excerpts from our travellings

The psychedelic scene in Belgrade (the capital of Yugoslavia) sprouted during the summer of 1994, when some local djs have introduced the energetic and remarkably good and uplifting sounds of psy. They played things like Man With no Name's Teleport and 4 Voice's Eternal Spirit during the

"regular" trance parties and have been rewarded with serious foot-stomping and screams of pleasure during their little experiment. From that point on, the scene started blooming, and began its uncompromising, ever-escalating move.       It took a little while for organizers to

get organized and recognize the audience's need for psychedelic sound so it was not until a few brave men decided

to take things into their own hands and started organizing parties dedicated to psychedelic trance. The first such party was called "Positronic Brain" and, two months later, "Vedama," organized by Space Art and featuring only local djs. The next bigger party wasn't until "Hypnotic Dance on planet Lishka" organized by Experiment, featuring French djs Holeg and Havoc. This happened in the summer of 1996. I don't remember it as quite good one, but it was

interesting being around so many people dancing to sounds of psy. bigger event was dj Fred Giteau playing at the club Industria, and soon after that came "Naitiye" organized by Public Art in 1997. It was basically a Dragonfly party featuring Joti Sidhu (Psychaos) and UX. Even though the party was

stopped for a couple of hours because of tear gas, it seems to be regarded as one of the best ones. Maybe the incident, the unusual experience, has to do with it. I, howerver, believe that Joti's incredible mix is to be blamed.       POF organized another party in May of

1996 called "Insomnia" at which Joking Sphinx presented their at the time new album. And then came the Sources. Three killer parties organized by the club Industria, featuring Fred Giteau, Mark Allen, Sid Shanti, and Tsuyoshi Suzuki, with help from resident djs. At these the audience had a chance to experience the European influence on psychedelia, with more breaktrance and songs not as melody-intensive.

The most recent party that just happened now, in December '97, was "Rave Aid." A pretty unhapppy name for a psychedelic party, but who cares as long as djs play music like they did here. Jothi Sidhu again in front of the Belgrade audience, together with

Steve Ronan (Cydonia) and Yugoslavian dj Dizzy Dee debuting at this party. The two foreign djs have played off of DAT the whole time, giving Belgrade the freshest sounds of 604. Unfortunatelly, I was not able to witness this party, but according to my friends it was as groovy as Belgrade has seen. I hope that something is scheduled for the New Year's Eve, perhaps in the Kalemegdan caves (Kalemegdan is a big

fortress downtown Belgrade, a monument witnessing our past, and a beautiful park with a view over two rivers - an excellent place for open-air parties, with centuries old walls, cannons, etc., and the caves are catacombs and storage space left from the time of the Otoman empire). This is the place the Source

III was supposed to happen, but it was moved into a nearby youth center building, capable of housing over 2000 people.       In any case, the psychedelic scene in Belgrade is blooming. As a proof of that I offer you Flying Rhino party that is scheduled to happen in January '98 featuring Green Nuns of the Revolution and James Monro (Slinky Wizard). I imagine it only goes upwards from this point. If you are a dj, and are visiting the near-by area of South-Central Europe, I incourage you to arange a stop in Belgrade, you will have a lot of fun playing in front of our audience, or just simply visiting the city.       For a more complete listing of parties please visit the psychedelic events section.

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