maschinenfest 08. krefeld. germany. september 30th - october 7th

a detour from our travels. a bit decadent. potential to be exhausting. 16 hours, door to door, hong kong to krefeld. respite from the heat, it is fall here! we are excited, maschinenfest is like no other festival. looking forward to seeing so many friends, and as shakila aptly put it 'dancing our asses off'. we arrive early evening, and make our way to the now familiar city. we are here ahead of most, hoping to recover from jetlag in time for the long days and very late nights of the festival. four days this year, the 10 year anniversary, three years since we last attended. chill out in the hotel, get some sleep. wake up the next morning to discover red spots on my legs and arms. it's been 18 years, but i know what this is, i am having an allergic reaction to some antibiotics i was given in tokyo six days before. yet another trip to the doctor's, i am not used to having so much allopathic care. haven't taken antibiotics in 14 years, and have been seeing a naturopath for the most part for the past 7. we ask at the hotel reception, and are directed to a clinic nearby. this trip to the doctor is no less an adventure than the previous ones. by the time we are making our way there, my whole torso, from knees to neck is covered in spots. we stop at information, are directed to a building ahead. it is empty, we eventually surprise someone in his office who directs us to the next building. it looks like emergency, they direct us to yet another building. on our way there, looking sufficiently lost, another person directs us. we finally find the clinic, are directed through another door where our request to see a doctor is met with frustration and anger by a woman who is not happy that we do not have german health coverage, our inability to speak german makes it worse. being yelled at is not what i am in the mood for, and stephen and i quickly say 'danke' and exit the room. thankfully, the woman comes out after us and motions for us to sit down, although she is still fairly distraught with us. a short time later the doctor arrives with an rn who is able to translate for us. long story short, i am indeed having an allergic reaction to the medicine, and although i had told the woman in tokyo that i am allergic to penecillin, apparently she has prescribed another antibiotic that is basically just that. MORE medicine, and we are on our way. thankfully, it did not progress to hives, and did not prevent me from enjoying the rest of our time here.




the next day familiar faces are starting to trickle in as the city prepares for the 1000+ attendees that will be arriving over the weekend. spots fading a bit, rest for the past day, well fed, we are wide awake and ready for the festival. it is good to see our friends, and touch base with people we see mostly at events like these. the rest is hard to describe. it is the music, and all the musicians, our friends, the maschinen family. sweating, dancing, touching base. stepping outside of the world around us a bit, finding ourselves in this one. this community, artistic expression, appreciation for what happens here. festival highlights? ORPHX, mimetic, xabec, klangstabil, the law rah collective, vromb, contagious orgasm, architect vs. enduser, hanging out with our friends, getting to know some people a bit better, meeting a few new people. was it worth it? always. i am always sad to leave, that it is over, never sure if we'll make it next year. hoping stephen will perform at one again soon. knowing that we will all meet again regardless. we stay an extra night, and the city becomes a sleepy town again. wonder what the locals think of our descending on the town once a year? we leave on stephen's 40th birthday, with a few too many cds, to resume our travels in asia. auf wiedersehen.