I vividly remember the day I began to dislike Joost van Bellen’s nationally adored party concept RAUW. It was somewhere between the last edition in club 11 and the moment everybody, it seemed, started to attend each and every edition of RAUW in the Melkweg. It’s known that the general public tends to pick up what’s hot and what’s not either far too late or not even at all. So when the, mostly French and German, electro sound of artists like Boys Noize, Justice, Surkin and Crookers started to take the world by storm, RAUW was THE place to be. But, nowadays, and you can disagree with me on this, that certain sound seems to run stale. Hell, I was ordering a hamburger in a shabby snack bar when I suddenly heard Day & Night on the radio!

Even though musical purists looked to the horizon for a new vibe in dance music, RAUW didn’t seem to dare take risks and transformed from an innovative beauty into a commercial monster. Presenting us with ‘the same old shit’, over and over again.

But, quite suddenly, the King of the Dutch dance scene has decided that it’s time for a new RAUW. With renewed respect for Joost van Bellen I’m proud to inform you that RAUW will, once again, begin to look forward instead of backwards.

And so, with the start of a new decade, Rauw New Stijl is born! Less focus on making money and more focus on innovative, surprising acts and their music. JVB: “The criteria from now on will be guts, orginality, innovation and a good dose of rock ‘n’ roll attitude.” The balls are back!

I won’t go into details, but a lot is going to change. From decor to line-up’s, everything will feel as fresh as a piece of pineapple in summertime. If you want to see, feel and, most importantly, hear what I’m talking about, you can on 12 February in the Melkweg in Amsterdam. With no real high rollers to draw our attention away from quality, the UK-based Riton will surely amaze the RAUW regulars and prove to the sceptical connoisseurs that a great time has arrived. The same goes for the rest of February’s line-up, with a special recommendation going to L-Vis 1990! Hopefully a small appetizer of a bigger Sound Pellegrino dish in the near future?

For all up to date info visit: http://www.rauwrauw.nl/

by Tom Waist.