and a smoke machine. Do take into account that the shed is about 5 square metres.

Now let's talk about the structure of the weekend. First event: Koudvuur invites Smoke Shed Crew. The event took place in Muziekgieterij, a well-established venue in Maastricht. The event started at 8 P.M., so the team got there at 5 P.M. They brought their sound system, which needed to be set up for the smaller room (yes, of course, the event has two rooms).

Throughout the night, DJs all did a good job, and the crowd was loving it. I could get lost in explaining why a good job behind the decks is essential, but I will skip that for today. To keep it brief, the DJ is not simply playing songs, he is creating and sharing a musical universe with every set. Or so it should be.

When the night came to a close around 5:30 A.M., there was little to no cleaning to do. That being said, we still did not get back to the apartment before 8 A.M, where, of course, a small afterparty took place. As the name indicates, an afterparty is a party but after the party.

I could barely stand by that point since I am quite used to my internship routine of 9 to 5 and not the 5 to 9. Now, for context, I have organised similar parties with similar timelines as well. What baffles me is that they just kept going the next day as well.

Saturday took place the parade of Cultural Infestation – the Parade for Accessible Culture in Maastricht. The concept is simple: cars have trailers with sound systems on them, and these sound systems are moved through the town with music playing.

So this was an impressive event with 7-8 trailers parading the town of Maastricht, the streets were filled with people watching and also joining in. I even got the opportunity to mix a few songs from a moving car, which is quite the experience.

The parade lasted till 10 P.M. By this time, I had accumulated 30 kilometres of walking throughout the previous night and the parade. I knew that there was an event that my friends wanted to attend later, but I simply could not keep going. So I ended up going home with one of my friends who felt the same way.

Fun fact, they called up the organisers of the event and asked to set up a second stage at that event pretty much on the spot. And so they did. Surreal to me, the connections, the trust, everything. I heard some of them come back around 6 o'clock. It seemed to have gone well.

Currently, I am on my way back to Lille on Sunday morning, feeling like I am on the comedown of a fever dream. I met so many interesting people in a very short time and listened to a lot of loud music. Thankfully, I was smart enough to bring my earplugs everywhere I went.

To conclude, the events business is tough, but it is also very rewarding. On the outside, it might just seem like younglings who like to party, which, to some extent, is the case. That being said, not everyone will fill up a room with 500 people as was the case Friday. That takes time and dedication.

This Week's Suggestions:

🎶 SmokeShedCrew presents: ShedSesh #3 - Iorga

This is one of the people and musical universes I discovered this weekend. Iorga is from Romania, and he is bringing Rominimal (Romanian Minimal) to Maastricht, where he currently studies. This music is intended to be listened to on big sound systems for its energy, but can also be enjoyed simply with headphones as I am currently.

Have an inspired week!